The self-arrest is a
climbing technique
Climbing technique refers to a broad range of physical movements used in the activity or sport of climbing.
Notable sub-groups of climbing technique include:
*Aid climbing technique as is used in aid climbing
*Big wall climbing technique as is ...
mostly used in
mountaineering
Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...
and
alpine climbing
Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...
where a climber who has fallen and is sliding uncontrollably down a snow or ice-covered slope 'arrests' their fall by themselves by using their
ice axe and their
crampons.
There are many ways to self-arrest depending on the climber's body position while falling (e.g. falling head-first and/or falling on their back etc.,) but they mostly involve the climber quickly digging the pick of their ice axe into the slope (with the adze of the axe at their shoulder and the axe held at either end diagonally across their body), rolling over onto their stomach so that they can use their full body weight to push down harder on the pick, and simultaneously digging the front-points of their crampons into the slope.
[
Practicing the 'self-arrest' is a core skill set for mountaineers in snow and ice-covered terrain. On steeper ground such as in ]couloir
A couloir (, "passage" or "corridor") is a narrow gully with a steep gradient in a mountainous terrain.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p. 121. .
Geology
A couloir may be a seam, scar, or fissure, o ...
s (particularly ice-covered), and on glaciers where a rope team member falling into a crevasse is about to drag the other members into the crevasse with them, it is critical that the climber(s) can execute the 'self-arrest' quickly and decisively—ideally performed as an instinctive and instantaneous movement without having to think about how to do it—before speed builds up with more serious consequences.
See also
* Crevasse rescue
* Glissade (climbing)
* Glossary of climbing terms
Glossary of climbing terms relates to rock climbing (including aid climbing, lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing), mountaineering, and to ice climbing. ebook:
The terms used can vary between different English-speaking countries; ...
References
Further reading
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External links
SELF-ARREST TECHNIQUES ON A GLACIER
(2024)
VIDEO:Winter skills 2.5: how to ice axe arrest in the snow
British Mountaineering Council (2023)
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Mountaineering techniques