Whether you're heading up or down the mountain, don't get locked in on looking just at your feet, keep your head on a swivel. Be aware of any overhead hazards (ice fall, rock fall), changing weather, what's coming up on the route (bottle neck or crevasse crossings), how surface conditions are changing (is the snow getting firm and slick or slushy and punchy), and how your teammates are doing. Plan your breaks so that you will be moving quickly through exposed terrain and resting in safe areas. Look for evidence of previous rock and ice fall to know if you're in a zone that has these hazards.
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| Team of climbers sitting below big seracs. |
Sometimes we have gear malfunctions in the worse places. Recognize if you linger too long fixing it in a bad spot, you might suddenly have a bigger problem on your hands. Do a quick repair that is good enough to get you to a better spot safely where you can sit and fix it properly.
Having difficulty with crampons in slushy conditions below the cleaver? Try banging the side of your boots with the handle of your ice axe. Sometimes it takes a swing every step to keep the snow from balling up. And sometimes, even on glaciers, it's safer to travel without crampons if snow is clumping on your crampons and your feet are slipping out from beneath you and there's no ice remaining on the descent. These are some of the decisions you have to make and risks you have to manage when you are climbing.
And this concludes our safety message. Have fun out there!
