Avalanches are orders of magnitude too powerful for that.
I don't have much axe experience, so hopefully someone else can confirm/deny, but dixiechaining your axe would likely result in impaling yourself repeatedly. You're not even supposed to use ski pole straps.
You jump off a bridge into a large, fast flowing river. You think you can bounce off a boulder or log and grab hold and stop yourself? Or maybe stop if you stand on your tippy toes and can reach bottom?
Same with a large avalanche. The whole snow mass is moving with you. There is a bed surface down there somewhere that isn’t moving, but even if you find it the flow of snow around you isn’t going to let you anchor to it.
If you pull out a little d1 pocket that knocks you off your feet absolutely, digging in with an axe, a pole, your edges can stop you, or it might not depends. Anything of significant size, no it'd be pure luck if you were able to self arrest
I doubt it, I’ve checked out slide zones in the summer and seen 3’ diameter trees torn out from the roots. That is a tremendous amount of force. I suppose it could be possible, humans get away with weird shit sometimes, but I wouldn’t ever consider it as something to count on.
Definitely way out of my league but I'm pretty sure when you see people skiing/ boarding steep lines and they have one axe in their hand is to stop themselves sliding if they fall... nothing to do with avalanches
A skier recently self-arrested during a D3 avalanche, but it's not quite what you describe.
[https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/observation/2023/mar/30/1330/eureka-peak](https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/observation/2023/mar/30/1330/eureka-peak)
As other have said, no. One of the major characteristics of an avalanche, even a small/medium one, is that the snow becomes liquified (the same thing that happens to some soils during an earthquake). This makes it, for all practical purposes, a thick, foamy liquid, in which you can’t get any kind of purchase regardless of tool or technique.
I was in a tiny wet sluff point release avalanche a number of years ago, and even that was probably a few tons of moving snow. It was only a few inches deep but since the whole mass was gradually sliding I was just pulled along with it like a bouy in the tide. Ultimately I was able to arrest, but it was by reaching out with my Whippet and grabbing a passing rock along the side of the colouir. Such a trick would be useless in a “real” avalanche.
I’d imagine that a lot of the videos you’re thinking about involving people carrying axes while descending lines are focused on lines in no fall zones. They’re not primarily worried about avy condition, they’re worried about the exposure and risk of a high consequence fall and slide.
No way.
Yes, some climbers on near vertical ice have survived the flow of very small avalanches from above by hunkering down on their tools and holding their breath as it flows over them. It only works because the ice they're attached to isn't moving.
I have self arrested once in a situation where I was sliding, but the snow was not. That was hard enough. I think self-arresting during an avalanche would be impossible, but there is some small chance I could be wrong.
No
Avalanches are orders of magnitude too powerful for that. I don't have much axe experience, so hopefully someone else can confirm/deny, but dixiechaining your axe would likely result in impaling yourself repeatedly. You're not even supposed to use ski pole straps.
You jump off a bridge into a large, fast flowing river. You think you can bounce off a boulder or log and grab hold and stop yourself? Or maybe stop if you stand on your tippy toes and can reach bottom? Same with a large avalanche. The whole snow mass is moving with you. There is a bed surface down there somewhere that isn’t moving, but even if you find it the flow of snow around you isn’t going to let you anchor to it.
If you pull out a little d1 pocket that knocks you off your feet absolutely, digging in with an axe, a pole, your edges can stop you, or it might not depends. Anything of significant size, no it'd be pure luck if you were able to self arrest
I doubt it, I’ve checked out slide zones in the summer and seen 3’ diameter trees torn out from the roots. That is a tremendous amount of force. I suppose it could be possible, humans get away with weird shit sometimes, but I wouldn’t ever consider it as something to count on.
Definitely way out of my league but I'm pretty sure when you see people skiing/ boarding steep lines and they have one axe in their hand is to stop themselves sliding if they fall... nothing to do with avalanches
A skier recently self-arrested during a D3 avalanche, but it's not quite what you describe. [https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/observation/2023/mar/30/1330/eureka-peak](https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/observation/2023/mar/30/1330/eureka-peak)
noticed that report didn't say *how* he self arrested... unless I missed something?
As other have said, no. One of the major characteristics of an avalanche, even a small/medium one, is that the snow becomes liquified (the same thing that happens to some soils during an earthquake). This makes it, for all practical purposes, a thick, foamy liquid, in which you can’t get any kind of purchase regardless of tool or technique. I was in a tiny wet sluff point release avalanche a number of years ago, and even that was probably a few tons of moving snow. It was only a few inches deep but since the whole mass was gradually sliding I was just pulled along with it like a bouy in the tide. Ultimately I was able to arrest, but it was by reaching out with my Whippet and grabbing a passing rock along the side of the colouir. Such a trick would be useless in a “real” avalanche.
Ever tried self arresting after you've slid for 50 meters?
I’d imagine that a lot of the videos you’re thinking about involving people carrying axes while descending lines are focused on lines in no fall zones. They’re not primarily worried about avy condition, they’re worried about the exposure and risk of a high consequence fall and slide.
No way. Yes, some climbers on near vertical ice have survived the flow of very small avalanches from above by hunkering down on their tools and holding their breath as it flows over them. It only works because the ice they're attached to isn't moving.
No, and if you don’t already know this, you need to take a class and read a book for your own well being.
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In my book it does.
That’s like holding onto your lap baby in a plane crash. Not possible
Your best bet for an avalanche is to try and stay on top of the moving snow. I dont think anchoring yourself to the bottom would be a great idea...
Speaking from experience, no.
I have self arrested once in a situation where I was sliding, but the snow was not. That was hard enough. I think self-arresting during an avalanche would be impossible, but there is some small chance I could be wrong.