Grivel Casace Picks

[Mountain_Marc]

Anyone have bad experience with these? Like being a bitch to remove after placing. A real bitch to the point of yanking out for a good 2 minutes before it coming out? Or does my buddy's technique suck?

And broken picks? My buddy broke his two picks this weekend. On Saturday on the top pitch of Power play and Sunday on the second pitch of Positive Thinking. He says it's due to cold but i'm inclined to say that it's from metal fatigue of him trying to yank his tools out of the ice when they're jammed in good.

[chossmonkey]

If I remember corretcly Grivel and Petzl use harder steel than BD which leads to picks breaking rather than just bending. I think to break the pics from the cold it needs to be really friggin' cold. It sounds like he might be overdriving his tools. Is it more of a problem when he leads rather than following, or when folloing something he is uncomfortable on? Does he pull up or go side to side with his picks trying to free them? Side to side is sure way to bend or break them.

[Mountain_Marc]

As for the sticking part, i keep telling him that he should file down the notch on the first tooth.



I think that when he pulls out the notch on the first tooth is always catching the ice.

[Matt Peck]

yeah, you have to bevel the bottom edges of that first tooth, and it helps to increase the angle of the following teeth's bevel as well. That big flat platform below the first tooth acts like a plate to lever against the ice on removal. Bevelling it allows the blade to cut itself out better. The more you bevel this plate out the better it is on ice, but it's fine edging ability on rock becomes compromised. I think there might be some merit to the over driving theory too, and also the side to side levering. I've been climbing for a while on ice and I've never snapped a pick.

[granite_grrl]

As for the sticking part, i keep telling him that he should file down the notch on the first tooth.



I think that when he pulls out the notch on the first tooth is always catching the ice.

That's a hefty first tooth there! He might as well try to file it down, it doesn't sound like picks last long anyway with him.

[mathieu]

That pick looks very flat at the top of it, sharpening the top of the pick will help cut thrue the ice when he pulls on the handle.

[Joe]

I've been using these picks for about 10 years and love them. Because they're thin, they penetrate the ice easily and deep sticks are difficult to remove. I'm quite comfortable with 1/2" sticks. And certainly all the above comments are valid, the bottom teeth must be bevelled and the top should be sharp. Generally my newer picks are more difficult to remove than my older picks. I just filed down the bottom teeth under the stamp "Cascade" on my new picks to ease removal on the occasional deep placement. But the best tip is don't oversink the placements. Ice climbing is all about efficiency.