For me, the Nomic was as close to the answer as I’d found. All said and done, I still wanted that one tool that feels good to me for both rock and steep ice. I’ve always loved my Cobra’s for the alpine but, appreciated how natural and efficient the swing of the Nomic was. Over the past couple of seasons, I’ve swung the BD Fusion, Fuel, Cobra, and Petzl’s Nomic. This season however, I was psyched to discover a technical ice tool that without a doubt, works best for me throughout the diverse terrain of big mixed climbs–the Cassin X-Dream. Pick angle, flex in the shaft, pick profile and grip/pommel shape all seemed to create the need for compromise. Others that swung and stuck in steep ice beautifully but had some annoying pick angle shift when matching on secondary pommels. I’ve had tools that I loved dry tooling with but seemed to often require me to swing and swing, until I created a hole to hook. Conversations with other climbers driven by our shared passion seem to confirm that many of the “newest/latest” tools excel at steep rock climbing or at steep and technical ice but only very few seemed to do both equally well. Photo by Chris Gibisch.Īs the mixed grades get pushed, the equipment manufacturers have responded with innovative design. Jeff Shaprio getting serious with the X-Dreams. In the last 28 years, I’ve seen a lot of change in ice tool design – shape, weight, pick angle, profile – and one thing I can’t deny is that when I have a tool that is natural to swing, I’m more confident and in the end, have more fun. My ice tools, for instance, are a component of my kit that directly interact with the most critical part of my environment and are my link to moving efficiently and safely through technical terrain. For me, confidence is affected by many facets: experience, conditions, physical and mental health and, for sure, the equipment I’m using. Nothing affects my ice climbing experience more than confidence. Here he shares his experience with his new favorite ice tool, the Cassin X-Dream. Jeff Shapiro is a man often called to steep, icy walls.
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