Arresting with a Whippet

Personally I've never used, bought, or felt the need for one.  If I feel I need a pick, belay, or adze, I just bust out the axe.  Are there disadvantages to that?  If there are, I wouldn't be one to know.

That was my attitude, but then a friend asked how I would self-arrest were I to slip while skinning up very steep terrain (e.g., Shasta's Avalanche Gulch or Hotlum-Wintun Ridge). Hmm. So I got a Grivel Condor: super quick & easy to deploy when the skinning gets steep, then super quick & easy to retract for the descent. (Note that the BD Whippet starting in Fall 07 is permanently attached -- the prior version could be removed, but far more difficult than retracting the Condor's pick.)

The Black Diamond pick protector fits perfectly over the pick of a whippet and makes the whippet a lot safer to ski with in times when you don't need to have it ready to arrest a fall.  I ski with the pick protector over my whippet most of the time, only taking it off when i'm on steep icy snow.    I think all the new whippets sold come with one of these protectors, but they can be bought separately for about $5.

Jill and I also use the Grivel Condor during spring/summer trips.  I have not had a sliding experience yet. I also share Scotty's concern about scraping my face with the pick especially when I stop to wipe some sweat off my forehead.  I have used it a few times when boot packing a steep face and also to anchor my pack when removing my skins on a steep slope.  I've noticed that more skiers seem to slip/slide during ascent rather than during a descent.  This spring/summer, we started using our Voile ski crampons on just about every tour.  I find I use less energy ascending due to the elimination of slipping.  Plus, I have a more secure position during steep kick turns.  Everyone has an opinion on ski crampons, locked versus floating, and I'm only mentioning what we do.  You have to remember - we're old and slow.  

Learn to self arrest (though better to really have self-belay down is you have the tool(s) ) with a ski pole tip and I bet you will really like the wippet! I'm thinking of getting a wippet sometime now that I have bent a number of poles...

...but then a friend asked how I would self-arrest were I to slip while skinning up very steep terrain...

I just use my axe and a ski pole with the given scenario.  Usually if the slope is steep enough for me to need an axe, then if I carry it on the uphill side (switching back and forth on kickturns), I have never had a need for a whippet and my axe is just the right height (70 cm).  If it's steep and deep, no need for the axe, just two poles. However, I'm also one who just boots up when it gets really steep too.  I'm not too comfortable skinning on steep, hardpacked snow.

The looks of the Whippet has always given me chills and visions of self mutilation in the case of a "yard sale" type fall (of which I've had my share).
Pete's suggestion to use a guard is a good one.  I didn't know that BD made all those different types of guards -- seems to me like a good market call on their part.

Nonetheless, due to those fears and because of the knuckle protection, larger surface area and other differences, I have always leaned towards the Ramer Claw


Of course the proponents of the Whippet are quick to point out that the Claw is inferior to the Whippet during an arrest attempt on hard snow and I would tend to agree, even though I have not put the whippet to that test and do not intend to. 

In fact, being more of a skier rather than a summiter, I tend to turn around when the snow gets hard.  The exception to that would be on a long climb, such as on Adams, which requires the geezerly type to start quite early for a day trip and thus at times necessitates climbing on hard snow in hopes of the sun turning it into corn later in the day.  In such an instance I may switch to the axe when I go to boot crampons if the snow is hard enough.  Otherwise I'll us my Claw equipped ski poles then as well.

As Jonathan and Zap touched on, I think self arrest grips are every bit, if not more important for arresting and even preventing falls on the up climb rather than solely for arresting falls on the ski down. 
I wouldn't hope to even come close to count the times when my skis have slid out from under me while skinning up and I've used the Claws to stop, at times before my upper body even dropped below the skin track. 

I also find myself regularly using them for makeshift climbing tools when booting up short steep pitches or even grassy slopes (in fact, I used them for hand climbing tools to boot up the road cut at Reflection Lakes at the beginning of our Foss Pk tour a couple of Sundays ago). 
And of course, the frosting on the cake is falling in love with the "cane grip" option and the use of the grip end for eliminating bending over to pick things up and even to lock the Dynafit toe levers into tour mode (old people really like those conveniences 

Getting back to the subject of arresting a ski fall, a few years ago, while working on a commercial film about bc skiing, Dan Larson managed to get a VIDEO CLIP of me putting the Claws to good use after a klutzy fall caused by my crossing my tails (which JW was kind enough to post on his really cool "JWPixels.com" web site).

I would be interested in knowing how many others, if any, share my (possibly misguided) passion for the Ramer Claws.