Arresting with a Whippet

Rather than cap the whippet, I pop the head off of mine when skiing down.  It actually removes very easily and stows on the pack, to be reattached for the next climb.  I've left it on skiing down occasionally, but I tend to avoid skiing slopes that are so steep/hard that a slip would leave me in trouble.

I arrested several short, silly slips on Hood this weekend with it, all due to precarious kick turns on tired legs.  I think it's very useful for stopping a fall before it gets out of control.  I still plan on taking it out and trying full-on arresting with it, but I'm not hopeful for its performance, apart from it redirecting my ski edges down, so they can do the real stopping...

My wife has a Condor and loves it for the added security and quick deploy/stow.  I think it might have a little more bite depth than the Whippet, if push came to shove.

I've thought about buying a second Whippet, but would hope to get an older removable head.  I don't like the permanently fixed ones as much...

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

I've been using Ramer Claws since the 1980s. These days I typically use a Claw in one hand and a Whippet in the other hand. I also use these tools more for the ascent than for the descent. If the snow is hard I use the Whippet; if it's soft I use the Claw. During the Mt Baker orbit a few weeks ago my skis slipped out while skinning up the Grouse Creek drainage in the morning shadows. The Whippet (and my ski edges) helped arrest the minor slide that resulted. The only problem was that I was wearing fingerless biking gloves, so I skinned one knuckle pretty badly before stopping. Wear good gloves when it's crusty!

The ski crampons went on right after that.

Since Claws have come into the discussion, it's worth noting we touched on this comparative conversation in the past . In the event it's at all enlightening...

That skykilo in the other thread was a real idiot.
*adieu->ado
*steps should always be made carefully

I sold both of my whippets some years ago and now I only use ice axes. To each their own.

Although I have never self-arrested a true fall with them, the old school removable Grivel self arrest grips I have are pretty nice. Rather than an ice axe style pick they have a ~2" wide reinforced plastic blade with 2 metal prongs at the end. In snow these feel a lot more secure than the thin pick of a whippet, and they are easily removed for normal skiing. Unfortunately they are not made anymore; I can't even find a picture on the Google machine. For harder snow or ice they are less ideal, but I find that ski tourers are usually dealing with hard snow, not ice. If I expect ice, I bring an ice axe.

I had a pair of those a long time ago -- I'm pretty sure they were Chouinard (pre-BD).