UKC

"Leashless climbing, surely that's a bit risky, what if you drop an axe two pitches up?"

"So, when I was offered the opportunity to test Petzl's Nomic ice tools I was more than a little dubious. What if I hated them?"

UKClimbing.com's Gear Editor Kevin Avery ditches the leashes and sees the future...

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=1790

In reply to UKC Gear:

Nice review but alot of people I've met (myself included) use Nomics with leases. I simply set up a system to use the black diamond clipper leases and modified the shaft.

I have used them leaseless and it's fine for me up to WI 4+ and scottish 5 but once it gets vertical for over about 6 metres I always get very tired without leashes. With leases I can use the leash to relax onto and relax my grip on the shaft. The leashes also give much more security on the longer scottish routes.

i am a little tired of all this leashless is the way forward malarky when many people I've met disagree.

In reply to UKC Gear:
Fantastic, it's great to see that people are starting to see the light with the leashless revolution. I have been climbing leashless for the last 5 years and would never go back. I have climbed with quite a few climbers sponsored with other brands yet the Nomics have always been preferred to anything else so far. The weight and angles of picks and handles have been tweaked to perfection. I can't wait for them to bring one out with a hammer and Adze too.
On the topic of Leashless climbing the best advice I can possibly give is, it's essential that you climb with thin (ish) gloves. This improves your grip on the shaft and finger dexterity. You are much more likely to drop or fumble a tool with chunky gloves. I always climb with a thin pair of softshell gloves and keep a thicker pair for belaying in my jacket. When you get to the belay, if you take your thin gloves off and put them next to your skin on your chest, they stay warm ready for the next pitch, when needed.
Something else, which is incredibly important, is that when climbing leashless the higher up the shaft you hold any ice axe, the more likely it is to pop off/out of the placement. I have seen this happen way too often this winter, with people taking leader falls onto ice screws as a result. Be careful with this.
Axes that have a double handle like the Nomic, have less tendency for this to happen, but what you really need to watch out for is axes with a continuous curve in the shaft and a finger grip that implies that you can hold the axe higher up the shaft to swop hands.

I hope that helps

Tim

In reply to Tim Emmett: Good advice there Tim.

I have 'gone leashless' this winter and found it pretty amazing.

I wouldn't go back, even on big north faces, certainly not on steep ice!

I've got a couple of lanyards for big stuff to ensure I don't drop a tool.

Jack

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC: I use the BD Cobras leashless and use a lanyard as Jack said to prevent the dropping of an axe...

By far the best axe I have ever used... the handle system allows for the same stability you get on things like the Nomics but as tim said, the trigger is a tad too high so stay lower on the axe if using it to change hands... unless it is a good torque and then it dosn't move, rock solid. Leashless is the only way!