UKC

I need an ice axe which I'll  be using for general mountaineering, steep ski mountaineering, and the occasional blue ice glacier. I've done some research, and landed on either the Petzl Summit Evo or the Grivel Air Tech Evolution. They seem pretty similar, the minor differences being that the Petzl is slightly lighter than the Grivel, and Grivel possibly being more durable. 

Any experiences with either of these, or possibly both? Any reason I should choose one over the other? Or are there other ice axes I should consider? 

It will be my first ice axe, so I also wonder how long it should be? I'm 167 cm. I'm guessing either 48 or 53 cm for the Grivel, or 52 cm for the Petzl. They don't have them in any stores near where I live.

I have a Petzl Summit, and I really don't think the Evo adds anything personally - I'd rather have a Summit with the option of tool(s) if I thought it was going to be at all technical, than an axe that mostly pretends to do anything better than the less technical version of it.

Beyond that, the Summit is a fantastic axe in my personal opinion.

Thanks for your quick reply!

The reason I want to go for the Evo is because of the rubber grip. I'll wear gloves or mittens most of the time, so I think the extra friction will be good for grip. 

I have the Airtech Evo and find the handle quite unsubstantial : I would like it much better if it were slightly thicker; there's just not much to grab onto. I also find it rather slippery when it gets wet. I've tried wrapping it with tape but that just gets trashed after a few days of plunging

I'm actually replacing it with the DMM Raptor as the handle on DMM axes is much nicer IMO and at £65 it was a steal

That's a fair point - I don't think mine has ever actually been held by that end in anger before. If you anticipate swinging it quite a bit rather than it mostly being used for plunging or daggering up steeper snow, the Sum'Tec might be worth a look at.

The Raptor is significantly heavier than any of the Petzl options or the Air Tech. It's even heavier than a Viper, which seems unreasonable for a mountaineering axe.

I have an Evo and a Raptor - much prefer the Evo as it feels much lighter and less head heavy in the hand. Chops steps nicely if that matter to you. I used to own an Airtech until I stupidly left it on Ben Macdui - the Airtech was a fine axe, but as someone with large hands, I prefer the thicker shaft on the Evo. 

The main thing the airtech evo offers over other axes in it's class is T rated pick and shaft. Great if you plan on belaying from it, doing lots crevasse rescues (hopefully just practices!), or regularly torquing the pick into cracks!

If you decide you want one I've got a 53cm one (or maybe 48cm, will have to measure when I get home) I have been meaning to sell for awhile and keep forgetting about. It's a few years old but only carried on a couple of ski tours, never even used. I got a pair of singing rock bandits just after as I was getting into more technical climbing and just use them for everything so the evo got put in the back of a cupboard and forgotten about. PM me if interested...

Interesting... I guess time will tell if I've made the right choice, but, as I said, I really dislike the handle on the Evo and, at £65, the Raptor was worth a punt.

Yeah, it's 167 grams heavier than the Evo, but my understanding is that, for a modular design, that's actually not that bad

I sold my Grivel Air Tech Evo recently with a chance of getting Petzl Summit Evo. I am not sure why I wanted a change, but I wasn't particularly happy with the Air Tech Evo anymore. I agree with asteclaru's comment on the slippery handle - didn't think of that myself! The top of the handle/head also didn't feel nice and it was biting into gloves/fingers too much to my liking. 

Ended up with Black Diamond Swift. Feels solid, just waiting for the snow now... 

Thank you for all your replies. From what I'm reading, you've made the choice pretty easy, and it looks like I can't go wrong with the Petzl Summit Evo. The DMM Raptor is a bit on the heavy side, especially since it seems like the Evo will be more than good enough. 

If i remember rightly, the standard Summit is even lighter than the Evo version

Used to have the Grivel, now own the Petzl Summit (way lighter than the EVO version).  The standard Summit is the best standard axe I have owned.  Have a google on here for past threads where everyone loves them. They are light, all the angles are brilliant.  And they are sharp, and cut into ice almost as well as a tech axe.

The lack of rubber grip is not any issue out in the field.  Although having said that I always use a leash (knotted tape) on my standard axe.  Many don't, but then have they ever been blown off a ridge and absolutely needed that axe near their hand to arrest a slide down the face...?  I suppose if you did want to ditch the leash a more substantial grip could be of use.  Of course, that weighty grip would be useless if you ARE suddenly blown off the ridge and drop the axe...

Axe length 52 cm.  My height 172cm.

Have fun.

Personally I really like the Grivel air tech. The shaft coming all the way up to the top of the head makes it more comfortable to use as a support or to plunge than most other axes, as there is more surface area. They are also very very solidly built. They are about the same weight as Petzl evo. Being T rated probably won’t be a big thing though as most likely the snow will fail before a b rated shaft and you probably aren’t doing climbing that would required a t rated pick on a mountaineering axe, but it does give some peace of mind I guess. I’d choose which ever feels best in the hand to you. Mine is one of th longer lengths (58 or 66 can’t mind) which I like as I can get support of it on most slopes (and it does give a more secure snow anchor) but that comes at weight costs (although I wouldn’t need walking poles too so could be lighter overall).

I'd entirely agree that you don't get anything more for the additional way, but way lighter might be pushing it. There's 40g in it for the shorter lengths, and 50g at the length for unreasonably tall people. Barely a single wiregate difference!