UKC

Does anyone definitively know if the Black Diamond Venom Ice Axe has Technical rated shaft for belaying? I have seen contradictory evidence for and against its ability. The Black Diamond website is also fairly light on technical information. Thanks

In reply to BaggieBoy:

The Black Diamond Venom is only rated as B so technically it shouldn't be used for axe belays.

In reply to Richard Carter: Thanks

In reply to BaggieBoy: I thought the shaft of all axes were 'T' rated. so could be used for ice axe belays. the 'B' rating is for the bendy pick, which won't cope with the forces if using it for technical climbing techniques such as torquing in cracks etc.

Also if your building a an axe belay, i'm sure the snow will give way long before the shaft of an axe and that any ice axe belay should be indirect and the climber should be part of the system to prevent shock loading the axe, causing the snow to fail.

personally, i wouldn't have a problem using it for ice axes belays

In reply to martianb:

Most are but the new ultra light axes that are getting popular sometimes aren't. In the case of the BD Venom the shaft is B rated (the needlesports listing confirms this and also links to the UIAA testing pdf).


Don Bogie looks at snow stakes ( http://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/objects/ISSW_O-061.pdf ) and seemed to get anchors failing from anywhere between 2kN and 10kN. Given a B rated shaft is only good to 2.5 kN I wouldn't have said it was impossible to break the shaft before the snow fails.

In reply to speekingleesh: Ahhh... superlight Gucci gear always has its draw backs.Thnaks for the update though, every day is a school day.