Alpinist

The Sum'Tec is offered with either an adze or a hammer, with various shaft lengths: 52 cm for the hammer version and 52 or 59 cm for the adze version. Each features a 3.5 mm "B"-rated pick connected to a "T"-rated, slightly curved aluminum shaft. A quick click of the Trigrest allows it to slide from technical tool positioning up the shaft to the head, such that the spike can be used as an effective balance point in piolet-canne position. The spike also features an..." go to full review

The DMM is a really nice tool—quality-built, nice design and a good price point. But—of course—"really nice" is the kiss of death in so many love triangles. You may have noted that I've spent more than a little bit of time talking about the Petzl Nomic. Simple, clean lines, crisp swing, solid placements, easy removals and versatility with accessories: in the end, that's the tool by which I still measure all others and the one I keep going back to...." go to full review

The Corsa is ideal for low-angle glacier travel, moderate ski mountaineering and adventure racing but, if there's a chance you might find yourself in more serious terrain, you'll wish you packed something more hefty...." go to full review

The Corsa Nanotech was designed to be a high altitude and ski mountaineering tool and as such it excels. Its super light weight means that it can be thrown on a pack "just in case" at little cost. This makes it an ideal axe for climbers who are looking to go light and fast without compromising their safety on snow. Paired with an ice tool it makes an excellent combo for alpinists looking to move quickly over moderate terrain. This is the lightweight mountain axe and deserves the..." go to full review

In all, this is an amazing all-around ice axe. It is ideal for any weight-conscious climber who needs a do-it-all tool in more technical alpine terrain. Like any solid partner, the Sum'tec is faithful, reliable and game for whatever adventure you have in mind...." go to full review

The performance of this axe was decent, but it was not good enough to outweigh its two pitfalls: weight and price. My beef with the Monte Bianco is that there are so many axes out there that are designed for the same purpose at half the weight and half the price. Put simply, this axe is not for technical mountaineering. Fine. But why spend so much on a piece of gear when you can get something that is better at a cheaper price? For this reason, it is difficult to recommend the Monte Bianco to..." go to full review

There are only so many ways of describing an ice tool. Attributes worth discussing are shaft clearance, pick angle and spike pointy-ness—the X-All Mountain excels at all of them. But in reality, biomechanics have a lot to do with matching a user to their perfect tool. And the X-All Mountain feels like a custom tool made just for me. I have climbed dozens of pitches with this tool, and put it into many beginners' hands. Instant feedback from novices included comments about the light..." go to full review

All in all, the new modular Quark is a great do-it-all technical transformer. With a few turns of the wrench you have a full-on ice climbing tool—or a stripped-down alpine tool. If you love getting into the mountains and are looking for one set of tools that can do everything well, I highly recommend the Quark. Poke around for more functional after-market components and you could make the few drawbacks here disappear.go to full review

The Nomic is excellent on steep ice and in mixed terrain—no question—and I will continue to use it there. But, spike or no spike, it just isn't an all-around alpine tool (no matter what Ueli Steck says). The curved shaft, the steep pick and the offset handle mean that it can't perform well on ice that isn't steep. It is awkward to try to swing into grade-two ice. That offset handle combined with the protruding upper grip means the tool also won't plunge well into snow...." go to full review

while the design looks too strange to be functional, and the price tag steep, I have to admit the performance of this odd shape signals a notable advance in ice axe technology. Based solely on mixed climbing performance, I would give this axe five stars without hesitation, but I feel my aforementioned criticisms do detract from the overall product. Nonetheless, Grivel has produced a forward-thinking design sure to give any (well-funded) mixed climber an advantage.go to full review