How to Ice Climb Series #9: Sharpening your picks

Sharp picks matter, but most people screw up sharpening them. Here's how to do it right!

[@chriskaplan6109]

I too am in a boot right now, Will. Got an ankle fracture. Keeping myself in good spirits by watching all your vids! Thanks :) Hope you recover quickly!

[@willgadd2187]

Drat. Heal fast!

[@patrickn4171]

This is great! Thank you, Will. I have a big nasty bur on one of my tools and none of the other sharpening guides I watched addressed how to deal with big burs, especially on the bottom like that.

[@m1k119]

Thank you Will ! Good men.

[@TheWinterfan]

I was taught to knock the razor sharp edge off of the bevel to help it last longer.

[@XIWreckYouX]

Thank you Will, for sharing how you sharpen your tools. It appears you use a single cut file. Makes sense when material is hard to add back to the tip.

[@snow_e]

Hey Will, great video and great series, thanks! Do the same principals and shaping apply to crampon front points? Thanks

[@willgadd2187]

Yes, absolutely

[@OliverFetter]

Hi Will, love your videos. They are giga helpful. I'm curious about crampons, there's so many different situations you can encounter in the mountains - snowy approaches, icy climbs, rock segments, and potentially all of them in the same day.. how do you select a crampons for your outing? Seems like vertical points are worse in snow but choice for steep sections 💁💁 but you have to walk through the snow to get there!! Thanks!

[@willgadd2187]

Hi, if I could only have one crampon it would be the Sabretooth. Works well for about anything out there, move the bail forward for walking on glaciers, back for ice, keep the fronpoints sharp. I've climbed mhard and classic mountaineering in them. HTH.

[@OliverFetter]

@@willgadd2187 thank you!

[@brianrodman1033]

Are those a new Black Diamond ice tool that's going to be released soon? Glad to see you go into some detail on the files you use for ice pick maintenance. I'll have to rewatch once I get my ice tools out to work on sharpening the picks.

[@willgadd2187]

These are classic Cobras or Fuels, new ones next year :) .

[@brianrodman1033]

@@willgadd2187 I thought I saw something like a Cobra (carbon fiber shaft) with a handle like the Fuel? Or maybe the way the video was cut made me think I was seeing the same tool when it was actually two different ones.

[@marctcholkayan]

Thanks! Do you sharpen your screws?

[@tyrionas]

Hello Will, Thank you very much for your video series, great help for someone like me trying to get into the sport. I am gonna have my first beginner course at the end of February by the way. Quick question though, what Ice tools would you recommend to buy? I am not planning on doing overhanging ice nor drytooling, I think I would like something that is good in technical mountaineering and steep/vertical ice.

[@vincentkrause7097]

Then I would recommend an classic Ice Tool like the Black Diamond Viper. It is like the Carbon fibre Tools shown in the video but cheper because its made of aluminium. It is not as bend like a mixed climbing tool so also great for technical mountaneering when you have to plunge your tools into snow etc.

[@tyrionas]

@@vincentkrause7097 Ah thanks, in the same vein, I was thinking of getting the Grivel north machines, I Picked them up in a shop and I really like their handles. The petzl quarks are pretty good too but somehow much more expensive where I live. Haven't tried the BD Vipers yet.

[@vincentkrause7097]

@@tyrionas Yes Quarks are good and same shape as the Vipers. But I recommemd the Vipers because Will Gadd and this Video is sponsored by Black Diamond 😉

[@tyrionas]

@@vincentkrause7097 do you have an opinion about the north machines?

[@vincentkrause7097]

@@tyrionas Never tried them, but the shape Looks good for Allround technical mountaneering. But they are missing a second Hand rest above the grip

[@olddirtydoggy]

The part about cheap files sanding the picks rather than cutting them is total rubbish and I've no idea why you said that. I use a cheap half round on my picks and it files the edge up perfectly well. If I was running a hire shop or a guiding company I might upgrade to a diamond file but for the regular leisure user, a cheap half round is fine.

[@miferna]

None said anything about diamond files, which btw are great for touch ups in cutting tools but not meant for heavy metal removal. I guess he is referring to avoid buying El Cheapo files and get a nice Nicolson (for people in the US) or Bellota / Erizo in my neck of the woods (Spain). Good files cut better and last longer. Chineese specials don't last that much and teeth are often wonky. Is not that big of an investment considering is going to take years to wear out a good file and that said good file is not actualy to expensive.

[@olddirtydoggy]

@@miferna You are both right and wrong

[@willgadd2187]

I don't use Diamond files either, but there's a big spectrum of quality in the hardware store files I've bought over the years. Generally the more expensive ones keep working a lot longer than the cheap ass ones I bought, plus they have better handles etc. I bought a few from Lee Valley that are still working well long after the Wally World ones are near useless. But I may be a relatively heavy user, and also use them on my chainsaws. One thing I've repeatedly learned over the years is that there is a big difference between price and long term value.

[@olddirtydoggy]

@@willgadd2187 Thanks for the reply. We all have opinions on the internet. Have a great season. ;)

[@lucyoriginales]

🫢 what happened to ur ankle, sir?! 🫣

[@willgadd2187]

Mountain biking stoke!

[@twinmike1]

Can you elaborate of the Russian steel? What process in tempering do they do different? Just curious.

[@willgadd2187]

Krukonoggi had some incredible durable picks that the Russians sharpened with Dremel tools. I don't know what they did to get that temper.

[@antongolovanov7495]

Krukonogi from Saint Petersburg make picks from armour steel (without specifying which one). Thir picks are hard to blunt, but, if you succeed, even harder to sharpen)

[@lucyoriginales]

🫢 this looks surgical 🫢