If you geek-out hard about alpine climbing gear, you will have noted that many manufacturers have begun to develop handy, moveable, pinky or trigger rests for Mountaineering axes. Some of the more popular axes with this feature are the Grivel air tech evo (equipped with the “slider”) and the Petzl Aztarex.

The consensus has been that the Grivel slider (available as an accessory) is nice but the bungee attachment (that keeps the slider up when not in use) breaks leaving you with a rogue slider. The slider also requires some trickery to adapt to a non-Grivel tool.

And the stowable pinky rest on the aztarex, while slick, is a major pain to stow/deploy.

With all these issues with the oh-so important modular pinky rest… What is one to do? Enter the new Petzl Trigrest as featured on the new Sum’Tec…

The Trigrest seems to be the best thing going to date for modular pinky rests. Although this gadget is most prominently featured on the new Petzl Sum’Tec (which was introduced to North America at the summer 08 Outdoor Retailer show), it is also available for purchase as an accessory. Best of all, it fits on my favorite axe the Black Diamond Venom! The orange tab acts as a sort of friction lock (I guess a bit like a quick release skewer on a bike? if you will)

Undoubtedly, Petzl did not have this application in mind when offering the Trigrest as a seperate piece. In fact, they explicitly state that it is made for the Quark and Aztar axes exclusively, it seems to work quite nicely on this and I assume any other similar sized axe. I prefer this to any other mod out there that I have seen, becuase it does not require drilling and is comparatively inexpensive.

I’ll keep you updated on how it all works out in the mountains…

Mike

“Watch this guy, this is a very good technique”, said in heavily accented English during my first alpine route in Chamonix. I was halfway up the route Arete des Cosmiques “mock-guiding” a friend through a technical transition, when a group of Dutch mountain guide trainees caught up with us.

Despite the initial praise from their trainer, I quickly tangled my rope and proceeded to demonstrate what happens when you rush. Quickly turning a slick technique into a cluster-f*#K. Hmm… good thing I’m here early to fluff it now rather than when it really counts!

The past few days have been a combination of training and reconnaissance getting ready for the AMGA Advanced Alpine Guides Course that begins in June.  I’ve been told time and time again that Chamonix is the place to come and get dialed-in on the alpine skills and a week here seems to equal an entire season of lower-48 alpine climbing!

Here is a video shot over the past three days in some very popular zones. The rescue (helicopter) scenes were shot yesterday on the Papillion Ridge below the Aiguille des Paigne. These kinds of training missions are what makes the PGHM the best in the world! Kind of wild having these guys practive short haul drop-offs and technical landings so close.

mike