Posts
It only took one bad experience for me to want a ski specific axe. Dropping into a gully late in the afternoon and then running into hard ice after the surface slide off frankly scared me. Watching everyone pull out their single aluminum tool while either on skis or a snow board as I began setting screws was a little more hair ball than I really appreciated. Wouldn't have taken much on anyone's part that afternoon to really fook things up beyond repair.
Later that week I went to Snells and bought two Sum'tec's One for me and one for my long time ski partner. I really, really like the tool. Hammer is great for setting pro. Pick and weight is good in hard ice conditions. The same kind of ice that scares me as a skier.
A pair of them actually make a decent pair of alpine ice tools. But using them sure made me want a pair of chopped up and a little less technical Nomics even more. Easy design transition if you have any imagination. Take a chop saw to a Quark would do the trick as well. Thankfully Petzl and Ueli Steck saved most of us the cash and trouble of finding a chop saw..
Two new tools from Petzl this year. The new "Sum'tec" is just a toned down Nomic. The lwt skimo axe, The Gully, handy and lwt if you aren't a chuckle head like me and get yourself into trouble on occasion.
The new Petzl tools should be available by Late July '17.
Ueli Steck's previous PROTOTYPE lwt technical tool below. And still the version I would REALLY like to own.
The new Sum'tec: 480g or less in a 55cm in length.
Steck , Kilian and a few others have been playing with the proto-types
of both tools for awhile now. A pair of them weighs about the same as one Quark.
9 comments:
Probably will not end super well if one tries to hack saw quarks into something like the the steck prototype picture. It turns out under the quark grip, the metal tapers down to a tiny tube (maybe half inch?). Ask me how I know...
I do NOT like new Sum'Tec, especially its spike.
I own one old 59cm Sum'Tec and I do find its spike very, very well thought out. It is an invaluable tool for feeling what kind of "snow" lies on which depth.
New Sum'Tec spike seems more like BD Raven Pro one (I also own that axe) and from photos I can tell that it will be much less useful for me.
Thanks for posting this Dane. I was just starting to look around for some Sumtecs, as my older Petzl Charlets are a little on the heavy side compared to modern tools.
Will be interesting to see how the Gully performs - the light weight sounds great, but there must come a point where mass affects performance on hard ice. I think that it will all come down to the materials and design of the pick...either way, I'll be getting a couple of new ice tools later this year.
Did the "Gully" get changed to the "Ride". They look the same but no hammer option.
Do you know/think the new modular Sumtec will be available in a shorter 43cm version like the old one?
43cm? With a chopped shaft and no spike? Hope so because that s the version I use in the Sumtec and what I'd like in the new versions. Easy enough to make I guess by the factory or at home if need be.
Actually, those tools seem quite similar to the Simond Naja Lights. I had the Simonds in my hand at a Decathlon shop and I was quite surprised by how light they are. Any info on how different are the Petzl and the Simond blades?
So that means the Sumtec gets a T rated pick? Pity I can't wait for it to appear because I need a new axe for April.
Just talked with a Petzl sales rep, no 43cm length (cut shaft no spike) of the Sumtec will be released. I guess we'll have to cut our own version and add magic tape. Shouldn't be too difficult.
Also noticed recently the 50cm Cassin X-Light which is also a modular lightweight tool in the same league as the Sumtec. Anyone with experience with it?
Post a Comment