An ice tool is a short, curved-shaft technical axe designed for climbing steep ice and mixed terrain, used in pairs. Compared with a mountaineering ice axe, it has an aggressive, drooped pick and an ergonomic grip for swinging into vertical ice and hooking rock. Ice and mixed climbers carry two.
A jumar is a handled mechanical ascender used to climb a fixed rope, gripping when weighted and sliding up when pushed. 'Jumar' is a brand name turned generic, and ascending a rope this way is called 'jumaring' or 'jugging'. It's essential for big-wall aid climbing, expedition fixed ropes, and crevasse rescue.
A picket is a sturdy aluminium stake, typically 60-90 cm long, used to build snow anchors. It can be driven into firm snow at an angle or buried horizontally as a deadman in softer snow. Pickets are the workhorse snow-protection piece for steep snow climbing, crevasse rescue, and snow belays.
A snow stake is a flat aluminium stake driven into or buried in snow to build an anchor where there is no rock or ice. Used as a vertical placement or a horizontal buried 'deadman', its holding power depends on the snow's firmness. It's a staple of the snow-anchor toolkit alongside the picket.
A bivouac, or bivy, is a minimalist overnight stop on a mountain, often unplanned, using little or no shelter beyond a bivy sack or improvised cover. Alpinists deliberately bivy to climb light and fast on long routes, while an unplanned 'forced bivy' is an emergency when a party is caught out overnight.
A Z-pulley, or Z-drag, is a rope hauling system that creates roughly a 3:1 mechanical advantage by routing the rope through anchors and pulleys in a Z shape. It is the standard system for hauling a climber out of a crevasse, letting a small team lift a heavy load with a fraction of the force.
Postholing is sinking deep into soft snow with each step, leaving holes like postholes, because the snow won't support your weight. It's exhausting and slow, and is the problem snowshoes and skis solve. Snow tends to firm up overnight, so an early alpine start often avoids the postholing that afternoon softening brings.
Glissading is descending a snow slope quickly and deliberately by sliding — on your feet (standing glissade) or seated — using an ice axe to control speed and stop. It is a fast, fun way down, but glissading with crampons on is dangerous (catching a point can break a leg), and runout hazards must be checked first.
A snow anchor is a point of attachment built in snow to hold a climber, belay, or rappel, since snow offers no cracks for rock gear. Methods include buried 'deadman' anchors like a picket, snow stake, or buried ice axe, and the snow bollard carved from the snow itself. Their strength depends entirely on snow quality.
Fixed ropes are ropes anchored in place along a route, left for climbers to clip into or ascend with mechanical ascenders. Common on big expedition peaks and steep snow, they speed travel and add security on terrain that would be slow or dangerous to climb unroped — but they rely on the ropes and anchors being sound.