It wasn't bad Paul. I didn't have them but I did a few out of the way hills that people thend to walk past like Troutbeck Tongue. The snow up there was well over the knees at times. You spent most of your time trying to wade through it so a walk that is about 2 hours in summer took us all dasy to do. Very tiring. I must admit the most I saw of people with snow shoes was in the towns but always on rucksacks. I don't doubt those people did get to use them. Also skiers were using the paths we walked on to get up the valley to the tops. We saw a lot of ski tracks on some days.
What I liked about it was the cold. It was so cold that you could do the whole walk in sub zero temperatures including in the valleys so you didn't need waterproof trousers. The snow would stick to your trousers but for most of the days I was out in it you just brushed it off when you got back into the valleys or out of the deep stuff. It was like dust. Although there was one mild day when we got wet as we dropped into the plus C temperature zone and were still wading through the snow. On one walk up the Gatesgarth road / track from the bottom of the Troutbeck valley near the church we hit a gate where the snow was abot a foot below the top of the gate in the middle. YOu could walk on top of the snow and step over the big five barred gate. Last winter was like something from history as far as winter walking goes. I remember about 15 years or so ago you would get proper spells of cold conditions and snow but the time in between the lakes has really been pathetic apart from at most the odd week of deep snowfall. There is a book, long out of print, of Lakes ice climbs. I reckon last year was the last time for many decades you could even consider using that book. I heard of someone checking some of them out to see if the actually made condition to do them. 15 plus years ago my old mountaineering group used to ahve members who would detour off the route most of us were doing to take in an ice climb then re-join us up top. It was then that they could do less and less. We all noticed a change in weather in the winter then.
My only problem with the axe is I sometimes dig the spike in while practising arrests. I know it must be poor technique but a shorter one would be better than my own technique of wrapping my hand around the spike. I am sure if it ever did stick in again it would go into my hand doing it that way. I still remember my first ice axe arrest. I remember it because I didn't stop. The axe did but I didn't! It was an ancient hickory shafted one with a rusted head that was about 90cm. I was at uni and its what they had. Curse of a lanky b'stard is to have the dregs of uni axes. Still there were worse ones than that. One was longer than a trekking pole. I was waiting anxiously one trip when they were handing them out as I had seen the really big one and there were a lot of people on that trip. One had a small head on it too.
Well the grivel airtechs are expensive aren't they. Are they much better than the monte rosas in steel? I am not going to be using them much at all as I mostly wear fell shoes in winter. It is only on some walks I might carry them so nothing too flashy. Beside most of those I am out with don't ahve them so the group would turn around before they were needed mostly. Only a few small groups walks would need them.
I don't think the Grivel Munro has a problem as such. It is the interface between your gloves and the axe that is the issue. If you have gloves with a good grip it is fine (I've not had a problem gripping mine when practice self arrests in Scotland or in Spain - where the snow actually feels quite different). However, I now have a bicycle inner tube on mine, as I find the cold seeps through my gloves eventually (I don't like really thick gloves). Grip is even better with this improvement.
First rule of self arrests in crampons is to bend the knees up immediately. Keep the points as far from the ground as possible as the damn things grip like crazy if they get a chance to dig into the ice.
Find a local metal worker who can have a go at it. It isn't a big job to move the end spike up a bit really. I have done it.
Its a great axe and if you don't want it I will!
Nowt wrong with the crampons either. front points are much better for climbing but good technique will see you well perfectly with 8 point. After all most of the hard stuff done pre war and indeed into the 60's was doen without front points. Again I'll have them if you must update.
