Snow and Ice Anchors
Below is a series of links to all the publically available research on webbing anchor testing we have found to date (we exclude papers with analyses and other citations because there are so many!). We have made an attempt to find as much as we could, but it is a work in progress. If you know of any additional testing we are missing, please bring it to our attention (contact us)!
Published Papers:
Unpublished Research:
Videos of Ice/Snow Anchor Testing:
Videos of Building Ice/Snow Anchors and Testing them with Human Loads:
Miscellaneous Snow/Ice Anchor Papers:
Published Papers:
- Austin, George, 1966, Equipment Testing, Accidents in American Mountaineering 1966:6-10
- Bedogni, Vittorio, Manes, Andrea, 2012, An Experimental Investigation of the effect of the placement angle on the collapse of ice screw anchors, Engineering Failure Analysis 26:139-150
- Beverly, Marc, Attaway, Stephen, 2005, Dynamic Shock load Evaluation of Ice Screws: A Real-World Look, Proceedings of the International Technical Rescue Symposium 2005 (Also posted on the Mountain Rescue Association grant archive page here)
- Beverly, Marc, Attaway, Stephen, 2008, Ice Climbing Anchor Strength: An In-Depth Analysis, Proceedings of the International Technical Rescue Symposium 2008
- Candela, Salvatore, Latosuo, Eeva, 2012, Multiple Linear Regression Modeling and the Correlation Between Surface Area, Snow Density and Burial Depth of Improvised Snow Protection, Proceedings of the 2012 International Snow Science Workshop, Anchorage, Alaska
- Fortini, Art, Morales, Joe, 2001, Failure Modes of Snow Anchors, Proceedings of the International Technical Rescue Symposium 2001
- Fortini, Art, 2002, On the Use of Pickets and Flukes as Snow Anchors, Proceedings of the International Technical Rescue Symposium 2002 (the powerpoint slide s are posted here)
- Fortini, Art, 2005, Failure Modes of Snow Anchors: Part III, Proceedings of the International Technical Rescue Symposium 2005 (also posted on the Mountain Rescue Association Grant Archive page here)
- Fortini, Art, 2008, Drop Testing with Snow Anchors, Proceedings of the International Technical Rescue Symposium 2008 (Powerpoint presentation here)
- Harmston, Chris, 1999, Myths, Cautions, and Techniques of Ice Screw Placement, Proceedings of the International Technical Rescue Symposium 1999
- Hellberg, Von Florian, Semmel, Chris, 2010, Eiszeit, Standplatzbau I'm Eis, Panorama 2010(1):58-60 (Document in German)
- Luebben, Craig, 1997, The Cold Truth - How strong is ice protection? Climbing Magazine Nov. 1 -Dec. 13, pp. 106-114
- McDonald, Mike, 2005, Backyard Testing: Pitfalls, Pratfalls and Things That Go Bump in the Night, Proceedings of the International Technical Rescue Symposium 2005 (Also posted on the Mountain Rescue Association grant archive page here
- Schubert, Von Pit, 2000, Eisgerate auf dem Prufstand, Teil II, Panorama 2000(6):64-67 (Document in German)
- Semmel, Von Chris, Stopper, Dieter, 2005, Eiskalt und doch BrandheiB? Panorama 2005(2):91-94 (Document in German)
- Semmel, Von Chris, Hellberg, Florian, 2008, Schraubwurdige Sicherheit, Panorama 2008(4):65-67 (Document in German)
- Smith, Gordon, 2009. Strength of V-Thread versus A-Thread Ice Anchors In Melting Glacier Ice, Proceedings of the International Technical Rescue Symposium 2009
- Sulser, Karl, 2011, Und das soll halten? Kixpunkte in Firn und schnee, Panorama 2011(2):65-67 (Document in German)
Unpublished Research:
- Bennett, Warren, Alziati, Stefano, 2003, Simulating and Testing Ice Screw Performance in the Laboratory, Final Report
- Blair, K., Custer, D., Alziati, A., Bennett, W., Unknown Date a, The effect of load rate, placement angle, and ice type on ice screw failure (paper, also posted here)
- Blair, K., Custer, D., Alziati, S., Bennett, W., Unknown Date b, The effect of load rate, placement angle, and ice type on ice screw failure load (powerpoint)
- Bogie, Don, 2005, Snow Anchors (Also posted here)
- Bressan, Giuliano, Unknown Date, I materiali per l'alpinismo e l'arrampicata === Le norme relative
- Cracco, di Stefano, Unknown Date, Viti da ghiaccio, Uno studio sulla tenuta, Parte prima, pp. 74-76
- Cracco, di Stefano, Meneghetti, e Giovanni, Unknown Date, Viti da ghiaccio, Uno studio sulla tenuta, seconda parte, pp. 74-78
- Corvallis Mountain Rescue, 2009, Snow Anchor Testing (Powerpoint that describes tests and their results. Also posted here.)
- Corvallis Mountain Rescue, 2011, Snow Anchor Testing
- Harmston, Chris, Unknown Date, Myths, Cautions & Techniques of Ice Screw Placement, A summary of two years of research
- Manes, Andrea, 2013, Viti da ghiaccio - test di estrazione (research presentation in Italian)
- Manes, Andrea, 2014, Viti da ghiaccio - test di estrazione (research presentation in Italian)
- McEwan, George, 2012, Ice Climbing Anchor Strength (republishing of Marc Beverly's results)
- Myers, Justin, Moody, Derrick, 2014, Assessment of Picket Use and Standard Operating Procedures in Continental Snow Pack (Abstract only, we hope to have a copy of this soon)
- qwert, 2009, Holding power of ice screws (review of a paper in German)
- Rossiter, Kel, 2015, Sometimes the Leader Does Fall... A Look Into The Experiences of Ice Climbers Who Have Fallen on Ice Screws (Survey of ice climbers who have fallen on ice screws)
- Semmel, von Chris, Stopper, Dieter, 2005, Eiskalt und doch brandheis
- Unknown Author, Unknown Date, Ice Screw Analysis
Videos of Ice/Snow Anchor Testing:
- Art Fortini, Snow Anchor Tests (hosted on a third party site, has 13 videos of snow anchor tests)
- beverlymountainguide, 2009, Ice Screw Drop Test
- Corvallis Mountain Rescue, 2011, Snow Anchor Testing Videos
(Web index of all the videos they took of testing snow anchors, and here are pictures of the event) - Giovanni Duca, 2012, L'impegno del CAI per la sicurezza. 2006 (CAI- CSMT video Giovanni Duca)
- Giovanni Duca, 2012, Tecniche di assicurazione.Confronto tra assicurazione classica e ventral CAI - CSMT
- Doug Seitz, 2009, Ice v-thread pull test #1
- Doug Seitz, 2009, Ice v-thread pull test #2
- Doug Seitz, 2009, Ice A-thread pull test #1
- Doug Seitz, 2009, Ice A-thread pull test #2
- FFME, 2014, ENSA - Alpinisme - Tests corps morts en neige
- kd7lxl, 2016, Snow Anchors: Sierra Picket Failure Demo at the 2016 Mountain Rescue Association Conference
- kd7lxl, 2016, Snow Anchors: Horizontal Picket Failure Demo at the 2016 Mountain Rescue Association Conference
- kd7lxl, 2016, Snow Anchors: Vertical Picket Failure Demo at the 2016 Mountain Rescue Association Conference
- mikebarter387, 2008, Climbing Tools: Testing the Abalakov Anchor
- OTE Rescue, 2014, Snow ice anchor testing antactica
- ravenrescue, 2013, Ice Screw Pull Test 6 - 10% of Regular Speed
- ravenrescue, 2013, Ice Screw Pull Test #5 - Regular Speed
- ravenrescue , 2013, Ice Screw Pull Test #3 - Regular Speed
- ravenrescue, 2013, Ice Screw Pull Test #2 - 10% of regular speed
- ravenrescue, 2013, Ice Screw Pull Test #2 - Regular Speed
- ttumolo, 2010, Building a Drop Tower and Testing Ice Screw Placements
Videos of Building Ice/Snow Anchors and Testing them with Human Loads:
- Beau Reviews, 2015, SMC Snow Picket Anchor field test & review (deaman) -Amazon
- Beau Reviews, 2015, SMC Cable for All Snow Picket, field test & review (deadman) -Amazon
- James Harper, 2015, San Diego Mountain Rescue Team Soft Snow Training 2011 Testing a Snow Bollard Anchor
- James Harper, 2015, San Diego Mountain Rescue Team Soft Snow Training 2011 Testing a Deadman Anchor
- James Harper, 2015, San Diego Mountain Rescue Team Soft Snow Training 2011 Testing a Deadman Anchor 2
- James Harper, 2015, San Diego Mountain Rescue Team Soft Snow Training 2011 Testing a Deadman Anchor 3
- johnheidarr, 2009, Abalakov test
- Sammie Harper, 2013, Failing a Snow Anchor in Soft Snow - Part 1
- Ted B., 2011, Ice Anchors are STRONG!!!
- thevisioncreation, 2014, Setting up and Testing Picket and Deadman Anchors for Crevasse Rescue
Miscellaneous Snow/Ice Anchor Papers:
- Bogie, Don, 2005, Snow Anchors
- Bogie, Don, Fortini, Art, 2010, Snow Anchors For Belaying and Rescue, Proceedings of the 2010 International Snow Science Workship
- Giovanni Duca, 2014, Convegno CAI CSMT e SAGF - Predazzo 2014. Video Giovanni Duca (Video in Italian)
- Heikkila, Steve, 2012, Snow and Ice Anchors, and Raising and Lowering Systems, A Manual Developed by the Mazamas Advanced Snow and Ice Committee
- Petzl, Unknown Date, Rappelling on an Abalakov
- Schubert, Von Pit, 2000, Sicherung am senkrecht eingerammten Eispickel? Panorama 2000(4):64-65 (Document in German)
- Unknown Author, Unknown Date (2011?), Picket and Anchor Strengths From Past Studies (Also in Word format too)
- Unknown Author, Unknown Date, Snow anchor selection