Ice hourglass
The ice hourglass (also known as the Abalakow ice hourglass or Abalakow loop after the inventor ) is a securing point in the ice that is particularly suitable for abseiling and for building stands . The ice hourglass is relatively insensitive to pressure melting and solar radiation.
Using an ice screw that is as long as possible , two channels at the same height are drilled into the compact ice at an angle, which meet at an angle of approximately 60 degrees and thus result in a continuous channel with two openings in the ice. Then a cord is threaded through this channel, for example with the aid of a wire hook. The two ends of the cord are knotted together to form a loop . Kevlar ropes make threading easier. There are also special "hourglass threads" which are advantageous when using normal accessory cords.
The term “ice hourglass ” is derived from the “ hourglass ”, similar to the handling principle of loop formation , which is used for securing in the rock and in which the rock formations used for securing have the appearance of an hourglass.
literature
- Pepi Stückl, Georg Sojer: Mountaineering: Textbook for all types of mountaineering . Bruckmann, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-7654-2859-0
Web links
- Abalakov ice hourglass ( Memento from January 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- Video of setting up an abalakov ice hourglass