Petzl Glacier Literide—adequate for mountaineering?

Coming from Ice climbing this year, now shifting focus to more mountaineering oriented gear.

The glacier lite ride axe has caught my attention because it is short and lightweight, less expensive than others, but not TOO short. This axe is marketed as a skiing axe, and some people on MP mention using it, but would I be shooting myself in the foot getting this over say, the summit/air tech evo et al?

Objectives in mind would be: gran paradiso, Mont Blanc, monte Rosa, Matterhorn, by their “normal” routes. Not interested in tech tools, as I have those. Rather, for when I DONT need an ice tool.

If you have this axe, do you recommend it for mountaineering or just skiing?

thanks

If you're only going to use it for self-arrest and the occasional dead-man anchor practice then I'd say it would suffice for classical mountaineering and normal routes. If there's any chance of  steep snow or moderate ice I would take something with a little bit more weight and a more technical pick. Lightweight axes tend to bounce off ice pretty quickly. 

I see mountain guides carrying light touring axes on normal routes all the time so it should be possible...

What are you using for (a) classical mountaineering and (b) steep snow climbs/moderate ice where ice tools are overkill?

DeLa Cruce wrote:

What are you using for (a) classical mountaineering and (b) steep snow climbs/moderate ice where ice tools are overkill?

If you want to buy an axe with which you can pretty much do any, classic mountaineering, routes I would recommend the Petzl Sum'Tec, "buy once cry once"... 

If weight it the first concern and you are gonna encounter more snow than ice I would go with a Petzl Gully, I have one for skiing and routes which are mostly rock (think trad multipitch with glacier and snowy approach to the base of the climb) and I love it. 

DeLa Cruce wrote:

What are you using for (a) classical mountaineering and (b) steep snow climbs/moderate ice where ice tools are overkill?

I own an Edelrid Ronin 60cm for this, currently out of production but pretty much anything similar would suffice. I would want to have something a bit shorter some day but it does its job very adequately. 

Fabien M wrote:

If you want to buy an axe with which you can pretty much do any, classic mountaineering, routes I would recommend the Petzl Sum'Tec, "buy once cry once"... 

If weight it the first concern and you are gonna encounter more snow than ice I would go with a Petzl Gully, I have one for skiing and routes which are mostly rock (think trad multipitch with glacier and snowy approach to the base of the climb) and I love it. 

Thank you for the tips!

Grivel air tech racing sa. Such a nice a axe! 

https://www.blueice.com/us/en/home/202-akila-hammer-ice-axe-3700748300024.html

bearded sam wrote:

https://www.blueice.com/us/en/home/202-akila-hammer-ice-axe-3700748300024.html

Looks nice but almost an exact copy of the Gully.
I do like the brand though, their Kume 30 for ex is an innovative idea. 

Fabien M wrote:

Looks nice but almost an exact copy of the Gully.
I do like the brand though, there Kume 30 for ex is an innovative idea. 

the Akila is actually between the Ride and Sumtec. It has a cast head so it can actually drive a pin, the pick is more technical and is comfortable on WI3-4 and it has a real spike. 

bearded sam wrote:

the Akila is actually between the Ride and Sumtec. It has a cast head so it can actually drive a pin, the pick is more technical and is comfortable on WI3-4 and it has a real spike. 

Fair enough, never tried it. 

bearded sam wrote:

https://www.blueice.com/us/en/home/202-akila-hammer-ice-axe-3700748300024.html

I saw Martin Elias playing with this last year...was wondering when it was going to come out

i've used the literide on a handful of trips.  obviously it depends on what you are doing, but i have been happy with it.  it works well for those situations where you need an axe to get to the rock, as it is light and short, so you can strap it to the back of your pack without it stabbing you in the back of the head.  if it was a really long snow slog it might get a bit tedious, but probably still doable.

Fabien M wrote:

If you want to buy an axe with which you can pretty much do any, classic mountaineering, routes I would recommend the Petzl Sum'Tec, "buy once cry once"... 

If weight it the first concern and you are gonna encounter more snow than ice I would go with a Petzl Gully, I have one for skiing and routes which are mostly rock (think trad multipitch with glacier and snowy approach to the base of the climb) and I love it. 

Fabien, on that note: what kind of crampons are you using for that application? I am specifically interested what you describe: crossing glacier or snowfield to arrive at climbing areas where most likely the axe and crampons will remain in the pack after

bearded sam wrote:

the Akila is actually between the Ride and Sumtec. It has a cast head so it can actually drive a pin, the pick is more technical and is comfortable on WI3-4 and it has a real spike. 

Does it feel “sturdier” than a gully? I have handled the gully, but never used one. Is this your preferred tool for a “sometimes” axe?

I use a BD Raven pro for mountaineering.   if you are going to carry an ax at all carry one that you feel comfortable climbing at least short sections of grade 1 or 2 ice with.  personally i like 70cm in a mountain ax as it makes a better walking stick and also has good reach. for decades my mtn ax was a real 60cm  Chiounard that i could climb WI5 with if nessicary . too heavy but confidence inspireing. 

DeLa Cruce wrote:

Fabien, on that note: what kind of crampons are you using for that application? I am specifically interested what you describe: crossing glacier or snowfield to arrive at climbing areas where most likely the axe and crampons will remain in the pack after

Everything summer mountaineering I use the same crampons, the Petzl Vazak. They are not the lightest but if you want significantly lighter you would have to go with aluminium, which reduce durability way too much IMHO.
Again, if weight is the first concern, go with something like the strap-on Petzl Leopard FL (aluminium so stay away from rocks as much as possible). CAMP or Black D should have equivalents. 

What about this??

https://www.simond.com/mountaineering-ice-axe-fox-carving-id_8091166?notes=1

I have the camp aluminum rigs. would not bring anything else for stuff like the Tetons. 

DeLa Cruce wrote:

What about this??

https://www.simond.com/mountaineering-ice-axe-fox-carving-id_8091166?notes=1

For your program it should work nicely