Snow belay tip – don’t use a “quickie” belay on a crevasse crossing

If you’re belaying a partner across a sketchy crevasse crossing, avoid the carabiner/axe belay or the boot axe belay. These “quickie” techniques are meant to catch a low impact slip on a snow slope, and not to take the full hanging weight of your partner.

For belaying crevasse crossings, use a real anchor of some sort (usually a picket) and a butt-in-the-snow, braced foot seated belay.  If your partner punches through, you will be in a much better position to start a crevasse rescue.

When belaying someone across a sketchy crevasse, use the short prusik already on your rope as a belay device.  Doing so lets you go hands free in the event of a fall, which you’ll likely need to do to beef up your anchor or self-arrest.

Example of belaying a second using your prusik:

This image from the excellent book: “The Illustrated Guide to Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue”, by Andy Tyson and Mike Clelland