1 23 T ra v er sing Be w are of s lopes that increase in angle as y ou descend Mak e sure y ou can see all the w a y t o the bo tt om Be w are o f w e t lichenco v ered r ock Be w are of car pe ts of moss on r ock slabs as the y can peel of f without w arning On sno w k ee p an upright position Y our f oo tholds will t end t o break out if y ou lean int o the slope P a y att enti on t o the nature of the sno w slope belo w y ou A slope studded with or ending in r ocks clif fs talus trees or bare ice is inherently more danger ous than a smoo th unbr o k en slope Serious injuries result when y ou slam int o r ocks at the end of an uncontr olled slide Slips on st e ep sof t sno w are best pre v ent ed b y digging in knees t oes elbo ws and ice ax e and b y making little jum ps t o tr y t o regain y our f ee t When descending f airly sof t sno w it is of t en best t o hold the ice ax e b y the head and k eep it some what belo w y ou so that in case of slip the w eight of y our body will driv e it int o the sno w On st eep har d s no w f alls can of t en be st opped only with the ice ax e If y ou are sliding f ee tfr st on y our back hold the ice ax e with one hand on the head adze on the thumb side and with the o ther hand lo w on the shaf t R oll o v er t o w ar ds the head of the ax e and slo wly dig the pick in K eep the spik e end of the shaf t clear of the sno w Dig in y our knees and t oes unless y ou are w earing cram pons t o help y ou st op This t echniq ue should be thor oughly practiced near cam p bef ore appr oaching a hazar dous area Man y geolo gists incorrectly think that a r ock hammer is an adeq uat e substitut e f or an ice ax e A r ock hammer is t oo shor t in the handle and is easily t orn fr om y our grasp If y ou fnd y our se lf usin g r oo t s t r ee t r unks and r oc ks to pull y our se lf up y ou c an s af e l y a s sume t ha t y ou ha v e enter ed a s teep an g le ter r ain If unsur e about t he t r a v er se do no t a t tem pt it