The ice axe has its roots in European climbing, with its predecessor being the spear-like alpenstock. Your axe becomes your closest friend when traversing glaciers, scaling steep snow slopes, or trying to stop yourself from rolling down a mountain.
A very common mistake is to call everything that has a pick, shaft, and is made of some sort of metal, an ice axe. Ice axes and their curved companions, ice tools, provide different benefits for very different activities and should not be confused with one another.
Ice axes have a straight shaft that is designed to provide a point of balance and grip while walking on snowy surfaces. The pick is less angled for easier arrests. Ice axes are generally lighter than ice tools, too.
Ice tools are shorter with more aggressive picks and curved shafts that are meant for steep or vertical ice climbing.
