Chris Townsend reviews an adequate but expensive hillwalking ice axe.
This review is part of our ice axes gear guide, and was first published in the February 2018 issue of The Great Outdoors.
The G1 is a perfectly adequate hillwalking axe but it is quite expensive compared to other B rated axes, including Grivel’s own Helix. It comes with a springy leash with a karabiner at one end. This is designed to clip into a climbing harness so you can swap the axe from hand to hand without having to remove wrist loops. I can see the point of this for climbing but for walking it means clipping it to your rucksack. I’d rather have a standard leash or no leash at all.
The pick is only slightly curved – less than any other axe reviewed in the February 2018 issue – but it bites into hard snow fine. The adze is quite wide but also rounded and so not ideal for step-cutting. There’s a rubberised grip that lies flush with the shaft.
