This season we have seen a lot of people using ice axes and crampons for the first time. Many seem to believe that merely purchasing them and carrying them is all they need. This is very far from reality, and can lead to accidents.
It is highly recommended that before venturing into the mountains with these basic mountaineering tools, that folks get professional training. Just reading "how to" information on the internet will not make you a safe user of these essential tools.
At the bottom of this post I have listed some, hopefully, useful information, including a few California based organizations that provide competent, professional training. I am not an employee of those listed companies, but know they have a good reputation. As an alternative, local SAR teams might be helpful in providing or locating training; you can learn a lot from them.
When I was training newbies on a local SAR team we put them through intense training and practice on the safe use of ice axes and crampons, doing repeated exercises. Every year we did refresher training to make sure we were current in our skills.
Ice axes and crampons are also very sharp and it not used properly have the potential for causing injury; even experienced climbers sometimes get hurt using them. Once, I was glissading down the Palisade glacier and lost control, tumbling end over end down the slope, with my leashed ice axe flailing around my body. Lesson learned, no harm done, except to my ego.
https://www.outdoors.org/articles/amc-outdoors/how-to-use-an-ice-ax/https://www.thebmc.co.uk/hill-skills-your-first-axe-and-cramponshttp://www.sierramtnguides.com/program/ice-axe-and-crampon-seminar/http://www.internationalalpineguides.com/california-mountaineering/https://www.sierramountaincenter.com/winter-mountaineering/
