Mountains

A great practice for alpine climbing is to clip your ice axe leash into a locking carabineer on your harness instead of looping the leash around your wrist. By attaching your ice axe this way, you can plunge the ice axe into the snow and have the use of both hands while remaining on a self-belay. This comes in handy when passing anchors, changing layers, getting into your pack, etc. It also eliminates the need to switch the leash from hand to hand when changing directions. Using this technique also assures that in the event of a fall, your ice axe is with you.