Sum'Tec

The Sum'Tec earns its place as the one tool guides reach for across the widest range of terrain. On Rainier it handles everything from glacier travel on the DC and Emmons to the steep ice pitches of the Kautz, and guides have taken it to Denali, the North Cascades, and beyond without ever wishing they had brought something else. The key is the modular head system, which lets you swap between adze and hammer depending on what the day demands. Carry the adze for general mountaineering, swap in the hammer for route work when you are blasting in pickets all day. One guide tip worth stealing: keep a spare hammer, spare adze, and the Allen wrench in your pack so you can make the swap on the fly. The shorter shaft is a deliberate advantage on steep terrain, keeping weight forward and encouraging proper footwork rather than leaning on the spike like a cane. Honest limitations: the hammer bolts will rattle and wear after heavy use hammering pickets, so check them regularly. And while the Sum'Tec handles steep snow and alpine ice with confidence, it is not built for serious vertical water ice. Tape some foam to the head on cold Denali days to keep your hands warm. Five-plus seasons of guide use and nobody has seen one break.