Page 174Fig. 14-7 Plunge stepFig. 14-8 Sitting glissade footings. If the slope is not too steep, you can use a plunge-step technique (fig. 14-7) to walk downhill, or "glissade" down. A glissade (fig. 14-8) is nothing more than sliding on one's feet or backside to the bottom of a slope, but using an ice axe (in a ready position with point dragging) as a kind of brake and rudder. In the plunge step, compaction of snow does the braking. The descent becomes a bouncy and somewhat animated jaunt down the slope with the ice axe ever ready to handle a fall. Glaciers present problems not encountered in most other hiking, not the least of which are the crevasses (cracks) that develop when a glacier flows over a convex surface. Some crevasses are visible, while others may lie under a thin veneer of snow, ready to swallow the incautious traveler. Even when "on the level," all members of a climbing party must be tied into a rope so that if one drops into a crevasse, the others can use their ice axes to arrest the fall.
