Ice axe

An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers both in the ascent and descent of routes that involve frozen conditions with snow and/or ice. An ice axe can be held and employed in a number of different ways, depending on the terrain encountered. In its simplest role, the ice axe is used like a walking stick in the uphill hand, the mountaineer holding the head in the center, with the pick pointing to the rear. It can also be buried pick down, the rope tied around the shaft to form a secure anchor on which to bring up a second climber, or buried vertically to form a stomp belay. The adze is used to cut footsteps (sometimes known as pigeon holes), as well as scoop seats in the hillside and trenches to bury an ice axe belay. The long-handled alpenstock was a predecessor to the modern ice axe. The ice axe bears similarity in design to a medieval war hammer.

An ice axe is not only used as an aid to climbing, but also as a means of self-arrest in the event of a downhill slip. A self-arrest is a mountaineering maneuver in which a climber who has fallen and is sliding down a snow or ice slope stops the slide with only his or her ice axe and/or crampons, and without the use of a rope or other belay system.

Ice

Ice is water frozen into a solid state. Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaque bluish-white color.

In the Solar System, ice is abundant and occurs naturally from as close to the Sun as Mercury to as far as the Oort cloud. Beyond the Solar System, it occurs as interstellar ice. It is abundant on Earth's surface – particularly in the polar regions and above the snow line – and, as a common form of precipitation and deposition, plays a key role in Earth's water cycle and climate. It falls as snowflakes and hail or occurs as frost, icicles or ice spikes.

Ice molecules can exhibit up to sixteen different phases (packing geometries) that depend on temperature and pressure. When water is cooled rapidly (quenching), up to three different types of amorphous ice can form depending on the history of its pressure and temperature. When cooled slowly correlated proton tunneling occurs below 20 K giving rise to macroscopic quantum phenomena. Virtually all the ice on Earth's surface and in its atmosphere is of a hexagonal crystalline structure denoted as ice Ih (spoken as "ice one h") with minute traces of cubic ice denoted as ice Ic. The most common phase transition to ice Ih occurs when liquid water is cooled below 0°C (273.15K, 32°F) at standard atmospheric pressure. It may also be deposited directly by water vapor, as happens in the formation of frost. The transition from ice to water is melting and from ice directly to water vapor is sublimation.

Ice (1998 film)

Ice is a 1998 television disaster film starring Grant Show, Udo Kier, and Eva La Rue. The film has a similar premise as The Day After Tomorrow, a science fiction disaster film released six years later. Though completely in English, it first premiered in Germany in 1998 before being aired on ABC in the United States in 2000.

Plot

A small meteor hits the sun, causing disastrous consequences for the Earth. Los Angeles is, just as the rest of the world, covered with a layer of ice and snow. The government has collapsed and everyone is on their own. Chaos and crime prevails. Together with scientist Dr. Kistler and a small group of survivors, L.A. cop Robert Drake leaves in the direction of Long Beach Harbor to meet with a government ship which will take them to Guam, where it is warmer.

Cast

Ice (band)

Ice is an industrial music band formed by guitarist Justin Broadrick and saxophonist/vocalist Kevin Martin.

History

Keeping to a similar vein as their other musical project Techno Animal, Justin Broadrick and Kevin Martin opted for Ice to be a studio-based project. Drummer John Jobaggy and bassist Dave Cochrane were recruited to aid them in the recording process. Their debut album, Under the Skin, is comparable to Pure-era Godflesh and Martin's free jazz and dub work with God. The group went on hiatus for several years and Jobaggy was replaced by Laika drummer Lou Ciccotelli. By their second album, Bad Blood, the band had absorbed hip hop influences and nearly all the songs featured contributions from recognizable names in the underground rap scene. Blixa Bargeld, of Einsturzende Neubauten, also contributed his vocals to the music.

Band members

Discography