Biomechanical analysis of the strike motion in ice climbing activity
Résumé
Ice climbing is a recent sport. One of its critical aspects consists in securely placing the ice axe into the ice in order to use it as a safe support for progression. This strike motion is relatively technical and must be correctly executed in order to limit the climber's fatigue and to secure the axe placement. However, the expert knowledge of the biomechanics of this motion that would be necessary to help improving the climber's performances is still missing. Several striking activities are well documented but may not be relevant, e.g. hammering (Schoenmarklin et al. 1989) or tennis serve (Elliott et al. 2003). Consequently, this study proposes a first biomechanical description of the strike motion in ice climbing.