Raven Ultra

Got mine, and I bring it everywhere theres a chance! Its remarkably light guys and gals, its half the weight of every other ax I have ever held. I have the Raven as well for more heavy duty stuff. Love them both, give em a 10!

I have the 60cm. I use mine for general mountaineering. The light weight is great when it is on your pack. It might have trouble with really icy conditions in piolet canne position as the spike is a 45 degree angle. So far I have found the spike to work well for everything I have used it for. If I were to buy another I might buy the Raven Pro for the traditional spike. this axe is really comfortable to hold as it is sort of ergonomically shaped. The head and adze are a bit smaller than more ice axes but seem to work very well. The construction is very good. The shaft is very clean and plunges really well. There are not teeth on the pick where your hand grips-save on wear on your gloves. The spike where it is cut out for the carabiner hole seems to collect snow which may not affect performance but sort of annoys me. Incredibly light, feels good, looks good, performs well. Save weight and effort and get one of these axes.

UPDATE: This axe is a bit hard to get to bite in icy conditions (used as a cane). I am considering getting an axe with a better spike design. It tends to skate sometimes on icy glaciers...

Best thing about this axe is it's light at they say above. I found the same problems with icy conditions. I ready a review that the axe is great for ice because it has a stainless head(versus alloy) for better ice performance, my experience with it on alpine ice is that it shatters a lot and it hard to plate in ice. In response to the spike skating on ice because of the 45deg spike, simple hold with the pick facing rearward in self arrest position and it will not skate as badly. I have enjoyed this axe, but have settled on a heavier and cheaper axe as my fave. Great tool to have if your hoping you won't need one, I give an 8.