Yes, tutorial鈥攁 very good idea, indeed. Some years ago there was a story floating around here, perhaps apocryphal, about a fellow who bought a new ice ax and wanted to teach himself how to use it. He was too shy to go out with a group, so he hiked up into an area in the central Cascade Mountains near, I believe, Monte Cristo peak. He never came out.
Petzl Charlet
Days later, a search party came across him near the bottom of a snowy slope. He聮d been practicing with his ice ax, had made some mistake with it, and had stuck the pick end into his chest.
That said, numerous accidents have been documented where people hiking along a trail with an ax have tripped, sticking it into various parts of their bodies with uniformly unfortunate results.
So I聮d do one of two things. First, take a basic mountaineering class this spring. You聮ll enjoy it, you聮ll learn a lot, you聮ll be a lot safer on your PCT hike. Second, perhaps through the same mountaineering school, take just a weekend class on snow travel and ice-ax use. You聮ll learn how to travel efficiently across snow, how to be safe around your ice ax, and how to use it should you slip.
You don聮t want to be like that guy at Monte Cristo.
For a selection of the country聮s best places for getting schooled, read 国产吃瓜黑料聮s April 聮04 ““.