Man with an Ice-ax

The 1954 Man with an Ice-ax shows Azechi's mountaineer carrying the primary technical tool of alpine climbing—the ice axe used for self-arrest on snow and ice slopes, for cutting steps in hard snow, and for anchoring in the event of a fall. The ice axe's specific form—a shaft with an adze and pick at the top—gave his compositions a distinctive vertical element that he exploited repeatedly, the tool's presence immediately identifying the figure as a technical climber rather than a casual walker.