Reserve short test to go over mountaineering equipment (3,3)
I believe the answer is:
ice axe
'go over mountaineering equipment' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'reserve short test to' is the wordplay.
'reserve' becomes 'ice' (I've seen this before).
'short' means to remove the first letter.
'test' becomes 'tax'.
'to' becomes 'e' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'tax' with its initial letter taken away is 'ax'.
'ice'+'ax'+'e'='ICE-AXE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ice axe that I've seen before include "SW London area" , "Mountaineer's equipment" , "Mountaineering tool" , "Mountaineer's tool" , "Climber's tool" .)