How to knock down icicles without dying

Our roof is leaking due to the amount of snow and ice on it, including 2 meter-long icicles.
So yesterday I went round smashing icicles with a Knicks basketball. And the leaking mostly stopped.
But we still need to clear 3 feet of snow and ice from the roof to make sure.
Then I read this article which says not to smash down icicles because it can damage guttering:
http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/feb/16/d ... les-from-/
Does anyone have any ice advice? Cheers

House looks something like this one (but with lots more snow on the roof)

 

Our roof is leaking all over the place too. Ice dams and copper flashing over 80 years old is not a good mix. My husband fixes it with a 30 foot ladder and a shovel, but the snow keeps falling so he hasnt been able to keep up. The problem is likely ice dams forming and water getting under the shingles as a result. Since we have an old slate roof we are very close with our roofer and he is willing to come out to our house for free and remove snow from our roof to prevent ice dam issues. Perhaps you have a roofer who would do the same. Even if he wont do it for free, I think the cost might be worth preventing the damage. Also you can have heating cables in stalled on your roof in ice dam vulnerable areas for the future, but the minute you do that I'm sure we will have several mild winters in a row.

 

Here's a helpful article on ice dams. It has 10 very short pages, I linked page 6 without realizing it. I'd look at all of them.
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20557572_21099309,00.html

Oh and I noticed this quick cure at the bottom of the page - requires panty hose of all things.
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/skill-builder/0,,211604,00.html

 

It was probably mentioned in the link Mo provided but a roof rake helps. Make sure to get one that either has wheels or a plastic/rubber cap on it. That way it limits any damage to the shingles. Take at least the bottom 4-5 feet of snow off.