The author, Paul Lewis is is the owner of Peak Mountaineering and a Winter Mountain Leader. Peak Mountaineering offers a full range of winter courses and full details can be found at
www.peakmountaineering.com.
Here's his comprehensive take on crampon selection, use, maintenance
and more.
Dragon's Den - 1929
Laurent Grivel, a blacksmith from Courmayeur, takes his new 12-point
crampon design into the Dragon’s Den…………..
“So lets be clear about this Grivel,” says Theo Paphitis.
“You
strap these spikes to your feet and they allow you to walk safely on
snow and ice?”
“Si, si, si signore Paphitis,” replies Grivel. “Crampiones
allow
alpinistas to walk securely on snow and ice and climb the icefalls de
glace, no.”
“Look Grivel. I have hundreds of health clubs and know more
than
a thing or two about the leisure market,” Duncan Bannatyne
retorts. “The bottom line for me is who in their right mind
is
going to buy them?”
“Ah, signore. Les grimping and les walking de montagne is
amongst
the fastest growing sports in Europe. Within 100 years
millions
of people will be buying my crampiones and we will all be tres rich.”
Peter Jones, who has been fiddling with the prototype crampons in the
corner of the den during the whole discussion, suddenly bursts into
life. “Grivel, I was very interested in your design but you
blew
it with your ridiculous projections for sales over the coming
decades. You’ve lost all credibility and I know I speak for
all
the dragons when I say…..we’re out!”
Grivel picks up his crampons and heads out of the den with his head
hung low.
The Present Day
You guessed it. How right Grivel was. Crampons have
now
become an essential winter tool for millions of hillwalkers, climbers
and alpinists. They sure would have been a good investment
for
those hard to please dragons – although they may have thought a return
spread over 75 years was stretching their investment somewhat!
So, after a long, rambling, and not very relevant introduction, you may
have guessed that this article is about choosing your spikes.
Over the years I’ve used crampon models from Salewa, DMM, Black
Diamond, Charlet Moser, Grivel and Petzl - and the reality is that you
won’t go far wrong with the offerings from any of the main
manufacturers.
What it comes down too is which model best suits your requirements (and
boots). This article aims to give you the information needed
to
make an informed choice when you visit your local ‘shiny kit is us’
emporium……….
Way Back When
As early as the16th century, crampons made from horseshoe nails
fastened to a wooden or metal frame used by shepherds in the
Alps. Then, in the early 1900’s, Oscar Eckenstein produced a
10-point design that Henry Grivel manufactured for him.
Finally, a few decades later, Laurent Grivel (Henry’s son) added the
two forward facing front points and we got close to the crampons we are
now familiar with. There have been changes to the binding
systems
and the introduction of different base plates and materials, but the
key elements of Grivel’s design have certainly stood the test of time.
Compatibility
The main issues when choosing crampons are to make sure the ones you
select are compatible with the boots you are going to use them with,
and that they are suitable for their intended use. The
trouble is
there are now lots of variations on the theme and a visit to your local
outdoor shop might leave you with more questions than answers (although
a chat with the knowledgeable shop assistant will hopefully help answer
many of these).
Fortunately, some years ago, Brian Hall produced a simple compatibility
system that made everyone’s life far easier. His system
splits
crampon styles into three categories:
| Crampon type |
Key crampon features |
| C1 |
- Flexible crampons designed to fit walking boots.
- Heel and toe units linked by flexible metal bar.
- Usually 10 or 12 points (may not have front points).
- Typically fasten with straps or a plastic toe and
heel cradle and strap combination.
|
| C2 |
- General purpose 12 point mountaineering crampons.
- Heel & toe units linked by a flexible metal
bar.
- 10 vertical points and 2 horizontal points.
- Typically fasten with a plastic toe and heel cradle
and strap combination or a toe cradle and heel clip system.
|
| C3 |
- Technical crampons designed for climbing steep ice.
- Rigid design offers stable platform for foot.
- Will often have vertical front points for steep ice
efficiency and may allow changing to mono points.
- Will usually have 12 points (or often more).
- Typically fasten with heel clip and either plastic
toe cradle or wire bail front clip.
|
And boot styles into four categories:
| Boot type |
Key boot features |
| B0 |
- Three-season leather and/or fabric walking boot.
- Flexible sole means they are not suitable for crampon
use (crampon may easily become detached from the boot and also the flex
in the sole places a lot of strain on the heel to toe unit connection
bar).
|
| B1 |
- Four-season hillwalking boots with a semi-stiffened
sole.
- Durable and supportive upper often made from leather
or a leather and fabric combination.
- Suitable for use with C1 crampons.
|
| B2 |
- Four-season mountain boots with an almost fully
stiffened sole, high supportive ankle and thicker, more insulating
uppers.
- Suitable for summer/winter hillwalking and easy
climbing.
- Suitable for use with C1 crampons but optimised for
use with C2 crampons (although a pronounced heel welt will be required
if used with heel clip bindings).
|
| B3 |
- A totally rigid leather or plastic mountain boot
suitable for everything from winter mountaineering and technical
climbing to alpine climbing and some high altitude mountaineering.
- Optimised for use with C3 crampons although can also
be used with C1 or C2 crampons.
|
These compatibility charts certainly make it easier to choose the right
crampons but, as always, there are some other things to consider.
Binding systems
Firstly, the binding system options need a little
elaboration.
There was a time when the main choices were a strap or ski style wire
binding set up. Now there are various options.
The use of a plastic cage system at the front and rear
(joined by
a strap) is common for
C1
crammies and this is certainly the system I
favour. It is far easier and quicker to put on and take off
than
crampons with a full strap system, is unlikely to come undone and, most
importantly, holds the crampon to the boot securely.
For
C2
spikes a front plastic toe bale and quick release wire rear
binding has become very popular. Providing your boot has a
pronounced heel welt and the sole is stiff enough to ensure a firm
fitting that won’t work loose, this is a great option.
C3 crampons
usually have a full front and rear wire bale system which
works great with C3 boots as they have a fully stiffened sole and a
well defined front and rear welt. The problem with this
system in
the past was that the front bale could jump off (usually when you were
front pointing) but most manufacturers now get around this by having a
strap that runs between the front and rear bale – a very wise back
up! Some C3’s use the front plastic bale and rear heel clip
which
works really well too.
GSB Binding
An interesting recent development that’s worth a mention is the GSB
binding system designed as a collaboration between Scarpa (boot
manufacturers) and Grivel. Certain Scarpa boots have a slot
built
into the toe welt that will accept the toe lug fitted on GSB crampons,
thus allowing a snug fit with very little bulk around the
toe. I
haven’t tried this system and in truth I probably won’t.
The main
drawbacks I can see are that your boots and crampons have to be
‘matched’ to ensure compatibility plus the GSB boot welt slot looks
like it would easily get blocked with small stones or ice and that
would leave you with no crampons – but it might work brilliantly?!
You can also buy alloy crampons that are very light, but designed for
occasional use by lightweight addicts like ski tourers. I was
once given a pair of ‘long lasting’ alloys to test and by the end of
one traverse of the Aonach Eagach ridge they were just metal stumps.
Base plate systems
The other big factor that varies with different crampon types is the
configuration of the base plate(s). C1 and C2 crampons will
normally have a toe and heel section that is joined by a metal
bar. This bar allows some articulation and the movement it
provides will make the crampons suitable for a wider range of boot sole
stiffnesses and make the frames less vulnerable to metal
fatigue.
This is especially important if you are walking a lot wearing them.
C3 crampons often have a fully rigid base plate that is well suited to
technical ice climbing but isn’t suited to walking far (as there is no
flexibility in the frame) and they are generally fairly
heavy.
Often C3’s also allow different front point configurations such as mono
points or stubby mixed climbing front points to be fitted (but the use
of those is well and truly beyond the scope of this article!).
Other considerations
Making sure your crampons are well fitted to your boots is vital and
it’s worth taking the time to get this well sorted when you set them up
with your boots. I don’t propose to go into detail about this
here as the instructions that come with them will be more than
sufficient. The golden rules to remember are that the crampon
should be a snug fit around your boot sole and there should be no
movement in the system when they are tightened up.
If there is any doubt about fitting the crampons to your boots it is
well worth taking your boots into your local climbing shop and try them
out with the crampons there before you buy them. Any climbing
shop worth its salt will happily spend time sorting the fit out with
you (but it would be better to go in the shop on a quiet midweek day
rather than expecting help on a busy Saturday!).
In my opinion anti-balling plates are vital with crampons.
Although some models ‘ball up’ more than others, the reality is that
they all ball up to some extent (how much they do this also depends on
the type of snow), and having large balls of snow welded to the bottom
of your feet is obviously a major danger! Many models now
come
with anti-balling plates included in the price so there really is no
excuse for not having some!
For me the stand out design at the
moment is the plates that come with Grivel crampons. These
feature a ‘bubble’ that gets compressed when you take a step and
effectively flicks the snow off the base but I’ve also seen Heath
Robinson style jobs made from duct tape that do the job very well too!
Carrying your spikes
Your rucksack probably came with some neat bungy cord or strap
attachment points for your crampons – my advice is to completely ignore
them! It’s far better to store your spikes in a crampon bag
inside your rucksack where they won’t catch on things or fall
off. An alternative to storage bags is those little rubber
crampon protectors that cover each spike but, although they do the job,
they are very fiddly to get back on once removed (especially with cold
fingers!).
Caring for your spikes
Crampons are amazingly durable given the abuse they are constantly
subjected too. However, because they have such a hard time
it’s
important to give them some TLC. Inspection of their moving
parts, fabric strapping, nuts, bolts and rivets, binding system and the
metal frame and points should be done on a regular basis – far better
to deal with it in the comfort of your living room than on the summit
of Stob Ban!
Most crammies come with very sharp spikes and whether you need to keep
them that sharp once they start to get worn really depends what you are
using them for. If you’re using them for general hillwalking
and
mountaineering you can run them a little blunter without adversely
affecting their performance, where as if you are putting up a new uber
ice route you will want those babies to slice into that delicate ice
with the minimum of fracturing.
Either way, at some point you are
going to need to sharpen them and a hand file is the way to
go.
Don’t use an electric grinder as it can affect the temper of the
metal. It’s also better to hold them in place with a clamp or
vice rather than honing them over the leather back seat of a car en
route to Scotland as I’ve known my mate Davy do!
Emergency repairs
Trouble is, even with regular inspections, crampons do break.
Luckily it isn’t very often but if it happens and you can’t sort out
the problem you are going to be hopping mad (get it?!). It is
well worth carrying a simple repair kit to deal with the
unexpected. I carry a long strap and buckle, multi tool with
pliers and screwdriver, duct tape, a few long cable ties, a few
suitably sized nuts and bolts and a length of durable bendy wire.
Obviously this information is only my opinion and if you choose to
follow it you do so entirely at your own risk. If you are in
any
doubt of the techniques or issues described please check before you do
anything dangerous.
Paul Lewis - www.peakmountaineering.com
