(Mar 27 Tue)Is anyone interested to go GG later afternoon?

游客
please take the snowshoe or crampon with you, after 3/4 it's icy and slippery

靓女
那么早就下班了啊？ :wink:

For general mountaineering usage, including steep snow, the crampons you should consider buying will be the ten or 12 point type, with horizontally oriented frontpoints. The crampons should be flexible rather than semi- or fully rigid (and no one hardly makes fully-rigid crampons anymore)

The attachment system should generally be straps, rather than a step-in binding, because you will be able to put strap-on crampons on many more types of boots.

Don't worry too much about size. Crampons can be adjusted to fit different size boots. But you should always take the boots you are going to use, with you when buying crampons, just to see if they fit.

There are basically three types of crampons. I have described the "mountaineering" type. The ice climbing type is more rigid, with a step-in binding, and vertical frontpoints. These tend to be heavier and better on steep ice but not as good on snow.

The walking crampon type fits under the instep and has four or six points. Importantly, walking crampons have no frontpoints. For the type of travel we are discussing here though, hard crusted snow on moderately steep slopes on the North Shore or similar terrain, front points are invaluable because as the slope steepens, front points become more and more necessary for traction when your foot is pointing in to the slope.


As to how to protect yourself from the spiky parts,
1) don't kick yourself in the leg
2) wear gaiters to protect your Goretex pants from the sharp points (better to put a hole in a dgaiter than in a 300 dollar pant)
3) use a crampon bag to protect your pack from the shar points when the crampon is not on your foot. Commercial crampon bags made of ballistic nylon are available. I use a cutoff jeans leg closed at one end with a broccoli rubber band.

There are two materials from which crampons are made. Steel and aluminum. Alum. crampons weigh much less than steel which is attractive. Aluminum crampons are suitable for the uses we are discussing here (snow climbing). The aluminum teeth will bend easily in contact with hard glacial/water ice or rock so if you want to go beyond snowy winter hiking into general mountaineering, consider the extra weight of steel as being required.

Finally, an Antisnow or Antibotte plate is a flexible plastic or rubber sheet which fits on the bottom of the crampon, between the teeth and below the sole of the foot. Its purpose is to prevent snow balling up in the crampons. If too much snow builds up, eventually a snow platform builds up that is longer than the crampon teeth. Then you are not walking on a crampon but on a snowy platform shoe with no traction. Snow ball-up can therefore lead to sudden losses of traction and surprising, long slips and falls. So an Antibotte plate is a good investment. Each crampon manufacturer makes one for their crampon - if your chosen model does not come "stock" with an Antibotte, buy one.

Even with an Antibotte you may sometimes get some ball-up though. When this happens, hold your foot in the air tap the side of the crampon frame against a rock, tree, ski pole or ice axe until the snowball falls away from your foot.