Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Crampon/clampon

Hi We hear many names for these things, just make sure when you buy a pair you get the straps and then Pratice adjusting to your boot and learn to tie the straps , they will come with a picture of how the straps go but this will take pratice. also if they require a wrench or tool to adjust , it will be lost in the first hour of the trip so get several extras. Expect to take the crampons on and off many times unless you rent them and don't care about the damage. I don't see alot of talk about the care needed to walk with crampons on , extreme care is needed to avoid getting the points caught in your pants around your ankles, gaitors help but at times since gaitor material is stronger than nylon pants the crampons will get stuck in the gaitor and cause a fall. Thanks Doug

thanks, Doug. and here are other important "avoid-trip tips"

put the crampons on with the buckles on the outside

put the gaiters on with the buckles on the outside

rookie errors, been there. Harvey

Once you use your crampons, and the points have been dulled somewhat, what is the best way to sharpen them?
Hans

Hans, good questions. With no exceptions that I know of, when you buy crampons, you have to sharpen the points before the first use. This is done with a file.

They also need to be re-sharpened periodically.

http://www.tradgirl.com/climbing_faq/ice_climbing.htm#sharpening

Ken I need to respectfully disagree with you on this. There's no need to sharpen your brand new crampons before using them. Every brand I've looked at that is currently available comes out of the box sharp enough to use. It's worth inspecting them to make sure but the last several pairs I've purchased have been fine. Also, my experience has been that once they get sharpened for the first time they get dull more quickly after that.

Crampons will get dull over time and sharpening them is a good idea. The link mentioned above has some good pointers on this. I use a hand file and make continuous strokes in one direction going down.

Sharp crampon points increase the performance considerably. This is especially important for icy conditions. The same is true for ice tools.

Thanks for the input, Kurt!

I guess I was just going back too far, when they didn't come as nicely prepped as they do now. Ah the good old days of sharpening crampons, and skis!

Dumb question:

How sharp should they be? I always feel like if I whittle the tip down to too sharp of a point, I'm actually going to weaken them. (Told you it was dumb)

I mean, obviously, sharper will bite into ice better, but you don't want the tips to curl up the first time you put some weight on them either.

Whoa there!

Hi Kurt, I agree with Ken altho I am no expert, but:

Some of the new aluminum crampons have really dull points. They might work okay on soft snow, but anything harder and I want them sharpened.

For example: When I bought my wife a set of Petzl Charlet aluminum crampons I could not believe how the tips felt more as if they were molded into shape rather than the manufacturing of my crisp, edgy, sharp steel ones. Even my old well worn SMC steel ones were sharper than her new aluminum ones.

The only caveat might be that too much of a highly sharpened, pointy tip with softer aluminum might allow it to wear faster if on mixed terrain???? Depends on the alloy? Others may comment on this, please.

Harvey

I don't use those light weight aluminum crampons very much at all because of durability issues and because of their limited applications. They might be fine on snow but not on hard ice. Sharp points aren't necessary on styrofoam snow. If the snow is harder than that you should be using a more durable crampon anyway. I'd never bring a pair of them on any trip where I was concerned about running into anything harder than nice styrofoam snow. Given the fact that we use crampons to get traction on harder surfaces there aren't too many instances where I'd trust my life to these light weight models anyway.

You can sharpen those light weight models right out of the box but given the material they're made out of they'll get dull all the more quickly.

My two cents...

Since everyone is giving their personal input, I'll chime in. Note: As usual, I'm only telling what I do—not making a recommendation for others to follow. Unless I know more about you, especially your experience in knowing how to judge the situation, I will not do that.

I use aluminum crampons on the slope to Trail Crest, as well as the Mountaineer's Route and on other snow climbs. I used them on Rainier last year, although that admission may send a few eyebrows skyward. But I am comfortable in that decision—for me, at that time.

My current favorite is the Grivel Air Tech. I bought them three years ago and have yet to sharpen them. Although, prodded by this thread, I decided to take a look at them. Sharpening probably wouldn't hurt, although they still do just fine on Sierra snow.

I do own steel crampons (Grivel 2F) for more serious adventures, like expeditions.

Yup those crampons are looking pretty dull. They'd be fine on softer snow but again I'll reiterate they shouldn't be used on harder ice.

I also wouldn't recommend using those on Rainier. That mountain is subject to changes in snow conditions that can happen fast. It is a huge mountain located close to the coast. It serves as a great catch for weather systems rolling in to Washington. I've seen many scenarios when snow conditions are fine before a storm then a warm storm comes in with a freezing level of 13,000+ feet or higher. Following the storm (as what usually happens) a cold snap came in and froze everything turning the upper mountain into a sheet of ice.

If you are certain conditions are going to be OK you can get by with those. If not you are playing a game of odds.

I bought a pair of Clapons...

I clapped twice but they didn't magically affix themselves to my boots.

I sent em' back.

Well, if you would have ordered steel clappers, they would have worked!

Or the infamous "copper clappers"!

I just picked up a pair of these:


Now if I can just figure out how to get it open and put them on. ...

Ok so the joke is about this guy in Alaska that had to use his wag bag and got his caught in the trap ,he's telling this story about the worst pain in his life the other guy said that must of been the worst , he said it was when the chain ran out and I came to a sudden stop .