Ice Climbing Crampons

[Dr_Crash]

I am shopping for one crampon that will do both (I know, I know). Looks like the Sarken would be good for that, and you're saying the G14s may not? Remember, I have the fruit boots for the monopointing

 

drC

[John Frieh]

g -14s will slog snow routes... but so will boots with nails pounded through the bottom of the soles. But both won't do it as well as the sarken. Perhaps a better way to say it is the g -14 weighs too much for snow routes and the front points are better for ice than snow.

 

Generally the more specialized you make a piece of equipment the better it will preform at that type of climbing but will suck for everything else.

 

Sarken or sabertooth if you can only own 1 crampon.

 

And fruit boots on anything less than M9 is weak.

[fenderfour]

I'm seconding NOLSe's take on the G14's. They rock on ice, but they are heavy compared to most other options. If I could do it over again, I would have bought Sarkens instead of the G14's. The G14's rock, but you definitely feel the weight on your pack for the long alpine approaches.

[rhyang]

I wouldn't worry about the antibott plates - you can make your own from plastic juice bottles and wire ties. There's even a how-to article on the internet out there someplace ...

[Chad_A]

Just wondering, how many people believe in horizontal frontpoints for WI. I have a set of G-14s, and a set of Camp Ice Riders, which is extremely similar to Charlet Moser Black Ice's (very aggressive secondary points).

 

I took the Camp's up to the Nisqually, and they performed remarkably well on damn-near vertical glacial ice. The G-14's, a week earlier, seemed to blow out easier on the Eliot Glacier of Hood. I realize that this is glacier ice, and is much different than water ice.

 

I was reading Gadd's book, and he stated something about challenging climbers to try horizontal front points in water ice; how many people believe in this?

[syudla]

I wouldn't worry about the antibott plates - you can make your own from plastic juice bottles and wire ties.

 

Have you actually tried this? I have heard this many times but in my personal experience, they suck el supremo. Plastic blows out damn near immediately.

[Dru]

Just wondering, how many people believe in horizontal frontpoints for WI. I have a set of G-14s, and a set of Camp Ice Riders, which is extremely similar to Charlet Moser Black Ice's (very aggressive secondary points).

 

I took the Camp's up to the Nisqually, and they performed remarkably well on damn-near vertical glacial ice. The G-14's, a week earlier, seemed to blow out easier on the Eliot Glacier of Hood. I realize that this is glacier ice, and is much different than water ice.

 

I was reading Gadd's book, and he stated something about challenging climbers to try horizontal front points in water ice; how many people believe in this?

 

Water ice is under vertical tension from gravity. Therefore it prefers to break horizontally - think of the ice roof left where a big icicle snaps off.

 

Horizontal front points cause significantly more fracturing in water ice than they do in glacier ice.

 

For slabby mixed they are good cause you get more point surface ara on the rock increasing friction.

[jordop]

Just wondering, how many people believe in horizontal frontpoints for WI. I have a set of G-14s, and a set of Camp Ice Riders, which is extremely similar to Charlet Moser Black Ice's (very aggressive secondary points).

 

I took the Camp's up to the Nisqually, and they performed remarkably well on damn-near vertical glacial ice. The G-14's, a week earlier, seemed to blow out easier on the Eliot Glacier of Hood. I realize that this is glacier ice, and is much different than water ice.

 

I was reading Gadd's book, and he stated something about challenging climbers to try horizontal front points in water ice; how many people believe in this?

G14s are vertical frontpoints, no?

[Dru]

Duh, that was his point.

[jordop]

rhetoric of comparison leading to choice leads to assumption that the comparison correlates to choice

[Chad_A]

I like my G-14s, but as I'm looking at them closer, the secondary points seem much less aggressive than the others that are competition; seems like you have to get the frontpoints really sunk in, or your heel incredibly low, for them to engage. Yep, I need to spend much more time with them.

 

Looking forward to getting to experiment with some of this some more; here's to some good ice this year in BC/WA...or lower gas prices to get to Banff.

[rhyang]

I wouldn't worry about the antibott plates - you can make your own from plastic juice bottles and wire ties.

 

Have you actually tried this? I have heard this many times but in my personal experience, they suck el supremo. Plastic blows out damn near immediately.

 

hey Doug. I use this stuff on my horizontally-framed crampons and it works fine. Never tried it on vertical-framed crampons like your Rambo's though.

 

Doesn't your partner Jeff use Trango Harpoons that he made antibotts for out of bicycle inner tubes or something ? Maybe he has some tips...

[John Frieh]

Just a thought on antibot plates but generally if the snow is so soft that your pons are balling up chances are you don't need your crampons on any ways... just kick some steps.

 

Yes in some geographic places you will find a few inches of fresh over ice (AK, etc) but in the NW this is about as common as real WI to climb.

[rhyang]

Sorry to be off-topic; I was climbing an ice couloir in the eastern Sierras last weekend, and there was fresh snow on the "glacier" (such as they are down here) and the lower couloir, balling up like mad. The last two pitches were hard, brittle water ice. I have to admit that I was using G14's with the factory latex plates instead of juice bottles. But on petzl & BD crampons I like the juice bottles more !