Ski crampons & whippet-pole... absolutely needed?

About 12 years ago, I learned how to traverse and climb steep snowslopes with an iceaxe. <br><br>About 12 years before that, I learned how to downhill ski.<br><br>In the months and years to come, I'm hoping to combine both of the above, little by little, more and more. Basically, want to use skis for climing steeper slopes in more varied terrain & snow types... including maybe a volcano or two this spring. <br><br><br>Soo... I'm thinking about getting ski crampons and the whippet pole thing. But I've heard some people say that, if it's steep enough to require ski crampons, you might as well just put your regular crampons on (if you have 'em), and use your regular ice axe. <br><br><br><br>Thoughts?<br> ???

It depends on what type of ski binding you are using. I've seen the Fritishi ski crampon at work and wasn't impressed. They are virtually useless when using anything but the lowest heel riser. The Fritishi crampon connects to the back piece of the binding, so if you are on the highest heel riser selection, the crampon will never touch the snow. I believe the Dynafit crampons are different. They attach to the front toe piece of the binding. This allows them to stay in contact with the snow at all times. I would consider the Dynafit crampon, but stay away from the Fritishi. Unless Fritishi makes a modification to the crampon so that it attaches to the ski instead. I think investing in a lighweight pair of aluminum boot crampons is a better option.

for most spring/summer trips where you are primarily dealing with a corn cycle ie-climbing when its frozen, skiing when its soft, I think ski crampons are probably not all that necessary...like you said, if its hard enough for ski crampons, why not just boot it.<br>that being said, i've been on a few tours when i've been happy to have ski crampons or really wished i had them...usually its when dealing with crust or a windslab...hard to get your skis to stay put while skinning and if you try to boot it, you bust through the crust and are wallowing up to your knees, so theres certainly a time and place when ski crampons are a blessing.<br>just my two cents.<br><br>( i have dynafit crampons..they also work using tele bindings if you take your boards to ProSki and have them drill on one of their little plastic 'adaptors' that fit on right behind most tele binding toe plates. and the dynafit crampon also is worthless when you have heel risers up, unless you bolt on a little shim of wood or plastic onto the crampon so your boot can still push the crampon into the snow when your lifters are up.)

yeah I do have Fritschis. hmm....

interesting Pete<br><br>i didn't realize that you needed to have foot pressure for the dynafit crampons to work. good to know...

I use Fritschis and I own the crampons too. My opinion of ski crampon use is similar to Pete's. First of all, I rarely carry them. They do work when your heel elevator is on it's mid height. This is the height they are most usefull at. Think cold, bulletproof morning on a moderately steep glacier or snowfield (ie. Boulder/Park on Baker). Steeper/icier stuff...I will typically boot it because it is faster, like Pete said.<br><br>If you don't already have ski crampons, I wouldn't rush out and buy them, because you'll only take them 1 in 10 times that you'll want them. Whippets are more worth the $$$ and you'll find them usefull in many more situations. My 2 cents makes 4.