Crampon recommendations for beginner with ambitious goals

Darts are phenomenal imo from brittle to plastic they excel. I love my nomics , they are just fine on low angle as well as excelling when it gets steep 

I use lynxs with mono points. Have over 100 pitches on the same points I got em with and led wi5- this season. Probably 20 pitches of mixed and they still work great. I am small at 140lbs so your durability may be different if you weigh more. I am replacing my points this season though. Rambos, darts and cyborgs are great too though

Alex Headleywrote:

Any opinions of the G14's? Good for WI3-4? Good in the Alpine? 

Will do anything, but heavy. 

Gunkiemikewrote:

A bit heavy but a good versatile waterfall ice crampon.  Make sure they fit your boots - they have a pronounced curve to them.

Thanks! I tried them with my Nepal's in the shop and they fit great! I'll get those I think

DeLa Crucewrote:

Will do anything, but heavy. 

I found the front points to be kinda short. 

Cassin alpinist pros. lightly used. Never sharpened. Excelent condition. $100.00 you could set them up as Monos if you wanted but i would not. they kick butt the way they are. i led The last Gentleman, Glass menagerie , 20 below etc with them and they rock. new blade runners arived  this weekend. 

Curious what the OP finally got.  For other beginners looking for a first pair, I do NOT recommend the Grivel G20+.    It will short circuit your learning curve.  You don’t want to look like an expert floating up WI5/6 your first year or two.   That would be misleading and unethical.  

Seriously though, since this thread is basically about splitting nuanced hairs, something touched on above by Ted, is something I think beginners should play with, or take into account, when comparing crampon performance, and that is front point extension beyond your boot.  Contrary to Ted, I prefer shorter vs longer.  All my bails are set in the furthest forward hole.  I hate the feeling of standing on a “diving board” .   I think (at least subconsciously) longer points also encourages a bit of over kicking to bury that monster a bit deeper.   One tap should be all that’s needed 90% of the time.  

Curt86iroc mentioned the BD contact.  Good, general purpose crampon, and very lightweight, but no adjustment on the toe, meant more for Alpine neve.  on pure vertical ice, I always feel so far out from the ice.  Coupled with lighter duty mountain boots, the leverage and flex and less secure strap mounting, it will definitely put you in the opposite learning curve scenario from the G20.   A good choice ;)    I use mine like swinging a heavier bat in the on deck circle.  A few Warm up pitches with those and you’ll feel ready to  free solo M12 with the G20+  

Some comparison pics above (why do pics auto-go to the start of a post?) of the point adjustment for reference.  It’s not huge, but noticeable in performance.

I agree with Mark above in regards front point length. Of course they need to be long “enough” to be functional, but you really don’t need all that much out there, and I don’t like kicking the shit out of the ice to bury it deep, but usually prefer smearing and placing those points. As such, it is nice to have a bit shorter point, as in, having your toes close to the ice, feels more comfortable on the feet, in my opinion. 

I just took the new  Bladerunners for a test drive.   they climb really well but not $150.00 better than the Alpinist pros.  They will not magickly give me an extra lead grade ;)   I know i am bucking the majority here but I had them set up with one  as mono point and one as duals. Dual points won hands down  for stickiness and stability. I will be setting the other crampon up as dual points as well. YMMV. 

Nick, lemme ship you a pair of G20+ to try (if you haven’t already) 

(and if I had a spare pair to ship, lol)

mark. i was on rambo comps for several seasons. they were great. at some point i think its  just not possible to buy actual improvement in your climbing and you simply have to work for it ;)   I was on mono points for about 15 years> starting with rambo comps which were great. then M 10s which were not great. then stingers which were great again. switched to duals about 5 years ago and really do find them much better for what i climb which is mostly water ice up to 5+ and mixed usually only m4ish. whatever I encounter just trying to get up ice climbs.  duals are especially usefull on really thin steep slabs but they also excell on thin candles.   I sometimes even  cam an icicle between the two front points.   

Funny.  Similar but different.  I went from M10’s to RamboComps. Thought the RamboComps were cheating.  I stuck to ice like Velcro. Since I’m an addict, have bought dang near every model from BD, Petzl, or Grivel since, seeking another hit and Nirvana. Totally agree on thin slabby verglass, I prefer duals.  Sabretooth’s to be exact.  Also agree on the camming option of dual vertical points for lots of candles,  but when the G20+ came out, I thought “hey, that might give me the same jolt and pleasure trip that the Rambo’s did years ago (and this time the bails might actually stay on)

They haven’t disappointed.  

Mark Pilatewrote:

...Curious what the OP finally got...

I was keeping up with this thread when I first made it, but came back after not checking for a while to see it had blown up! I really appreciate all the input and will be referring back to this thread as I progress. Even though this can sometimes be splitting hairs like others have said, I enjoy reading everyone's opinions and experiences. Hopefully it is also helpful for other new ice climbers that come across it in the future. 

I did ultimately go with the bladerunners, but more than anything because I got an absurd deal on them locally, right before a climbing trip. I have no complaints so fair - I've used them on steep ice, moderate mixed, and pure drytooling routes with no issues. 

I was talking to a guide this winter and he commented that the additional front point next to the main monopoint on the G20 (small horizontal) and the bladerunner (2 vertical) interfere with penetration of the main point since the smaller points are chopping the ice away compared to the dart or stinger with only the monopoint. This would occur on cold brittle ice and not plastic ice.

Thoughts? 

Steverwrote:

I was talking to a guide this winter and he commented that the additional front point next to the main monopoint on the G20 (small horizontal) and the bladerunner (2 vertical) interfere with penetration of the main point since the smaller points are chopping the ice away compared to the dart or stinger with only the monopoint. This would occur on cold brittle ice and not plastic ice.

Thoughts? 

If you are penetrating deep enough for the mini point on the g20 to interfere you don't need to worry about lack of penetration. 

Steverwrote:

I was talking to a guide this winter and he commented that the additional front point next to the main monopoint on the G20 (small horizontal) and the bladerunner (2 vertical) interfere with penetration of the main point since the smaller points are chopping the ice away compared to the dart or stinger with only the monopoint. This would occur on cold brittle ice and not plastic ice.

Thoughts? 

All things being equal, yes. But they're not equal and the BR monopoints are thinner and penetrate better. 

Steverwrote:

Thoughts? 

the guy way over kicks and way underthinks.  

 friend of mine is on a  BC trip right now.  She just posted a puck of a broken grivel crampon. i don't know what model. 

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

 friend of mine is on a  BC trip right now.  She just posted a puck of a broken grivel crampon. i don't know what model. 

Those were Rambos but not hers. She climbs on BD's. Whiteman Falls is one hell of a route.

 I don't think it really matters what brand, Crampons can and will break. the only brand of crampon that I have not broken that I have climbed on is Chiounard and Cassin. broke SMC. Grivel, Foot fangs, M10s and Stingers. Thats the reason I wear a harness and carry 4 screws and a tag line while soloing.