Crampon Question
|
I plan on doing Long's East Face this summer. The last time I was there was 30 years ago and I remember crossing the snowfield was by far the scariest part of the climb we did. Wondering just how much crampon I need to be safe - has to work with just approach shoes. I'm looking at |
|
These would provide more security and are good for use with approach shoes: |
|
The Kahtoola Microspikes are awesome little spikes - a friend of mine has climbed Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams (both Washington State) with just Microspikes - never needed to switch to crampons. |
|
SBrown wrote:The Kahtoola Microspikes are awesome little spikes - a friend of mine has climbed Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams (both Washington State) with just Microspikes - never needed to switch to crampons. That said, Long's East Face? ehh... I'd feel more comfortable with the crampons FrankPS posted.It's just for crossing the snowfield at the base in August to get to the rocks - not doing a snow/ice "climb" like Lambs etc. |
|
Depending on the time of the year (late August) there may not be any snow to cross... I guess I'm just assuming you are going up the North Chimney though. I'd say microspikes would be sufficient if not a super lightweight aluminum crampon. |
|
I did this same climb 30 years ago and the hardest (scariest) part then was crossing the snow field (it was the first week of August). I have no idea of the future conditions for this summer but want to be prepared is all. My regular crampons won't work on approach shoes (bails). I may not need anything of course but better to be ready than not. Thanks all. |
|
I guided in RMNP in the '80s and have probably been up the East Face (Keiner's) 50 times. Summer can mean many things so it's tricky. Some summer days the snow on Lamb's Slide is soft enough to negate the need for crampons. Other times it's all froze up and you'll need crampons all the way. And then there's Broadway: same thing, sometimes it's icy and sometimes it's not. It depends. |