The Right Points: Aluminum or Steel Crampons for Mountaineering?
“Are you golfing or something?” Luke said, scoffing at my shiny new aluminum crampons as we stopped to crampon-up below a frozen chute in California’s Palisades. “Those things look flim-zee! Let me show you some real 'poons,” and he unsheathed a vintage set of Footfangs, the revolutionary 1980s ice climbing crampon, covered with steel spikes and weighing like a lead brick. Since Luke never tires, his extra weight worked to my advantage.
I’d debated about bringing crampons on my inaugural Sierra ski tour. I’d heard spring suncrusts could stop progress without crampons, but packing dead weight would compromise our traverse. That’s when I dropped $80 on aluminum spikes. Maybe I didn’t need new crampons, but lugging Footfangs, or any steel crampon, wasn’t an option for me.
The low weight of aluminum draws many mountaineers, but compared to aluminum, steel is stronger, harder, and has a higher elastic limit before deformity. “It’s the practical application that matters. The numbers don’t tell you a lot,” said Bill Belcourt, climbing hardgoods manager at Black Diamond. “When you cycle aluminum, and continually load a product to most of its strength, it gets harder until it breaks. Steel has an infinite flex life without getting harder or softer.”
For some mountain realms, the aluminum/steel debate is mute. For mixed or waterfall ice climbing, get steel. If you’re strictly climbing snow, neve, or ski mountaineering with the occasional icy slope, go with aluminum crampons.
The middle territory is the real question between aluminum and steel crampons. That mid-summer ascent of Mount Rainier where you may cross rock, or a glacier approach to a technical rock route in Patagonia. It comes down to weight versus durability versus purpose.
The Case for Steel
Steel crampons are real crampons. Whether you have chromoly steel or stainless steel, they can handle rock, snow or ice. General mountaineering crampons such as the Sabretooth by Black Diamond (34-oz.) or Petzl’s Vasak (32-oz.) work great on glacier ice, rock, frozen snow, and will suffice on hard mixed and steep water ice.
On most mountain trips we encounter a variety of conditions. Say the Disappointment Cleaver route on Mount Rainier in August, where you cross snow, neve, glacier ice, and a rocky ridge. Removing and then re-attaching your crampons kills valuable time. Save precious minutes by keeping your steel crampons attached and walking straight up the rocky Cleaver. Unlike aluminum, the hard metal is slow to dull on rocks and the teeth won’t snap off.
But what if your trip has a short section of cramponing, or possibly none at all? Then the steel crampons become dead weight. Step in the aluminum solution!
The Case for Aluminum
Aluminum crampons are light, ranging from 14- to 21-ounces. The Camp USA XLC 390, weighs a scant 14-ounces and is the lightest crampon in the world. Other popular aluminum crampons are the Black Diamond Neve Strap and the Stubai Ultralight, both 21-ounces.
If you might need crampons, then bring aluminum. Aluminum is ideal for ski mountaineering when early morning ascents climb frozen slopes, or if you might encounter exposed ice at the toe of a glacier. Long summer trips, with a short snow section, also warrant aluminum to cut valuable ounces from your mountain pack.
Aluminum crampons are also ideal for crossing small pocket glaciers to reach alpine rock routes like the West Ridge of Forbidden Peak in the North Cascades or the towers around El Chalten in Patagonia where the crampons get used on a short technical section and are then carried on steep terrain for the rest of the day.
Aluminum will work for short sections of vertical water ice or mixed climbing, but it’s like standing on a one-inch tree branch 50-feet off the ground. Flimsy aluminum frontpoints don’t inspire confidence in technical terrain. In fact, they often snap right off. Aluminum also dulls fast – walking on rocks will destroy and bend them quickly.
“When in doubt reach for the steel,” said Belcourt. The best option is to have a quiver of crampons at home, ranging from aluminum strap-ons, through mountain crampons, to full-on water ice crampons. However, if your budget allows for only one pair, go with steel.
Joe Stock works as a writer, photographer and a fully-certified IFMGA mountain guide based in Anchorage. Joe is sponsored by Osprey, G3, Hilleberg, Scarpa, Dermatone, Wigwam, Smith, and Feathered Friends.
