Grivel G12

The benchmark mountaineering crampon that most people need. This will get you up any mountain in the world.

This is the crampon 90% of people need. I have climbed vertical ice, steep snow, and even dry tooling. Sure, there are better crampons for really steep stuff, but if you only want one crampon, this is a good one. Steve House climbed Nanga Parbat Royal Face in this. Stevie Haston climbed Scotch on the rocks in this.

I find it fits my boots well (La Sportiva and Hanwags models) and the Newmatic (toe strap, wire heel) gives a totally secure fit. If your boots are extremely asymmetrical you would want a different linking bar. The stew wears quite well, the secondary points don’t point straight down, but rather more forward. This helps for climbing steeper ice and snow.

This crampon also walks quite well and is very secure on rock. The anti-balling plates are probably the best on the market—snow buildup is noticeably less than BD and Petzl equivalents.

This crampon could be lighter, and I wish the front points were a tad longer. I am hard on gear though, and because I wanted these razor sharp for ice climbing, repeated sharpenings have shortened the front points. Can’t have it all, I guess, but you can come close with this crampon!

For this class, ie 12-point steel horizontal front point crampon, this model leads the pack. It will climb anything any of us here reading this will want, and last a long time. Grivel steel is famous for its durability. If you want lighter, go Petzl Vasak or BD Sabretooth, but your Petzl will wear out sooner and the secondary points are too far back for serious ice climbing. BD Sabretooth, same thing, though the long points are nice.

Background

Mountaineering, ice climbing, snow walking

I am a mountain hiker and I am active all year round, mainly in the Bavarian and Austrian Alps. Day tours only. I walk on Hanwag shoes from early spring to late autumn with the support of light crampons if necessary. In winter I hike on Raichle All Degrees with Grivel G12 crampons. Excellent combination.

To the Grivel G12 crampons:

This is an excellent product. Very sturdy and versatile. For my Raichle shoes I have the mixed version, with the fixed clip-on binding for the heel and the universal binding for the front.

The heel clip-on binding is user-friendly and, once fastened, will stay tight all day long.

The front fastening system, with the cord going through two simple rings, is very easy and effective and hardly needs any re-fastening, not even after some intensive climbing.

Recommendable without hesitation.

I used these crampons climbing and descending Alum Cave Trail last week in the Smokies. The traction these things provided was incredible. Used them for about 3 miles up the trail and 5 miles down and they never slipped one single time on the ice, snow, or even rocks.

The only issue that I blame myself for and not the equipment is one crampon did pop off on the walk down the mountain. However, I believe this to be my fault for not verifying fit that morning since I set the fit at home at 70 degrees F and I think the boot soles shrank the next morning when the temp was -2 degrees F.

I would not have attempted this trail had I not had these devices that provide such great traction.