When it was time to replace my old crampons, I looked around and ended up buying a G12 Crampon from Grivel. These crampons seemed to offer the best combination of technical features, comfort, ease of use and value. I honestly wasn’t looking for a pair of technical ice-climbing crampons, but I wanted crampons that were good for general mountain use, and maybe a little ice climbing climbing here and there Grivel G12 becomes the bill. They are generally designed as mountain crampons but can be used for climbing and even some technical routes.
Crampon Basics
Cleats are really just metal spikes that you wear in your shoes. They give you traction in icy conditions and climb the ice. A good crampon will fit your shoe tightly and comfortably, giving you plenty of support and allowing you to use your boot and crampon to grip ice, snow or rock as you walk.
The Grivel G12 Crampon features 12 metal points, 10 of which look down from your boots, two of which point horizontally at the front of the crampon. The spikes give you downward traction, while the horizontal spikes bite into the snow or ice to stabilize you as you climb. The spikes are serrated under your heel, which makes the crampon grip the ice more firmly and gives you better traction.
the crampons are made of steel and therefore apart from removed paint, you should not experience any breakage or cracking in the crampons, even with heavy use . The crampons weigh just over 2 pounds together so you’ll be carrying an extra pound over your shoes on your feet. This is lighter than my older crampons and definitely not all that much extra weight.
Most amazing to me is the fit and ease of putting on these crampons. G12 mens fit boot sizes from 4 to 12 and adjust it, just stretch or slip on the crampon for a quick squeeze. Special needs tools are not special and you don’t have to spend time trying to fit the boot. Crampon usually pretends to be a boot. It is also easy to tighten and tighten to boot. The boot slides into the binding and then there is a strap that secures the shoe to the crampon. The Nova-matic lacing system also features a quick lock feature, where your heel is held in place by the lacing chain. This gives you the ability to use lighter weight hiking boots with crampons instead of heavier, heavier duty ones.
The G12 also features anti-bot and sleeve tabs to prevent snow build-up on the crampon. The anti-bot fits in the areas under your heel and the ball of your foot in areas that are otherwise open on the crampon. An anti-bot is simply a flexible piece of plastic that prevents the snow from bouncing and makes the crampon difficult to put on. The accordion sleeve secures the connection between the front and rear portions of the crampon and flexes to either extend or retract the crampon to accommodate your foot. The snow sleeve prevents getting there and making some modifications to fit the crampons more difficult.
Experience
There is nothing worse than constantly having something bother me while you are climbing or climbing and with old crampons, I always want to stop and tighten or adjust in some way. Not so with the G12s. And I put it on, I tighten it, and more times than not, don’t worry until I take it off.
The adjustment to fit different boots is quick and the Novi-matic lacing system is really simple to use and does a good job of keeping your boot in place. It also allows me to use a variety of boots instead of just being able to use them for my heavy mountain duty. boots I have used G12s as heavier leather hiking-boots without any problem and I have also used medium weight day hiking boots without any problem. Be careful, I wear crampons for simple hikes and climbing, not technical climbing. For more technical climbs, a heavy duty boot that provides extra support and rigidity for technical climbing and allows the G12s to really do their job on ice climbs.
The crampons are comfortable to put on and taking off the G12s is as easy as putting them on. Loosen the new-nut tie and loosen the strap. Your boot will pop right out of winning.
I’ve worn the G12s several times without any problems. They are well built and other than the paint on the tips being worn out, I haven’t noticed any wear and tear issues. The straps are still thin and the Nova-matic binding still works as it should.
In the end
I don’t think you can go wrong with the Grvel G12 Crampons. They are well made, will likely last a long time, and will handle most mountain climbs with technical ascents. In my opinion, if you are looking for crampons, try a pair of G12 Crampons from Grivel, I doubt you will be disappointed.
