Kahtoola crampons

imported
#1

Given all the snow the Sierra’s are getting this year, I thought it might be a good idea to bring along my new Kahtoola crampons just in case any of the passes are particularly icy. I’ve had great success with regular mountaineering crampons on glacier ice when I summited Rainier a few years ago, but I’ve never used the lightweight Kahtoola crampons. They seem to fit OK on my trail running shoes and lightweight boots, but I’m curious if anyone has any experience using them for real backpacking…

Cheers,

FireBall

FireBall

#2

Sadly, I don’t know too much about crampons. I just used them for the first time recently, because I too was worried about Sierra snow. They were fun, but heavy and prone to poking holes in delicate ultralight gear!

Looking at the PCT post-holer site, there are currently 11 snow-level numbers for the Sierras. Averaging these, I get that the snow for right now (March 14) is less than FOUR PERCENT above the April 1 averge. (One of the big #'s is pretty far south, however.) The forecast for the Sierras looks pretty good, though there might be some snow late this week.

So from this sensor data, at least, this looks like it may be a pretty typical year in the end. So I MIGHT carry something like Yak-Trax, but unless there’s a late storm or slow melt I think crampons may be unnecessary. (Is there a worse story that the snow sensor aren’t telling?)

Eric

#3

the Kahtoolas were tested on BackpackGearTest.org, by three different testers. hopefully the reports will tell you what you need to know.

tarbubble