UKC

I recently picked up an unused pair of Scarpa Omegas and have been struggling to get a good fit with crampons that have a toe bail. I've tried searching and emailing Scarpa but haven't found anyone who can answer my question...

I've compared the fit of the Omega to Nepal Extremes with both Charlet M10s and Grivel G12s and in both cases the fit of the Omegas is (in my opinion) not satisfactory. Instead of the whole of the bail being in contact with the welt, only the front parts touch and there is still a gap between the boot (just under the ball / toe area) and the crampon, even when the heel lever is cranked hard. As a result there is noticable play when walking / climbing.

The problem seems to come from the fact the the height of the toe welt is significantly less on the Omega vs the Nepal Extremes (sole - toe welt distance 14-15mm for Omegas vs 19-20mm for Nepal Extremes). The only solution seems to be to bend the toe bails considerably (to essentially lower the height of the bail) but this would mean that the crampons wouldn't work for the Nepal Extremes).

Wondering if anyone else has had this problem? I do have pictures but can't seem to paste them in here, but that is probably me being stupid.

Thanks

In reply to Philip M:

I had the same problem with my scarpa alphas - a quick phone call to the uk grivel importer and they sent me out some replacement toe bails for my F2 crampons

I can't remember the name of the importer - try google

In reply to Philip M:

Thanks a lot Roger. I've sent a message to Grivel and Petzl and I'll see what happens.

Cheers

In reply to Philip M:
See if you can get different bails if you can afford it, but you may well be getting stressed over not much if you haven't actually tried climbing with them. I've had maybe 6 or 7 different pairs of winter boots over the last 20 years, and I think 5 different pairs of full step in crampons. Some bails fitted certain boots better than others but I've never had a crampon bail come off the toe except for one time when I snapped the actual frame of one crampon. Just make sure the heel piece is a really tight and I've found that it is basically impossible for the crampon to come off.

In reply to Philip M:

You often need to take a hammer to the front bails of grivel crampons to fit them properly on the newer scarpa boots

In reply to Philip M:

Mountain boot company for grivel/scarpa
Lyon for petzl.

Message me the photos? see if i can suggest somthing

In reply to Philip M:
The G12 have two sets of holes that the front bail can fit in. Have you tried both? The rear set of holes might give a better fit on the lower welt.

For some reason Grivel put a very wide curve on the G12 bails, which doesn't fit well on most boots I've seen. (They also added the dangerously snag-prone loops at the sides of the bail - anyone know what they are for?)

You will probably need to carefully bend the front bail and increase the curve to get a fit that's acceptable on all your boots. Spare bails are available if the difference is too great.

If unable to achieve a good fit, I'd choose a different boot - crampon combination. Even if they stay on, poorly matched crampons may suffer increased metal fatigue, with potentially serious consequences.

In reply to Philip M:

Thanks so much for the responses guys. Sorry that I disappeared for a few weeks but my work schedule got a little hectic.

Rich - I've sent you an email so hopefully you can check out the photos.

Toby - I appreciate what you're saying, but if you saw the fit, I think you would agree that it doesn't inspire confidence! (is there a way to paste photos into the forum threads?)

Hannes - if I only wanted to use the Omegas then the hammer would already be out, but I don't want to limit myself to one boot. If I can get extra bales then that might be the road I take.

Matthew - I've tried both sets of holes and no difference.

Hopefully Grivel or Petzl will be able to get me a new set of bales and I'll go from there.

Thanks again for the help!