UKC

A question that I can't seem to find the answer to;

I've always borrowed my mates crampons which are C3's, which fit my B3 boots just lovely. Sadly this year, that isn't going to be possible for me, so I must buy some. By itself, that wouldn't be a problem, however;

I recently bought a pair of Scarpa approach shoes, which I intend to use for short alpine hikes to rock routes in the alps to save weight and my knees. I still have the pair of sportiva B3's, too, remember. My challenge is to find a crampon that will fit both shoes without hindering performance, thus, enabling me to save money and not buy two pairs of crampons. I had a look and reckon I could get a new-classic g12's on the Scarpa trainers, but how would they fit on the B3's? What about the new singing rock Fakir II classics? (link below)

http://www.rockrun.com/singing-rock-fakir-ii-classic

Who can help?

Peace,

Adam

In reply to Mr Harry:

They will fit on the boots but I'm not so sure about fitting them to trainers, think you might struggle with that, take the approach shoes back and swap for a light boot instead?

In reply to climber34neil:

Here is a link to the boot ...

https://www.amazon.com/Scarpa-Tech-Ascent-Approach-Boot/dp/B007HUNKX0

...

In reply to Mr Harry:

G12s work absolutely fine on B3 boots. They'll also do you absolutely fine on winter routes.

In reply to Mr Harry:

Neil's point is not that the crampons will be difficult to physically fit to the approach shoes, it is more that they will quite likely pop off while using them.

In reply to Mr Harry:

You could buy some flexible bars for the crampons and add a few light straps around the forefoot for use on the softer approach shoes to ensure they won't come loose.

In reply to Mr Harry:

Yes, G12s will work fine on your B3s. But as you allude to, a proper C3 rated crampon will be nicer to use.

I can rarely think of a need for crampons on an alpine approach, but saying that I will happily do Glacier stuff without crampons.

Your approach shoes will be too bendy and depart from your crampons quite fast. Have you thought of using micro spikes, which would work fine for this?

In reply to spenser:

Yes, sorry didn't make that clear but that's what I was thinking

In reply to ianstevens:

I'm also generally happy with boots for most alpine approaches and some glacier travel. However, coming out of the Col de Midi station and walking down to the col seems a bit sketchy solely in boots, just for example. I remember doing the Rebuffet route last year, and after getting to the base of the route, and taking off my b3 boots, and c3 crampons and loading them into my bag, feeling like there must be a better way to go about weight saving. That was a heavy sack for 12 pitches.

In reply to Mr Harry:

I have a pair of Scarpa zen-pro-mid-gtx very similar to your approach boot/trainer.
I just tried fitting a Grivel G14 to one whilst it will go on and seems tight. The absence of a heel lug
means the rear clip digs in above the rand in order to hold the crampon on.
Two things to note. One, you can feel this through the heel of the boot on your achilles
and two it not does seem like it will stay on very long. Also there is a huge gap between the toe and
the front of the crampon which may lead to snow building up.

Good luck with your search I think getting something flexible for the approach shoe that works for the B3 as well will dependant on use case probably just lead to an awful compromise. I cannot see this combination working well and will be sticking to G14's on my B3's only which as you would expect they fit as they should.