UKC

Hi,

Has onyone got experience with using the Kahtoola K10's on hard glacier ice?

Would be used for glacier approaches wearing Rock Jocks (i.e. approach shoes)on non-technical terrain.

how do they cope with glacier ice? and at what angle does one wish one would have packed some proper crampons.

alternative suggestions most welcome

thanks!

In reply to uncontrollable:

come on UKC someone must have tried to use kahtoolas on a glacier

bump

In reply to uncontrollable:

dunno. have used kahtoola micro-spikes on snow pack, which is a bit like glacial ice, and they were ok up to about 45o, so i suppose K10s would be better a bit beyond that.

id figure you want real crampons, with front points, when its consistantly steep enough that your relying on your hands/poles/axe for balance.

camp do a little flexible, alu race crampon that may suit.

In reply to ice.solo:

cheers, will have a look at the camp one.
Liked the idea of steel as most alpine glaciers seems to be treadfully dirty.

In reply to uncontrollable:

im the idiot here, didnt register fully you wanted them for approach shoes.
the CAMP ones wont do that, ski or B1 only as far as i know.

having looked at the K10s, i rckon theyre about as good as youll get for something that goes on an approach shoe. beyond that its probably boots and 'real' crampons.

as it goes, i think youve identified a bit of a blind spot in the market. hopefully it will be filled as mountain running goes ever-further into the realm of alpine climbing...its just a matter of waiting.

for what its worth, if i think aboout what ive walked on in the micros, id happliy go up the baltoro in them.

In reply to uncontrollable:

Yep, wore my KTS steel for the Lewis Glacier on Mount Kenya. But how about (not me!) all the way up Everest?
http://www.kahtoola.com/events_archive_detail.php?content_id=38 (foot of page)

And the K-10 rear binding looks like it might suit shoe heels better than the KTS:
http://www.petestack.com/blog/climbing/lurchers-crag-and-kahtoola-kts-steel...

'While the toe straps and front plates stayed really secure all day (counter-intuitive tip for those used to more conventional crampons = raise your toes and pull the crampons down onto them!), I managed to knock the right heel plate sideways a couple of times on my final descent and maybe still need to experiment some more with the fitting there (guessing it must be secure enough if Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa wore Kahtoola KTS for his 10:56:46 speed climb of Everest!).'

In reply to uncontrollable:

I've used Kahtoola KTS crampons (not K10s) on wet and dry glaciers.

With stiff boots they work superbly.

With lightweight boots (Inov8 Roclite 390s) they stayed very firmly attached to the boots, but it was noticeably harder to get the points to bite than with heavy boots. I would do it again though for approaching a rock climb if I had to carry the boots up the route.

In reply to Oceanic:

I enjoyed carrying those boots for you whilst you carried my Mantas for me!

In reply to uncontrollable:

Thanks for all the feedback