Crampons for Big Feet

[ganngus]

Anyone have any recommendations for a crampon that fits a size 15 boot? I bought a pair of Petzl Sarkens and they are about 1/2inch too short.

 

[Macintosh]

What kind of boot? and what kind of crampon/binding? (heel and toe welt, heel welt only, or strap-on) Sarkens are pretty aggressive crampons, are you climbing vertical ice, or?

Most of the companies making crampons make (or at least made) a long center bar for bigger feet--you replace the center bar that came on them with the longer version to fit a bigger boot.

Rock and snow here is a very reputable dealer--if you call them they'll know what they are talking about and can help you. They carry parts from all of the makers: https://www.rockandsnow.com/45085/b...MIFvrJqXtVuPDQ5VqrI4bgm9aXgjq3URoC284QAvD_BwE

 

[ganngus]

What kind of boot? and what kind of crampon/binding? (heel and toe welt, heel welt only, or strap-on) Sarkens are pretty aggressive crampons, are you climbing vertical ice, or?

Most of the companies making crampons make (or at least made) a long center bar for bigger feet--you replace the center bar that came on them with the longer version to fit a bigger boot.

Rock and snow here is a very reputable dealer--if you call them they'll know what they are talking about and can help you. They carry parts from all of the makers: https://www.rockandsnow.com/45085/b...MIFvrJqXtVuPDQ5VqrI4bgm9aXgjq3URoC284QAvD_BwE

Lathrop and Sons Mountain Hunter. Buying for alpine Sitka blacktail hunt in SE Alaska. Lost my footing on hunt in steep country on same hunt last year and ended up in a bad way requiring complete ankle reconstruction surgery from it. Micro spikes were not sufficient last year. I bought the sarkens because they were literally only ones I could find that didn’t have a size limitation of a US size 13.

 

[Marbles]

With those boots you really want the Flex center bar as the boot is unlikely to be stiff enough for the standard bar to work well. I don't see a Petzl one in a long version though.

You might need to get BD crampons and the long flex bar linked by @Macintosh.

Full crampons add there own challenges, especially with moving over rock as your foot is higher off the ground or one spike might stay high while the rest sink. That SEAK alpine can be slick as snot, I've jast sat down and slid as I knew that would be how it ended anyway.

 

[Macintosh]

Call rock and snow, looked like they had parts for a couple brands in addition to the one I linked. They’ll get you set up.
If its not too late, depending on what you find for parts availability those sarkens are way overkill for what you need, and potentially even a liability b/c they’ll be harder to walk in on mixed rocks/snow and scree, etc, as well as heavier. You really only want a very light pair of mountaineering or ski mountaineering crampons, even the lightest ones will be light-years ahead of microspikes, but you’ll lose a half pound or so off those sarkens and find walking easier. If you use full crampons you want something like a petzl irvis or grivel g1.
A shop like barneys sport chalet in Anchorage deals with these outdoor companies and also outfits folks for sheep hunting there, so if you bump into a dead end with a climbing shop they can also steer you to what most people use for that specific terrain where you’ll be.

 

[ganngus]

Thank yall for the recommendation to call Rock and Snow. Super, super helpful. They recommended Grivel G10 with extended bar.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Grivel Sells an extended bar.