Kia ora and welcome to the Mountain Safety Council's Alpine Snow Skills series
In this five part series we'll be talking to a professional mountain guide
from the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association
He'll be teaching us basic alpine skills for snow slopes and winter terrain
Keep in mind this video is not designed to replace a training course or hands-on
practical experience. We recommend taking an alpine skills
course from a professional provider or learning directly from competent
friends or family. Since you'll potentially be in avalanche
terrain, make sure to understand the current avalanche forecast for the
region you'll be in. Carry the necessary avalanche rescue
equipment and know how to use it and get the training and knowledge to
avoid avalanche hazards for more info go to avalanche.net.nz
So dave, what's the first thing that I need to know before I start using
crampons? First thing you need to know when you're
looking at crampons is your footwear. We've got two ends of the
spectrum we've got the classic running shoe perfect for
trail running and for crossings that don't involve snow but as
you can see it's got a lot of flex, not the one to use crampons with then.
You've got the other end of the spectrum you've got boots so i'm wearing
technical mountaineering boots they have got
zero flex in the sole. They are designed specifically for alpine terrain
and for using any kind of crampon with from the most
technical to the lightest. In between that
you also have a whole bunch of tramping boots of various stiffness.
The middle to stiff type of tramping boot is
completely suitable for um for crampons if you can put your foot down and bend
your toe like that you've probably not got the right boot for
most types of crampons.
Next thing you'll need to look at is choosing the crampon
type for the trip that you're doing and the footwear you have.
So Ii've got a couple of types here the ones that I use
most for these technical boots I'm wearing is a rapid fix.
Very stiff there's no give in that whatsoever
and that's a mountaineer's crampon a little bit heavier then I've got a
lighter crampon that is got a little bit of flex to it
so this is suitable for a sturdy tramping boot
right through to a stiff climbing boot and this has a strap-on attachment this
one has a clip-on attachment so next thing we need to do is work out
how to put them on our feet. Number one spiky side goes down
otherwise you get very sore feet. Number two put them down
flat extend them out. Before you go you should extend them
check them out for the size of your boot you need the metal posts front
and back you'll need your toe of your boot in between them the heel are you
booting between those ones this is better done flat on the snow
than pulling them on like if you're in a seated position on a chair or on a rock
so that you do get the toe in between those posts
the heel in between the back posts the strap and the
two rings goes on the outside of your boot to reduce
trip hazard put it through the front at this stage you don't have to tighten
hard. Then you can take your strap
put it through the inside and pull it over your ankle
once here, there's two rings here you pass the strap through both of them
and double it back in between the two of them
bit like an old fashioned motorcycle helmet
at this stage you can start tightening up
give a crank here crank there and tighten up your straps so it's nice
and secure and then your crampons nicely fitting on
your boot if I have excess I will wrap this excess
around the outside part of the strap the reason we
do it on the outside as I mentioned is to avoid any tripping hazard you
don't want anything on the inside of your boots that would
catch on another crampon so a couple of wraps
just tie it off and that's not going anywhere
So one of the things I do recommend is buying crampon that has a rubberised
what we call an anti-balling plate so both of these of mine
have balling plates on the bottom and this
stops particularly when it's warm and the snow is getting sticky
the snow can ball up underneath your crampon
and that reduces the effectiveness of the
the spikes so that helps to eject that it's a good thing to have in a
crampon so this second type of crampon is stiffer
it has a lever at the back and we call this a rapid fix crampon again
the bail system different companies different models
will have various systems of this some of them are wire
some of them are rubberised bails like this and some of them are combinations
so the same basic premise extend it put it down flat you still need
your boot to go between the bails at the front
bails at the back down flat
stand in it in this crampon I picked the lever up
so you'll hear a click
and now you'll see my crampon is on, I haven't done up my strapping
but if you give that a little tug yep it's not going anywhere even without
the strapping so it makes me feel very comfortable
when I'm in exposed ground it's also fast so this just goes through
the front, the exact same as the other one goes
through both rings, doubles back
the excess is slightly shorter on this because I use this crampon
primarily with these or similar boats but
there's still a little bit of excess and again it's on the outside of the boot
that I tie it off to reduce any trip hazard and there i have my
crampon on good to go for an alpine adventure
You've run us through the differences between both crampons would you say that
it's just down to preferences to which one we use or the different terrains
that we choose which one? The, both is the right answer it is a
preference personal preference it's a trip
preference terrain and crucially the boots. So
if I'm doing alpine technical climbing I'll be wearing these
if I'm doing the Ball Pass or a trekking pass
I'm carrying my crampons for two to three days and I'm wearing them for a
four or five hour stint I'm going to pick a lighter more
suitable for my tramping boots um and so it's
a combination between the terrain your preference
and crucially your footwear. Fantastic all right well I'm going to get my
crampons on and then you can teach me how to walk.
Cool before we start walking we need to learn how to choose the safest route
so click on over to the next episode where we'll learn all about route
selection. Remember practical training before you
head out will help reinforce the skills you'll need and address the hazards that
you'll encounter in alpine terrain for a list of training
providers and for more information head to the Mountain Safety Council
website.