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Axe, Boot and Crampon Advice

  Mountaineering Axes
 
Petzl Summit Axe
 
For classic Scottish and Alpine Mountaineering, a good quality traditional axe is ideal. We cannot recommend enough that you spend a little more money in order to get one with a stronger and better designed pick made for mountaineering, rather than just a hill walking axe. It should be somewhere between 55-70cm long depending on how tall you are. 

The DMM Cirque is a popular well priced model 100% made in Wales, or if you want our current 'guides favourite' then go for the excellent Petzl Summit.

Other good lightweight axes that are up to the job are the Grivel Airtech range - these are particularly popular for ski mountaineering.

 
  Technical Axes
 
dmm rebel ice axe
DMM Rebel Hammer
 
Reverse curved 'banana pick' tools come into their own at around Scottish IV and are conversely not so good on easier terrain. Models with curved shafts give better clearance and are less strenuous on really steep ground. For pure icefall climbing, we currently rate Petzl Nomics as about the best around - these are very specialist tools however, so only worth purchasing if you do a lot of pure steep ice climbing each winter.

For all rounders that are good for mixed climbing and harder alpinism as well, then DMM Rebels and Petzl Quarks are our favourites (other pure ice tools can still be used for this type of activity if you fit thicker picks, but will take a battering and the highly sculpted grips make plunging into deep snow more difficult).
 
 
Mountaineering Boots
 
  Boots are rated for their stiffness and the type of activity they were designed for:

B1=flexible - suitable for trekking and hill walking only. Will take C1 crampons only.

B2=semi rigid - good for classic mountaineering and mid grade mixed climbing, but not suitable for pure ice climbing or harder mixed climbs. Will take C1 + C2 crampons.

B3=fully rigid - give much more support for front pointing on steeper terrain: suitable for steep ice climbing and harder mixed routes. Can take C1, C2 or C3 crampons. Less comfortable for walking long distances.

 
     
 
Leather boots are generally more comfortable and breathable, whereas plastic ones are warmer and less affected by water - so which is best depends on what you want to do. Leather are OK in Scotland so long as you have good gaiters (yeti gaiters ideally) and good for most kinds of alpinism and icefall climbing - La Sportiva Nepal Extrems or Evos are a good allrounder. Because of their volume adjustable tongue, these models fits a wide variety of foot shapes very well.
  
     
 
For easier grade mountaineering (eg Scottish I-II, alpine F-PD) and alpine routes which don't involve any front pointing, then a semi rigid 4 season boot is also OK. Scarpa Mantas are a suitable model.
 
     
 
For colder alpine routes, we recommend plastics such as the Scarpa Omega or one of the latest composite double boots such as the La Sportiva Spantik which are very warm, but still great for technical climbing.
  
     
 
For maximum comfort in your boots, you could also invest in a custom moulded footbed (eg by Comformable) or a pair of Sorbothane Double Strike insoles (the latter give less support, but more cushioning between your foot and the ground - take your pick!)
  
 
 
Crampons
  
 
As with boots - crampons are rated as C1 - flexible, C2 - semi rigid and C3 - rigid models. It's vital that you get a crampon at least as stiff as your boots as otherwise they may fall off, so you can put any crampon on a fully rigid B3 boot, but only a flexible C1 crampon on a flexible B1 boot etc - it's best to take your boots down the shop.
 
 
 
 

Go for good quality 12 point mountaineering crampons and get anti ball plates whilst you are at it, as they are such a big safety improvement that we insist you have them anyway. 

Currently we reckon that Petzl Vasaks are the best all round mountaineering crampons, so these would be a good choice.

For a technical crampon that is also very good for steep ice climbing, then look at the new Petzl Lynx - this is a modular design so it weighs a bit more, but it has vertically orientated front points and several different options for varying styles of climbing.

Vertical front point steep ice crampons are not so good for general mountaineering, but essential if you do lots of steep ice climbing. Good old  DMM Terminators are still well regarded here - however amongst hard Scottish winter activists nowadays, Petzl Darts set up with mono points are pretty much universal. 

A word of warning about super light alloy ski touring crampons like the Camp XLC models - these are great for ski tours where you carry them most of the time and only ever climb steep snow, but they are not suitable for summer alpinism or any other technical use, as they won't stand up to the abuse.

  
Petzl Vasak Crampon
 
 
     
 
 
 
         
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