Ultralight Universal

The Praise

These are must-have crampons for lightweight enthusiasts. Once adjusted, they go on fast and are solid. I've used these with "approach style" tennis shoes as well as lightweight boots, and every time I felt secure no matter how dicey the terrain. Much better than insteps, and almost as light, these crampons come in a handy mesh bag so you can even strap them to the exterior of your pack to save space.



Any Cons?

Not really. Because they are aluminum, you don't want to buy them for vertical ice work, but for light mixed rock they seem to do fine. I did Orizaba with these in some Gore-Tex high-top shoes/boots, and never felt insecure even on some of the steeper, crustier surfaces.



Bottom Line

If you go light, you can't live without these.

I just used these to climb Mt. Shasta via Avy Gulch, and the Shasta/Shastina saddle, which involved about 40-ish degrees in places. Worked great on rock hard snow.

I do take them off for rock sections, since they are aluminum ! The bindings are very secure, but take a while to (a) figure out, and (b) apply. So putting them on and taking them off tends to cut into your climbing time.

However, I understand that these are also made with Combi (like new-matic) and step-in bindings.

I believe it's possible to get anti-balling plates for these (use google), but I just cut some plastic out of a juice container, cut it to fit and zip-tied it to the bottom.

I don't know how these would work with serious ice, though.

I searched for a while before buying these as I was looking for the lightest weight crampon available that would hold up to serious climbing on steep snow and occasional rock. I wanted a crampon that was easy to put on and would easily fit on the back of my fanny pack without being too obtrusive. I bought the Stubai Ultralights and have been very happy with them. I have used them about 6 times and they work better than expected. The crampons are made of a high grade heat treated and hard aircraft type aluminum alloy. These wear very well, even on rock and are extremely resistant to bending. Probably will wear a little more if used often on rock, but that's why we have heavier steel crampons too. They are light enough that I take them with me when there is a chance I will encounter steep snow on a hike. I found that shortening the straps is helpful and I pack them without the carry bag to save more weight.

I am very happy with this product- I can put them on my leather mountaineering boots or even my ski touring boots.. and they still fit!! They are very easy to put on and take off (granted that you practice with them a bit).. and I feel much more secure with these strap-ons on my feet compared to other step-ins that I've owned... I climbed mt. Baker and mt. adams with these guys and they stood up fine. However, when I eventually get plastic boots, I will get beefier steel step-in crampons that can tackle anything I throw at them.. (I am a bit hesitant with these stubai's on rock and hard snow/ice)