SummitPost.org

dug wrote:Actually I only know about where you live.

Sold and bought a new home North of B-Town. Moved down here last year from Crowley.

Hi you guys....

WOW... not logged in for a while and the thread came 'alive' !!

My wife's shoes are Raichle 90 degree EXP Gore-Tex shoes, size 38


Had the opportunity to take some pictures today.
Mind you that I didn't really fit the crampons well to the boot, it is just to illustrate my question.

Front fit with Raichle (38) seems pretty OK (same goes for LS):



Heel fit with Raichle (38) is @^%#, the studs don't fit the sole anywhere, I can 'slide' them right through:


Heel fit with LS Nepal Trek (45,5) is not as tight as I would like, but I am confident the heel lever will keep it nicely in place:


Heel fit with LS Nepal Trek (45,5). Same here: not as tight as I would like, but I am confident the heel lever will keep it nicely in place:


Would it be useful to weld an arch (illustrated by the tape) to the heel studs to make them fit with the Raichle's ? (welding on the inside -to make them stick- just on the top of the heel studs):



Meanwhile, I am fairly confident the crampon's fit with my LS shoes is good enough.
I am not too worried about the front fit with the Raichle's either.

The heel fit with the Raichle's is my concern. I bought these crampons for both alpine and technical stuff. My wife's shoes are small, that's for sure . Altogether, I am convinced I will not find other crampons that deliver the same quality and features that WILL properly fit. Hence, my leaning towards a little tinkering ...

What do you guys think? Thanks again !

Petzl makes heal pieces with a center vertical post, why they don't include it on all of their crampons I don't know.

dug wrote:I love this thread! I haven't logged in for months and I log in and wham, right back to the good ol'days.
...
Please continue the spray, I find it intoxicating. At least until the dipshit mods dump it.

+1. Think I'll head to a Cafe here in Kathmandu, order a Himalayan Cappuccino and enjoy the fun exchanges between Chief and Dane.

I think for general mountaineering, exact crampon fit isn't that important. I've three pairs of crampons, the BD Contacts, Grivel G12 and for ice the BD Sabertooth along with five pairs of mountain boots. The Contacts and G12 will fit on most of my boots but the BD Sabertooth will only fit on certain type of boots. It'll not fit on the LS Mons as I found out on my last climb. I switch crampons and boots around depending on what I do. Some boots are not compatible with some crampons without modifications.