EISPIRATEN

Hello everyone, I was wondering if anyone happens to know a place to rent Crampons. I am new to winter hiking on ice/snow and was wondering if anyone knows a spot to rent them locally in LA, or Orange County. Thanks..........any tips you guys can give me would be extremely helpful.................

I have heard on other forums they are difficult to rent, as there is some kind of concern about liability, but I have rented them twice without any problem at all at my local REI in Santa Ana. Maybe different stores have different policies.

There's doubtless an REI near you, so call them to see whether they rent them. If not, I can assure you the Santa Ana store will.

You probably shouldn't be walking on crampons without carrying an ice axe as well. We can now get all paranoid about the level of certified training you need to use crampons and ice axe, but I've done okay by skimming The Freedom of the Hills and looking at the diagrams, plus some hands-on coaching by He219. Of course, the test will come when I actually fall off an icy mountain and stop myself.

Be careful out there. Ice accidents do claim people every year. Not trying to be sensationalistic, and I'm certainly not the expert, but don't think of crampon use as a trivial matter either.

Okay, NOOB here, I'll chime in:

Ice axes and crampons go together, or not at all.

Think about it:

Wearing crampons has a certain amount of risk in and of itself. Anyone who's worn them any number of times and hooked a crampon on their pant leg or something and fallen flat on their face can attest to that.

So, you wear crampons when conditions dictate that it would be too dangerous (i.e. deadly) to proceed otherwise. (Why would you wear them if not, other than temporary transitions between sketchy areas?)

So, if you're in conditions where a fall would prove deadly, why would you not equip yourself with the means to stop yourself if you did happen to fall?

Having said all that, it would really be best to take one of the many winter mountaineering classes available that teach crampon use and self-arrest before putting oneself in a potentially dangerous situation. Self-arrest is hard enough even if you have practiced; it's not something you're going to learn on the fly the first time you slip.

My opinion: If you're wearing crampons and not actively thinking about each step you take, and not having a healthy fear about what you're doing, you're not taking it seriously enough. YMMV.

In addition to that I would recommend wearing gloves. In the scenario where you have to use self arest, it sure would be nice to have a layer between the ice and the fingers. I know I would have been a lot happier if I had gloves on last weekend.

Pics!

I second the hand protection. I've seen a lot of bloody hands, even on a naked ascent up Baldy Bowl we wore our Dachstein mitts.

I always cringe when I hear someone say they have a borrowed or rented axe when going on a climb. I began my career with just an ice axe and ended up cutting a gazillion steps when the footing got impossible and got tired of numerous arrests (I guess I got lots of practice in those days)

Even after getting my first crampons, I still cut lots of steps...usually for others even if they had axe and crampons but little experience on scary (for them) terrain and to make it easier for emergencies.

Today, there are times that I carry an axe but not crampons...being able to stop should a slip occur crossing the last patches of lingering snow (and cutting steps if need be), chopping out bollards, cutting hard snow/ice to melt for water, or maybe protection against ???

I have used instep crampons on flat frozen terrain up north when having to walk/hike frozen or ice covered ground without have an axe with me. Also, I've seen countless people over the years (myself included) who will walk a relatively flat but icy trail without putting on their crampons because it was a flat and easy trail, not get out their axe because if you slip off the trail you won't go that far and an axe would not help (too rocky, only 20' or so to fall, etc). Occasionally, I've seen people slip off the trail and get hurt.

Having both axe and crampons gives you the flexibility that I think one needs when traveling in the snow/ice environment unless you're in the snowshoe/ski places then you might want to carry three depending on purpose/conditions...only once did I carry all four but we stashed the snowshoes at our first camp on Denali and proceeded on skies higher up till caching them as well.

One thing I would like to add, I believe very few people are competent with arresting skills. I think you need minimum twenty hours practice. This doesn't mean hiking up somewhere in the morning, practicing an hour or two arresting and then climbing up to the top of Baldy or some other mountain and returning and thinking that's 8-10 hours of ice axe practice. And you have to refresh this skill at the beginning of the next season. It has to be automatic, almost instinctive, and you have to try with everything you have to stop yourself in the event of a fall and never give up. I've seen too many tragic results for anything less.

Rick:

I appreciate your comments. I don't think a lot of people realize just how dangerous falls can be and just how serious ice axe & crampon use is or that a self arrest is a feat of athleticsm not a given.

Not to pick on anyone, but sometimes I hear people talk about renting crampons as though it were the equivalent of renting a sleeping bag or something. I get the impression that a lot of people don't fully grasp the implications of being in a situation where crampons/ice axe are needed. Again, I'm not trying to beat up on anybody here; I was pretty ignorant when I got a used set.

HJ