Petzl Leopard FL?

[Adam G]

I recently went on a scramble in which someone took out Petzl Leopard FL crampons. They are insanely light, on par with microspikes. I have never seen those before and can’t find a ton of reviews for them. Most of them are from ski mountaineers, which I am not. I’ve been lugging around steel crampons which are insanely heavy, sometimes to the point that I leave them at home only to realize that I really should have brought them once on the mountain.

From what I can tell, you absolutely need to buy the anti-balling plates. I’ve heard mixed reviews about the attachment system with it loosening in the field or actually falling off (a deal breaker for me). They’re aluminum so obviously not good for rock.

In general, I am looking to use them for ascents in the Cascades. I wear mountaineering boots because I find it hard to get any decent steps otherwise. There have been times in which I can barely kick a step or get a bite of my ice axe spike due to pretty icy snow. I never would ice climb to the point that I was balancing only on the front points. I may do some glacier travel.

Would these work? If not, what do people use?

[Christopher S]

These should work fine but only with fully stiff soled boots (assuming you are using the dyneema connection between the front and back).

Personally I prefer CAMP crampons (the extra light steel ones) as aluminum tents to wear down too quickly.  They are definitely heavier however. You can also often mix and match different fronts and backs (especially with Petzl) if you wanted to use aluminum in one and steel on the other.

Blue Ice also has some new and very interesting crampons as well:

https://us.blueice.com/products/harfang

 

[Paul S]

I have them and have used them for spring approaches/couloirs in the Sierra (Palisades, Mt Ritter, Shepherd’s pass early, etc). I’ve used them w/ Salomon x alp carbon boots, la sportiva approach shoes and even Hoka Mafate Speed trail running shoes(!). The Hokas were a fail. They need a stiff shoe, w/o one they tend to come loose after use. Even the approach shoes were only barely usable. If the sole flexes, the dyneema cord goes slack and they move on the shoe. I have the anti-balling plates and use them. They’re good on rock but wear out much faster obviously than steel.

<edit> I did the Palisade Glacier with them no problem. BUT if you are encountering lots of ice then you may want to consider something more serious.</edit>

Hope that helps.

[Christopher S]

Blue Ice has some new crampons that are sort of similar (they use a wide dyneema strap instead of a cord). Looks very interesting

[Adam G]

I just gave these a try on a trip putting them on trail runners on a trip with moderate snow slopes. I tried using microspikes on that trip but abandoned them because they simply weren’t give enough traction. The crampons were definitely finnicky to get on and stay on, but you could get them to be reasonably attached if you strapped them right. Once on, they did really well. I even tried going straight up the slope using the front points, and they worked like a charm. This was on snow that was soft enough to kick steps into with trail runners, although it sometimes required a few firm kicks. I am thoroughly impressed.

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