the.com/crampons
the spikes that turn slick death-walls into a casual afternoon stroll upward
means Spiked metal frames you strap onto boots to bite into ice and hard snow, giving you grip on slopes that would otherwise send you sliding.
from From French crampon, meaning a hook or clamp, itself from a Frankish (Germanic) root *kramp- for something bent or curved — the same family that gives us 'cramp' and 'crimp.' The image is of a clutching, gripping hook, which is exactly what these toothed plates do to the ice.
- ancient tech
- Roman legionaries strapped iron spikes for icy marches
- point count
- Modern models bristle with 10 to 14 steel points
- front points
- Two forward spikes let climbers kick into vertical ice
- name origin
- From French crampon, meaning a hook or clamp
- metal swap
- Aluminum versions shave weight for ski mountaineers
for instance
piolet traction — 12-point crampon system used on mont blanc and other alpine peaks since the 1800s
kahtoola microspikes — lightweight traction device with 12 stainless steel spikes, standard for winter hiking in colorado and cascades