Voile ski crampon with ST Verticals

[johngenx]

I'm new to Dynafits this year, having stripped Freerides off my skis. I'd like to get some crampons, but one thing I didn't like about the Freeride crampons was that they didn't engage well when I was on my climbing lifts.

Has anyone mounted the Voile crampon with the STs? Is skinning with the crampons mounted on the ski, not rising with the boot, a total pain in the ass?

[harpo-the-skier]

A better option would be B&D (not Black Diamond) ski crampons. They will fit into the ski crampon slot your Verticals come with, and they have an optional lockdown feature, so you can have a fixed or a hinging ski crampon as you see fit and the terrain dictates.

[neck beard]

Due to availability at the time I ended up with Voile fixed crampons on a pair of Sugar Daddies.

I also have B&D on Manaslu's.

Both have Dynafit bindings. Both work well, though the Voile's offer more drag because they are fixed.

The B&D's actually engage the crust pretty well with the heel riser up thanks to a 10mm thick black plastic pad on the top of the crampon. A few days ago I had to depend on them during a long nervous steep icy climb.

I vote for B&D over Voile.

[Big Steve]

I've done it several times. Whack off the plastic thingy behind the crampon hooks. Voiles have been bomber for me, GF and several friends. B&D w/locks would be a nice setup too. I prefer fixed crampons.

[johngenx]

Our ski shop is short on this stuff now, so I'm going to borrow a pair of OE Dynafit 'pons for the rest of the spring.

Thanks for the B&D suggestion. The ability to have them fixed, or move with the boot looks sweet, and as a bonus, they use the OE mount point. Veddy cool. I'm going to get in touch with the retailer in Nelson and track some down.