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Petzl Sarken Sidelock Crampons
Alpine Climbing and Mountaineering Crampon
950 g(pair)
Antarctica
Technical Alpine Climbing and Mountaineering
The Petzl Sarken Sidelock
tests the Sarken Sidelocks in Antarctica.
NOTE: These crampons were recalled by Petzl
These crampons were tested on routes of 75 to 90 degree snow and ice slopes, glacier crossings and knife-edge descents. I was able to easily front point with these but they were impecably natural feeling on French. Stability was excellent, snow balling did occur after direct sun on the routes, but I've seen worse. The teeth worked equally well on all variety of snow and ice terrain and steepness. The crampons were structurally very sound, light weight and easy to put on, take off and adjust.
Front pointing: The 2 front points have a "T" cross section: the vertical part is toothed and tapered for optimal penetration in ice, and the horizontal part provides good holding power on snow and soft ice (gullies), the next 2 points are notched and inclined forward for stability.
Walking on 10 points:
lateral points are separated to respect the asymmetry of the boot and to limit the "rail" effect, which increases the risk of slipping,