Black Diamond Neve Crampons

I was laughing the other day with Sam Smoothy (who’s written this issue’s cover story about skiing NZ’s 3,000m peaks) about how there’s no ski mountaineering in Australia. And yes, while he’s right, that doesn’t mean there’s no place in Oz forski-mountaineering-oriented ice axes or lightweight crampons. It takes just one sketchy boot-pack up hard, high-angled snow—and there’s plenty of this in Oz if you head into the right terrain—for you to be crying out for both.

The thing is, or at least was, I’d largely stopped taking out crampons with me because my old steel ice-climbing ones were just too heavy. But Black Diamond’s updated Neve Pro crampons are—despite being heavier than their claimed weight of 394g; mine weigh in at 466g—just so light that I brought a pair along for a four-day outing on the Western Faces last spring.

I’m glad I did. The Neve Pros ended up seeing more use than my axe. On many steep climbs in terrain that, if you slipped, you likely wouldn’t stop for hundreds of metres, I felt the Neve Pros, with their ten points, gave me enough traction that I left the ice axe firmly affixed to my pack, and climbed with poles alone. Not only that, the Neve Pros packed up small. Really small. While the cable construction means you won’t be using them for waterfall ice, it means you can fold them in two; they really take up very little space. 

They were quick to get on and off, too, and the attachment system was intuitive and easy. The toe bail is nice and wide, so it accommodates ski boots. And they come stock with anti-ball plates; if you’ve ever had a ball of sticky spring snow weighing what feels like a kilo or more stuck to your crampons, you’ll know why this is important. 

In short, if you’re the type of backcountry skier who seeks out steeps in Oz or else- where, the Neve Pros will make you feel a lot more confident on sketchy bootpacks. They really have only one downside: They’re not super easy to source in Australia, and it may require some internet sleuthing to track down a pair.