Ski touring crampons & headlamps · Test magazine 2022
Tech talk with Nils Beste, PETZL
Sports Marketing Manager Germany State-certified Mountain and Ski Guide · Print page 131
Who is Nils Beste? Sport Marketing Manager for Petzl Germany and Mountain Guide
Nils Beste is Sport Marketing Manager for Petzl Germany and a state-certified mountain and ski guide. He took up ski touring during his semesters abroad in Lausanne. He has lived in the Alpine foothills since 2009 and prefers exploring secluded corners of the Karwendel in winter. His favourite discipline is demanding ski touring on non-glaciated terrain.
In the BACKLINE 2022 test magazine, Beste explains the demands ski touring places on crampons and headlamps. For Petzl, high-altitude ski touring is the larger business within the ski touring segment, as it also requires harnesses, ice axes, ropes and crampons. Beste distinguishes between crampons by intended use: aluminium models are often sufficient for snow-only use, while he recommends steel or hybrid crampons for bare ice and rocky summit ascents. Headlamp output depends on the tour and terrain: moderate lumen output may suffice on pistes, whereas setting off on complex routes or skiing down in darkness calls for more light.
Beste identifies lightweight, modular crampons and an improving ratio of light output to weight and price in headlamps as development trends. On his own tours, he uses the 6 mm RAD Line, the lightweight Gully ice axe and Irvis Hybrid crampons, for example when abseiling into couloirs or tackling uphill sections where skis must be carried.
Petzl products are used in sports as well as in rescue and work-at-height. How important is the ski touring sector for Petzl?
Exactly, Petzl is roughly 50/50 split between industrial climbing and mountaineering. In the ski touring segment, high-altitude ski mountaineering is our larger business area because all our hardware, such as harnesses, ice axes, ropes, and crampons, are used there. Pure ski tourers primarily use our headlamps. In addition, there's the freeride and steep-face area, where ropes and harnesses are also used, for example, to rappel into couloirs.
What should be considered before purchasing crampons and headlamps?
The product choice primarily depends on the area of use. When buying crampons, for example, I should ask myself if I only want to carry them on unglaciated spring tours, for instance, for a hard-frozen névé slope or a snow couloir that's too steep for ascending on skis. For these purposes, i.e., pure snow contact, pure aluminum crampons are often sufficient. For glaciated high-altitude ski tours with bare ice sections or rocky summit ascents, steel crampons or at least hybrid crampons are the better choice. They are more robust and offer better grip on ice. When buying a headlamp, I can ask myself: Do I only need it for night ski tours on groomed slopes, where many people use oversized spotlights, but even a model with a moderate lumen count can be enough? Or do I want to embark on complex tours in the dark and need to illuminate the terrain sufficiently? Or even ski downhill in the dark (although this should be questioned from an ecological point of view)? In the latter cases, a very powerful headlamp makes sense.
What developments do you expect in ski touring, specifically for crampons and headlamps, in the future?
From our perspective, the crampon market will primarily evolve towards combining lightweight products with technical features. For example, the aluminum heel piece of our crampons can be combined with an increasing number of our steel front sections, allowing users to choose the best personal combination with this modular system. In headlamps, there have been some major inventions recently, such as Reactive Lighting technology. Development is still rapid, especially regarding the ever-improving lumen-to-weight and lumen-to-price ratio. Each product revision cycle typically reduces weight or increases lumen count. Or both.
Which Petzl products do you use yourself for ski touring and why?
My favorite discipline is challenging but unglaciated ski tours. Here, the backpack is light enough for athletic skiing, but the 'tools of the trade' like rope or light crampons are still used, and the tours are usually quite solitary. To rappel into couloirs or navigate carrying sections during the ascent, my favorite products are our 6mm RAD Line, the Gully ultralight ice axe, and the Irvis Hybrid crampons.
