Forging 1900’s Crampons.
In December 2023, I was walking through the mountain town of Zakopane, Poland, when I spotted some beautiful old-school crampons sitting in a shop window. I took a bunch of photos of them, knowing that when I’d return to the UK I’d have to try and forge a pair myself…
"They climbed the slope with crampons, without cutting steps - as desirable as they might seem - because they wanted to save energy"
In 1909, English engineer Oscar Eckenstein asked Henry Grivel to manufacture the first modern Grivel crampons. They were made from a sheet steel template that was stamped with holes, which was then sheered into the flat dimensions of the crampon before the points were forged into their respective directions.
Canvas or leather was then wrapped through rings that were attached to the upward protruding points to strap them to the bottom of a mountaineer’s boots.
Making My Own.
First of all, I had to decide whether to make original thick steel crampons, or whether to make a slightly more modern variation using thinner, Chromolly alloy like Grivel progressed to in 1936.
Here is a photo of the cardboard templates I made to make my crampons on 10mm grid paper for a 41.5 size La Sportiva Nepal boot. Scale up or down if you want to try making your own for a forging project that is a lot of fun!
My finished Crampons!!!
These crampons were hand forged and largely inspired by a set I saw in Zakopane, Poland, and the future evolution of Grivel crampons through the early-mid 1900’s. One half was forged with mostly traditional techniques, hot punching, chiseling and forging. The other half was forged but also used the angle grinder and belt grinder. They fit a 41.5 La Sportiva Nepal boot and feature chrome-tanned leather straps.
Boots Not Included!
