Cramp-On Snow-Balling !?!?!?!

[RagingHampster]

OK I've been using a pair of instep crampons for the past couple years, and they have been wonderful, except when used in a specific snow consistency where a giant ice ball grows in my instep and projects me 3' off the ground (ok thats exaggerating).

I know the larger 10/12 point cramp-ons have optional plates that insert underneath them and supposedly help to prevent sno-balling... but what have others found useful to prevent this pain in the you know what from re-occuring?

My current tactic is stopping every 1/4 mile or so for 10-15 seconds to manually tear the chunk out by hand. :-?

[DebW]

If snow is balling up on your crampons, I presume the temperature is near freezing and the snow may be soft enough to get traction without crampons. But if you can't safely take the crampons off, I don't know what to recommend other than banging on them frequently. The crampons on my MSR snowshoes never seem to ball up snow, so maybe there is some kind of coating that will prevent it.

[RagingHampster]

It was around 20*F w/35mph gusts this morning in Warwick State Forest, but yesterday we had some rain/sleet that softened up the snow.

We don't have enough snow here to necessitate me trying out my Denali's yet, but I never had any trouble with the cramp-ons on my old Atlas snowshoes either. Hmmmm... worth investigating...

[chris]

I use 12 pt. automatic crampons, but without a snow plate. I'm getting a snow plate the next time I head out onto a glacier, as the problem is a bit annoying. Whenever I have crampons on, I always have an ice axe. Banging the crampons with the axe while walking usually clears up the problem. A couple of taps, while in stride, every 30 yards or so does the trick. If you are not carrying an axe, I'm not sure what you can do.