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Ice and alpine

Ice tools and crampons: types, standards and lifespans.

Ice and mixed climbers rely on ice tools and crampons, each with its own European standard. This page explains the tool types, what the UIAA adds, what makers say about lifespan, and the recent recall notices for crampons and ice screws.

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This page explains what standards bodies, federations and makers publish. It is not a substitute for instruction from a qualified instructor or guide, and it does not replace medical advice.

Context

The BMC defines ice climbing as climbing on snow or ice, usually outdoors with ropes. The alpine, ice and mixed page explains the disciplines and their grades. This page covers the hardware standards only.

Ice tools: EN 13089 and UIAA 152

UIAA 152 Ice-Tools is in its fifth edition (version 5.1, July 2025, effective July 2025). It requires an ice tool to meet all of EN 13089:2015+A3:2023, and its revision history shows the reference moving from EN 13089:2011 in 2011 to EN 13089:2015+A1:2015 in February 2018 and to the current consolidated edition in July 2025.

Type 1 and Type 2

Black Diamond's 2016 ice tool instructions quote EN 13089's two types. Type 2, marked T, is intended for use on rock, snow or ice. A tool that is unmarked or marked B is Type 1, intended for snow or ice. Black Diamond says Type 2 picks must meet higher strength requirements than Type 1 picks and are more durable; that is the maker's summary.

What UIAA 152 adds

  • A tool must have either an attachment device for the user's hand or body, or a hole in the head or shaft for a sling.
  • An attachment device intended for self-belaying must have a minimum breaking strength of 2 kN. There is no strength requirement for one that only stops the tool being lost.
  • A sling hole must be at least 7 mm across, free of sharp edges that could damage a textile sling, and, if in the shaft, in the half nearest the head.

The 2 kN figure is the minimum a new attachment must reach in the laboratory test, not a guide to what it may be used for.

The European Commission's PPE guidelines (5th edition, October 2025) list ice tools that can serve as an anchor point among Category III equipment against falls from a height.

Crampons: EN 893 and UIAA 153

EN 893:2019, "Mountaineering equipment - Crampons - Safety requirements and test methods", is the current edition and superseded EN 893:2010. Estonian and BSI listings describe it as covering crampons that keep the user from slipping on snow and ice, including mixed terrain. A catalogue summary lists its subjects as shape and design, slip prevention, strength and hardness, bending and breaking strength of the points, and the strength of attachment rings, eyes and frame; we could not check that list against the standard's text.

The UIAA lists UIAA 153 Crampons at version 3 (2022). Its text was not found in our research. The UIAA keeps an online Safety Label database where products holding a UIAA 153 label are listed.

The Commission's 5th edition PPE guidelines (October 2025) added a point to their categorisation guide on crampons for tree climbing (point 3.4).

Blue Ice, a maker, states in its undated crampon instructions that its crampons comply with EN 893:2019, under Regulation (EU) 2016/425 as it applies in Great Britain, and with UIAA 153. It describes its antibot plates as reducing the risk of snow balling under the crampon, while noting that packed snow may still build up. Both are the maker's statements.

Lifespan: makers disagree on metal gear

Makers, and a 2001 BMC text, give very different figures for metal ice and alpine gear, each for its own products:

Source and dateProductStatement
Black Diamond, 2016Type 1 (B) ice axe5 years under normal use of 20 to 50 days a year
Black Diamond, 2016Type 2 ice axe3 years under the same use
Black Diamond, 2016Replaceable pick on a Type 2 axe1 year under the same use
Blue Ice, undatedCrampon metal partsUnlimited if unused and stored dark, cool and dry
Blue Ice, undatedCrampon textile partsUp to 5 years of storage, then at most 10 years from first use
Edelrid, 2025MAGO 8 metal belay device"No limitation"
BMC text via the UIAA, 2001KarabinersAt least 20 years if properly looked after

Black Diamond says its figures shorten with more frequent or extreme use, rock strikes, twisting and dry-tooling. Blue Ice names impacts, drops, deformed points, frame, centre bar or binding, extreme temperatures, prolonged sunlight, corrosion and chemicals as things that shorten crampon life. These are the products' own makers' statements, not rules for other products. The maker's instructions and a competent person decide when a particular tool or crampon is retired. Black Diamond's 2016 tools carry a date code giving the year and day of manufacture; its example, 2194, means the 194th day of 2012.

Recalls

  • Black Diamond Neve Strap crampons. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled the crampons and related kits on 13 June 2024 (recall 24-261), because heel-cup screws can loosen and let the heel cup detach, a fall hazard. The firm had three reports of loose crampons or detached heel cups and no injuries.
  • Petzl LASER SPEED 10 cm ice screws (model G051AA0). Ireland's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission issued a notice on 4 November 2024 saying the maximum pull-out strength is insufficient and all batches are affected. Petzl's own safety alert, dated 2 October 2024 and covering Europe only, is known to us only from a search snippet: it says the screw reached 8 kN in one EN 568:2015 test against the required 10 kN, and a 29 November 2024 update says it was then certified and would return to sale in December 2024. We could not open Petzl's page, so the alert's wording is unconfirmed, and whether the re-certification covers screws already sold is also unconfirmed.

The two dates for the ice screw notice, 2 October 2024 (Petzl) and 4 November 2024 (CCPC), are both given because they come from different publishers. The recalls page lists all notices found.

Related UIAA standards

The UIAA also publishes standards for ice anchors (UIAA 151, version 3, 2018), snow anchors (UIAA 154, version 4, 2018) and snow pickets (UIAA 155, version 4, 2017).

Sources

  1. UIAA 152 Ice-Tools, version 5.1 (July 2025)
  2. Black Diamond, ice tool instructions (maker, 2016, hosted by a DAV section)
  3. European Commission, PPE Regulation (EU) 2016/425 Guidelines, 5th edition (October 2025)
  4. Estonian Centre for Standardisation, EVS-EN 893:2019 listing (search summary)
  5. BSI Knowledge, EN 893 listing (search summary)
  6. Technicke normy, BS EN 893:2019 summary (search summary)
  7. UIAA, safety standards page (read 2026-10-21)
  8. UIAA, Safety Label database
  9. Blue Ice, crampon instructions 100708-B (maker, undated, copy hosted by a retailer)
  10. Edelrid, MAGO 8 instructions (maker, 9 October 2025)
  11. UIAA, recommendations on UIAA 121 with BMC text (2001)
  12. US CPSC, Black Diamond recalls Neve Strap crampons (13 June 2024)
  13. CCPC Ireland, notice on Petzl LASER SPEED 10 cm ice screws (4 November 2024)
  14. Petzl, LASER SPEED 10 cm recall safety alert (search snippet only)
  15. BMC, Different types of climbing explained (undated)

Keep reading

Alpine, ice and mixed

Mountaineering, scrambling, ice, mixed and dry-tooling as the BMC and others define them, the alpine and ice grades, and the UIAA's ice competitions.

Helmets

EN 12492:2025 and UIAA 106 edition 4, the crown, side and penetration tests, chin strap tests, required markings and makers' lifespan statements.

Recalls

Via ferrata sets, camming devices, belay devices, pitons, crampons, ice screws and harnesses: each recall with the regulator, federation or maker that published it and the date.

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