The Grivel Scarpa Binding, or GSB, was created in 2004 as a design collaboration between the companies Scarpa, an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

shoe and boot manufacturer, and Grivel, an

manufacturer of mountaineering

crampons A crampon is a traction device that is attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and ice ...

ice axes An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineering, mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow, ice, or frozen conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its simplest role it is used ...

and other mountaineering equipment. The system involves combining a specially designed mountaineering boot sole unit with a tailored crampon design. The aim was to reduce the amount of time it took to mount

to boots, and to simplify the process, as well as making the combination of boot and

crampon A crampon is a traction device that is attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and ice ...

lighter. Another advantage is that the system removes straps and bails from the front of the boot reducing the risk of snagging these in use. One boot designed to use the GSB system was the (now discontinued) Scarpa Mirage GTX, a

Gore-Tex Gore-Tex is a waterproof, breathable fabric membrane and registered trademark of W. L. Gore & Associates. Invented in 1969, Gore-Tex can repel liquid water while allowing water vapor to pass through and is designed to be a lightweight, waterpr ...

lined 3-4 season mountaineering boot. A recess was created in the front of the sole unit which could accept a specially designed peg on the Grivel AirTech GSB crampon. This crampon did away with the plastic toe covering commonly found on C1 and C2

, and the strap connecting it. This left users with only an ankle strap to do up, with the aim being to make the

lighter and easier to put on the boot. Despite some users of the system reporting that they were pleased with the GSB system, some users of the boots reported Independent user reviews of the GSB system http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/gear-features/what-are-gsb-crampons/6581.html that the small hole at the front of the boots was prone to wear or made the whole sole unit weaker than it should be; others said that it was prone to becoming full of small stones or compacted snow prior to putting on the crampons. The entire GSB concept was abandoned later by both companies.

References

Mountaineering equipment {{Climbing-stub