Gaiters

An essential piece of equipment for glacier travel - especially in the Pacific Northwest - are a pair of gaiters.  Beyond keeping the snow out of your boots, they also help keep rocks and mud out on the trails, and protect your $200 pants from your $150 crampons with only $60 of fabric.  But there are some do's and don'ts to fitting and wearing gaiters.

First - what not to do.  The goal is to minimize the number of things that can create a crampon tripping hazard on the inside of your feet.  Gaiter strap buckles are an excellent example of this - so they go on the outside.  Most models also have a velcro strip that runs up the front, and the logo also is displayed proudly on the outside of the ankle - not the inside.

Gaiters on the wrong feet creates a tripping hazard.
Having the strap too loose reduces their effectiveness.
Worse still, you don't look as cool!

I have three pairs of gaiters - for my approach and running shoes, for my lighter climbing boots, and finally for my heavier leather and plastic climbing boots.  Most people won't be able to get away with the same pair of gaiters they use backpacking for mountaineering - the boot cuffs are just too different in size.  I'll review my ankle gaiters in another article.  For now, here's a step-by-step idea of how to fit and wear gaiters effectively.

To fit your gaiters to your boots, unbuckle the stirrup strap
completely and open up the velcro.  Remember - the buckle
and the logo go to the OUTSIDE, and the velcro goes FORWARD.

Step 2:  Attache the velcro strip as evenly as possible to
maximize the velcro grip.  Don't worry about the stirrup strap
right now.

I find it best to work the velcro from the bottom to the top.

After the velcro is line up, pull the gaiter down as low as
it will fit, then buckle the stirrup strap as tight as it will go.

With plastic boots, I typically don't need to bother
with the lace hook in front.

Keep the velcro strap that's common on most models loosely
closed unless your wallowing in the snow past your knees.

For your other gaiter, simply buckle the stirrup strap to
the same number of holes as the first gaiter, then step into
it and close the velcro.  In really warm weather,
you can also roll down the gaiter to increase ventilation.