30 Second Advice No 3: Take the damn crampons!
I'd never really used crampons outside of a very snowy or icy area so when Saori my Sapporo home stay host suggested them for the Snow Festival, I nearly said no. Lets face it they look weird, you feel like a goose and their name is just too close to “tampon” to be user friendly.
Luckily, I didn't want to offend her so when we got there and the crampon booth is the first thing you see, I agreed and took the crampons.
To set the stage it was February in Sapporo, Japan, and we were at the snow festival with a million other people (it felt like a million) so it was in the scheme of things a good decision.
Those things are lifesavers on the icy pavements. We enjoyed our night at the Snow Festival and stayed on our feet under out own steam – however – we both got taken out twice – both times by idiots who slipped over because they “DIDN'T TAKE THE DAMN CRAMPONS!”
