It 's an hour or so to the head of the valley , and I was already in thick snow by then . From there it 's a solid climb for another 45 minutes or so up the ' Devils Staircase ' which is about as steep as a staircase . Then there was what seemed like the ' trudge of doom ' across the flat ' South Crater ' through mostly firm snow , followed by another stiff climb up to Red Crater . By then the snow was getting quite icy and I was glad I brought my crampons .

Question: Why was I glad for the crampons ?
Answer: Because the climb was long .Because there was more ice then .None of the above choices .Because the climb was steep .