OLD AUSTRIAN OR ITALIAN ICE AXE, SIGNED by Ed Hillary.

We have some old wood handled ice axes, perfect for display over your mantlepiece. On the handle is the signature in black marker of Ed Hillary. This is a beautiful Austrian or Italian Ice Axe from the 1960s, and is an antique by itself! The Austrian (some are Italian) axe is 'modern', made by Stubai, Grivel, Camp or InterAlp, with a light colored ash wooden shaft. If you are old enough, you used one of these in the 1960's.

Postage in this item is $15 Priority Mail in the USA, $35 International Airmail. This will be added after checkout.

 

This photograph Of Lady June and Sir Edmund Hillary,

who is signing some ice axes for us, was taken in San Francisco

in June 2003 during the celebrations of the 50th ascent of

Mount Everest. 

 

You may make a copy for your personal use

but it must not be reproduced for any commerical use, including

the re-sale of your ice axe, without our permission please.

 

We do not provide copies of this photo, just copy iy into your computer.

 

 

 

We live in a time of transition. Some us climbed in the days of wood handles ice axes, and remember the warm feel of the long axe that we used as a walking stick across the flatter sections of the glacier. Perhaps no other object is so symbolic of mountaineering as the ice axe. Many of us have found that  having an old wood handles ice axe on the wall or above the fireplace just looks right.

From Wikipedia:

The antecedent of the ice axe was the alpenstock, a long wooden pole with an iron spike tip, used by shepherds for travel on snowfields and glaciers in the Alps since the Middle Ages. On August 8, 1786, Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard made the first ascent of Mont Blanc. Balmat, a chamois hunter and crystal collector, had experience with high mountain travel, and Paccard had made previous attempts to climb the peak. Illustrations show Balmat carrying two separate tools that would later be merged into the ice axe – an alpenstock (or baton) and a small axe that could be used to chop steps on icy slopes.

According to the earliest manufacturer of ice axes, Grivel, these two tools were merged to create the first true ice axe around 1840. Early ice axes had a vertical adze, with the cutting edge aligned with the direction of the shaft, as in a conventional axe. This design lasted until at least 1860, but eventually the adze was rotated to the current position, perpendicular to the direction of the shaft. The Italian Alpine Club published a book in 1889 entitled Fiorio e Ratti – The dangers of mountaineering and rules to avoid them, which recommended ice axes as among "the inseparable companions of the mountaineer".

In the late 19th century, the typical ice axe shaft measured 120–130 cm (48" to 52") in length. British climber Oscar Eckenstein started the trend toward shorter ice axes with a lighter model measuring 85–86 cm (33 inches). Initially, this innovation was criticized by well-known climbers of the era, including Martin Conway, a prominent member of the Alpine Club, who was the leader of an early expedition to the Baltoro region near K2 in 1892 of which Eckenstein was a member.

Early ice axes had picks and adzes of about equal lengths. By the beginning of the 20th century, the pick lengthened to about twice the length of the adze. Improvements in crampon design (pioneered by Eckenstein in 1908) and ice climbing technique led to use of shorter, lighter ice axes appropriate to steeper ice climbs in the period between the world wars.

In 1978, the Safety Commission of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA) established formal standards for ice axe safety and performance. This led to the replacement of the traditional wooden shaft by metal alloy shafts. Ergonomically curved handles became widespread in 1986. Use of modern aluminum alloys have led to a dramatic reduction in the weight of some ice axes. One model now on the market, the C.A.M.P. Corsa, weighs only 205 grams with a 50 cm long shaft. One expert rated this lightweight ice axe as "ideal for low angle glacier travel" but said he "craved the solid and secure heft of a true steel mountain ax" in more demanding steep alpine conditions.

 

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