Objects Database

Chouinard 'Climaxe' ice axe

Accession Number

481.2008.1

Object Name

Chouinard 'Climaxe' ice axe

Created

25/11/2008

Creator

Hermione Cooper

Accession Date

25/11/2008

Brief Description

Gully axe with wooden shaft, adze and broken pick. Hole in middle of shaft.

Materials

wood, metal

Dimensions

Shaft 28.5(l) x 12(cir)cms. Head 18(l) cms. Adze 5(w)cms.

Number Of Objects

1

Colour

brown

Provenance

Yvon Chouinard was an American ice climber and equipment manufacturer of some renown. His innovative ideas 'shaped' the way people climbed on rock and ice in the 1960's and 70's, and having diversified more into clothing, rather than hardware, the Patagonia range of outdoor clothing is still going strong in 2011.
Back in the late 1960's Chouinard was in league with another leading American climber,Tom Frost. Amongst many other things, they produced the 'Climaxe', one of which we have,rather battered and bruised, in our collection. Mick Tighe got this from one of his pals.
We'll let Yvon Chouinard tell the story of its creation which he does in the Chouinard Company catalogue in 1972.
"Climaxe weight 1lb.
The ultimate technique on steepening ice, before resorting to artificial climbing or chopping steps, is front pointing using two Alpine hammers. Rather than each man having to carry two hammers we have designed a mini-axe with the same pick as the Alpine hammer but having an adze for cutting 'pigeon hole' steps in extremely steep ice or for clearing away verglas on rock climbs. The 'Climaxe' is so versatile it can also replace the more cumbersome ice axe on some mixed climbs."

Acquisition Date

25/11/2008

Condition Check Date

28/04/2009

Normal Location

Bohuntin

Current Location

Bohuntin

Rules

Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007

Modified

28/04/2009

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