Objects Database

Robin Smith's ice axe

Accession Number

823.2010.1

Object Name

Robin Smith's ice axe

Created

01/04/2010

Creator

Hermione Cooper

Accession Date

01/04/2010

Brief Description

Wooden shaft. Adze, serrated pick. Pointed spike on ferrule with four sides. Black rubber safety cover on head.

Materials

wood, metal, rubber

Dimensions

Shaft & ferrule 79(l) x 9.5(cir)cms. Head 30(l) cms. Adze 6.5(w)cms.

Number Of Objects

1

Inscription Description

On one side of head "ROBERT LAWRIE LTD,LONDON W1" On other side in a circle "MADE IN SWITZERLAND" and "MARKE MISCHABEL" with some mountains above.Initials "RS" burned on shaft.

Colour

brown, black, silver

Maker

Mabke Mischabel

Object Production Place

Switzerland

Provenance

Few scottish mountaineers have achieved such legendary status in such a brief lifetime as Robin Smith. His meteoric rise to stardom came on the back of an amazing catalogue of climbs both old and new, in summer and in winter, accompanied by a glittering array of partners such as Dougal Haston, Jimmy Marshall, Elly Moriarty and a host of others. Robin's life came to an abrupt and tragic end in 1963 when he and fellow climber, Wilf Noyce, fell to their deaths from Mount Garmo in the Pamirs. Robin was just 23 years old at the time.
We had to wait until 2005 before an old classmate and companion on some of Robin's early climbs, Jimmy Cruickshank, produced Robin's biographhy, High Endeavours, and it was during Jimmy's research for the book that he was given the ice axe that we have here in the collection, by one of Robin's relatives who described it as his 'walking axe'. Jimmy subsequently donated it to our collection and he has described how he came by the axe in an e-mail to Mick Tighe in October 2012:-
" I can clarify the position with regard to the axe I gave you. That is a 1930s (or so) axe that originally belonged to Robin's Aunt Dorothy. It is stamped with a 'Made in Switzerland' mark, or the like, and I imagine that its precise age could be identified by someone interested in mountaineering history over there. When it came into my possession I immediately recognised it as the one he used when we climbed together in 1955 and 1956.
It is quite possible that he never used it after that or, if he did, for only a short
period. According to Jimmy Marshall, and you will know of this, short axes (not pick axes!) had already started to be used. So, the axe I gave you became redundant. Here is its history since then.
Robin's sister Marion came to have possession of it, but when she and her family moved to South Africa in 1978 the axe was somehow left in their house at Nether Liberton, Edinburgh. The new owners agreed to keep it safe, rather than mail it abroad. Time passed and it came into the hands of the daughter of that family who - in about 2005 - made contact with Marion for advice on what to do with it.
Marion contacted me, and I collected it when visiting Edinburgh in about 2006. It then came to St Albans via Easy Jet. You will recall that your wife collected it from me when she was in the St Albans vicinity in, probably, 2011."
Mischabel ice axes were made by the Andermatten brothers who were based in Saas Almagel, Central Switzerland. The Andermattens were, and still are, one of the old mountain guiding families of this popular Alpine region and making ice axes was, in days gone by, the job of the blacksmith's side of the family. Mischabel (named for the mountain range above Saas Almagel) were produced in large numbers with the Swiss Army being a big customer. We suspect this one dates from the 1940's and was most likely imported by Robert Lawrie, the London based Alpine specialists who then sold it on to Robin's aunt.

Acquisition Method

Donated by Jimmy Cruickshank

Acquisition Date

01/04/2010

Condition Check Date

01/04/2010

Rules

Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007

Modified

01/04/2010

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