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BERNAYS MYSTERY
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Mochizuki (?), ice wart hog screws from Japan
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Salewa
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Page from the REI 1958 catalog.
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The ice screw with the welded eye is unmarked so I have yet to figure out who created it. Shown in the 1964 Fisher and sons catalog is a photo of the ice screw shown unwelded as being manufactured by Grivel. I was able to find a ice screw which exactly matches the photo in the Fisher and Sons catalog. When I received the ice screw I notice it is created by Simond. Now the mystery continues.... is the catalog incorrect? Are both ice screws created by Simond? Is the welded ice screw actually a Grivel?
Cassin 85 Gold color ice piton
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Stubai ice pitons, early 1960s
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Hello Martin,
I was able to buy a bundle of old "Bergsteiger" magazines and found an interesting article about ice pitons in a 1939 issue. The article is written in old German script and is difficult to read. Here is a short summary: Ice pitons were invented by Fritz Rigele in 1924 and tested for the first time with Willi Welzenbach on the north-west face of the Großes Wiesbachhorn. The Rigele/Welzenbach ice piton is an iron pin up to 32cm long with a ring, barbed at the tip. The first disadvantage is, on the one hand, that the ring eye is often crushed when hammered in and the the ring is no longer movable. Secondly, the piton often loosens out of the ice when exposed to heat or stress, and because the teeth are only on the conical tip, the piton no longer has a hold. In 1938, the engineer H. Jungel from Liezen (Styria / Austria ) invented a new ice piton. The new ice piton is slimmer, shorter and the barbs are distributed over the whole length of the pin. The ring is in a lateral eye so that the hammer beat no longer squeezes the eye. Matthias |
Two ice pitons in the Ashby Robertson collection
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Sporthaus Schuster 1939 catalog, from Matthias Hoefle. This catalog shows both of the ice piton versions. |
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