Equipment makes the difference

In 1932, Laurent Grivel added "front points" to crampons, two fanglike protrusions sticking out the front of the devices, and shortly thereafter, various European climbers began to weld the entire crampon assembly rigid. This innovation allowed much steeper ice to be climbed.

Modern ice axes, or "tools" as they're known, developed much later, in the 1960s. And unlike most mountaineering equipment developments, they were invented by an American.

In 1966, Yvon Chouinard, now best known as the owner of the Patagonia clothing line, went to Europe to experiment with axes. With the help of a friend, Chouinard convinced the French equipment company Charlet to shorten the then-lengthy mountaineering ice axes to 55 centimeters (about 22 inches) and "reverse" the curve of the pick.

Chouinard's ice ax designs revolutionized ice climbing as much as Eckenstein's crampons, and vertical ice could be climbed relatively easily. The new axes and crampons even allowed ice steeper than vertical to be tackled proficiently.

But while Chouinard was an expert ice climber within his own right, he is mostly remembered for his innovative equipment. It took a handful of hard-core climbers—many based in the United States and Canada—to effect Chouinard's revolution.

Move on to A New Era in Bridalveil Falls

RELATED GORP LINKS
GORP Climbing
GORP Tested: Ice Axes
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