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brotherbbock
Trad climber
Alta Loma, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 9, 2010 - 01:02am PT
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Can anybody tell me a little about this axe? Is it worth anything?
It was bought sometime in the 70's by my cousin, it's never been used and in perfect condition. Still has the rubber protector for the spike as well.
Think I might hang it on the wall.
If anyone knows anything interesting please tell!
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Sweet Ride!
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Kalimon
Trad climber
Ridgway, CO
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Chouinard-Frost Piolet with a bamboo shaft . . . standard production model. I've still got mine . . . It is worth whatever your imagination wants it to be.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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NICE! Good score.
Tom gave me the one he used on Annapurna along with his crampons. I will post photos when I can. Also received his mountain boots used on the same climb from another unexpected source.
Ken
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brotherbbock
Trad climber
Alta Loma, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 9, 2010 - 01:13am PT
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Missed you too Pate...the summer has been good to me. I have alot of stuff to argue with you about in the future though when I start work again. ;)
Got some TR's to post as well.
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Kalimon
Trad climber
Ridgway, CO
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brotherbbock,
You are definitely in possession of the laminated bamboo handle model . . . $250.00 sounds reasonable but you should hold onto it.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Aren't modern ice tools better? I mean, how old is that thing?
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
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Important to note your tool is slightly newer than the one on Chessler.
Notice that yours has a second set of serrations closer to the shaft. My weary mind says they switched to that in the very late 70s or early 80s. The idea was that if you broke through the ice with your swing you could still get the pick to grip near the shaft and reduce the angle. Or something like that.
Either way, those tools a thing of beauty and classic. HOLD ON TO IT! That tool is in pristine condition. I still have my original 1970's bamboo shaft Chouinard axe and even used it on Mt. Hood last spring.
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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The second set of teeth near the shaft (for "thin waterfall ice") appeared in the mid '70s, or a bit earlier. I bought an axe just like the one in the photos from the GPIW in '75, '76.
The axe I had didn't have that little stud to keep the wrist loop from sliding off the shaft; the stud and sliding loop might be aftermarket, not original.
The rubber spike guard I had looked exactly like the one in the photo, but I think I got that later, from a different store.
There were a handful of "similar" ice axes available at the time, but the balance and elegance of the Chouinard-Frost piolet made it the Rolls Royce.
In the film Rocky Horror Picture Show, there is a scene where Dr. Frankenfurter (Tim Curry) dispatches Eddie (Meatloaf) in a freezer locker with a Chouinard-Frost piolet. The implement used in the film is essentially identical to the ice axe shown above, but without the wrist loop.
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Scared Silly
Trad climber
UT
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The wrist loop is an after market add on. To my knowledge Chouinard never added them. The pice quoted is rather high. Prices on tools have some what ebbed in the last couple of years. While in the past you might see some one pay $400-$500 for one in such condition now $250-$400 would be more reasonable.
Tom - great trivia about the RHPS. Never new about the axe prop.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
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Brotherbbock: Nice axe. Looks darn near new! I concur that the wrist-loop is after-market.
Since this subject comes up on ST every few months, I kept some notes from Steve Grossman's Classic Ice Primer-Chouinard Catalog 1968
thread: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=382806
From RDB: Frost left the partnership in '75 and shortly after that all the axes were marked CHOUINARD only. '78 catalog clearly shows the new logo on the newest synthetic shafted piolet and the Zero. (which is painted bamboo in the catalog).
Chuck when you figure the wood/laminate axes were only available from '69 to '78 and a good many of them were broken or had the tips filed well past being useful, $300 seems cheap for a usable example.
Not like I'd want to buy one for $300 though :)
From Doug Robinson:
I'll throw a little confusion into the Piolet stamping. No longer certain that I remember accurately, but...
I think the very earliest Piolets were stamped only CHOUINARD. Then FROST was added. Rumor around the Diamond-C shop was that it was at the insistence of Tom's then-wife, Dorene. That could account for the double stamp, btw.
The modest Frost would never have suggested such a thing himself. I always thought it was particularly ironic for his name to show up only on the axes, because of all the hardware that went out of there the axe was mostly YCs design, with the least input from Frost.
No question, of course, that the later 70s Piolets, after YC bought out Tom, were stamped only CHOUINARD.
The famous "Diamond-C" mark was on everything else. That too seemed at times ironic. Like on the Stoppers, which Frost and I designed together (and I got to name), with very little input from Yvon, who was
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harihari
Trad climber
Squampton
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I have my Mom's old one. It was in intermittent use until 2002, when its last climb was a winter ascent of the Lions, near Vancouver. I did a 50m WI3 pitch with the thing, then hung it on my wall. Apparently the wood degrades under the metal, or so somebody told me.
Anyway it's cool to thnk about how badass soem of these old school guys (and girls) were, given their gear...
chris
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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It's a classic, I still have mine. I have the 55cm (?) shaft version. That thing is mint, mine is very well used.
Here is my piolet.
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brotherbbock
Trad climber
Alta Loma, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 9, 2010 - 10:22pm PT
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Thanks for the info guys.
I think I might build a shadow box for it and hang it on the wall.
My cousin thinks he bought it around '75 or earlier, he would cry if he knew what it was worth. I got it for $25!!
The hand strap was not added by him, he bought it as is from a shop here in so-cal. The only think missing is the other rubber protectors which did not stand the test of time.
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Aug 10, 2010 - 06:18am PT
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The only think missing is the other rubber protectors which did not stand the test of time.
Yes. Exactly right. The adze and pick cover was one piece, with a thin strap to connect the two ends. Mine degraded and broke quite soon. Stretching the strap killed it quickly.
Chouinard offered a very nice leather cover for the adze and pick, itself a work of art. Anybody got the catalog photo of that one? I think the tall, narrow catalog with a Japanese print on the cover was the one I remember.
I put my lightly-used piolet, just like that one (but, no loop and stud) on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $500 about two years ago, and it was snapped up less than eight hours after I listed it. I wish I'd put the BIN price higher.
If you decide to sell that axe on eBay, put the minimum bid high, and the BIN price much higher. You can always run the auction over and over for the rather low listing price of a buck or two. Someone will pay upwards of $1000, maybe not now, but in a year or two, for sure.
Then again, the aftermarket stud and strap might have ruined its value as an original, unaltered specimen.
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TrundleBum
Trad climber
Las Vegas
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Aug 10, 2010 - 08:27am PT
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Any body have the historical time line on Dee ee's Piolet?
His has the three standard teeth at pick end, and the one little notch mid pick length.
I always assumed that dee ee's model was in between the standard five toothed ones and the later model with the added sets of teeth back by the shaft end of the pick?
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Brunosafari
Boulder climber
OR
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Aug 10, 2010 - 09:00am PT
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Dee ee's axe looks to me like the handle is made of hickory, rather than bamboo. That would make it an earlier model, the single notch added later or custom perhaps. ('68-'70, I'd guess)
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Aug 10, 2010 - 09:35am PT
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I traveled all over India and SouthEast Asia with one that was very similar. The first trip I had it because I was on my way to Nepal. When I saw how useful it was for self defense psychology, I carried it on every trip to that region after that. Surrounded by a crowd of scary men on a third class train? Just slowly take the long rubber tip of the pick and the adze off and flex it by the handle a few times, and they would back right up. Just showing it meant I never had to actually use it.
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Brunosafari
Boulder climber
OR
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Aug 10, 2010 - 09:43am PT
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Hope you're writing your memoirs, Jan!
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brotherbbock
Trad climber
Alta Loma, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 10, 2010 - 11:14pm PT
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Wow Tom.... crazy you sold it that fast.
It's weird that the hand strap was an after market thing also, who would add it on then sell it as is???
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Fritz
Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
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Aug 11, 2010 - 06:58pm PT
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Re Dee ee's Piolet photo: I agree with Brunosafari that the middle notch in the pick was not a production feature, but was added later by someone.
Below is photo of my 1973 vintage Piolet. It is bamboo shaft.
The grain pattern is pretty similar on Dee ee's axe and mine. The Chouinard 1972 catalog only mentions laminated bamboo shafts.
Bamboo??? Or is Dee ee's one of the near-legendary early hickory shafts?
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Aug 12, 2010 - 01:39am PT
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There was some sort of "Rexilon" shaft for the piolets right around the time of the laminated bamboo. I can't remember what that was, only the name.
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Aug 12, 2010 - 12:36pm PT
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Brotherbbock, sweet Chouinard/Frost ice axe and in great condition. In Spring 1974 Chouinard added the set of teeth nearer to the shaft. So if your Piolet has two sets of teeth it is no older than spring 1974. The 1972 catalog shows teeth only at the tip. The 1973 supplement catalog shows teeth only at the tip. The spring 1974 Great Pacific Ironworks News catalog shows the teeth by the shaft and at the tip. The 1974 news catalog states "Also new is an extra set of teeth on the pick next to the shaft for climbing waterfalls........"This statement is also stated in the 1975 catalog. This axe 5 years ago was going for $500.00 to $750.00 on ebay. These days it averages $250.00. I suggest you hang it on your wall for a few years before selling it. I don't think the leash pin on the shaft was put there by Chouinard.
Rock on! Marty
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Aug 12, 2010 - 05:07pm PT
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I added the notch with the intention of going all the way to the original teeth. I decided it might compromise the pick and stopped, plus, it was VERY hard steel.
I believe it is bamboo.
If Fritz's is '73 mine must be older.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 12, 2010 - 05:10pm PT
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Some lucky Rooskie now owns this one unless he had to pawn it to pay
the heating bill. Why was I so soft-hearted?
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GhoulweJ
Trad climber
Sacramento, CA
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Aug 12, 2010 - 07:24pm PT
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I'll give $100 cash for it
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Aug 12, 2010 - 11:06pm PT
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Regarding that pin and strap:
I now seem to remember seeing something like that for sale in the REI catalog. I guess the "idea" was that if you were swinging the axe while going up a waterfall, and came off, the sliding loop would allow you to rapidly change your grip from the end of the shaft to the head, and thus perform an effective self-arrest with the axe deployed diagonally across your body. As I recall, the sliding loop was about that silly.
The usual Chouinard thing was to tie a loop of webbing through the eye in the head, long enough so that you could hang from it while gripping the sweet spot of the shaft, while on steep snow or ice. You would adjust this sling to your personal preference, and maybe for different steepnesses. For more moderate snow slopes, with the head in your hand, you would just hang onto the axe, and probably not have the sling around your wrist.
I would not doubt for one second that someone with a sporting goods store, who knew nothing about climbing, might have installed the wrist loop and pin as an "improvement" to the C-F piolet. They would order the loop and pin from REI, add it to the piolet, and upmark it accordingly.
An analogy to this sort of marketing wizdumb, concurrent with when that axe was first sold, was a fad of gluing fiberglass fender flares and "whale tails" onto 911 Porsches, and irreversibly destroying the value of the cars.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
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Aug 13, 2010 - 09:00pm PT
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dee ee. Re. how old your Chouinard Piolet is? It definitely predates mine.
I do have to defer to Marty’s assertion upthread: The 1973 supplement catalog shows teeth only at the tip. The spring 1974 Great Pacific Ironworks News catalog shows the teeth by the shaft and at the tip. The 1974 news catalog states "Also new is an extra set of teeth on the pick next to the shaft for climbing waterfalls........"This statement is also stated in the 1975 catalog.
I was thinking purchase date of 1973 on my “double tooth” Piolet: based on my first waterfall climbing trip to Baniff in Feb. 1974.
We climbed some steep (for us) stuff, like Cascade Gully.
My previous axe was a straight-picked model ( Stubei Nanga Parbat) and would not have cut it on near vertical ice.
I have been digging through old slides, hoping to find one dated Feb. 1974, that shows the Chouinard/Frost axe. No luck there, but I have been able to confirm my memories of being in Baniff then, with some scenic slides of that date.
So ---I owned my double-tooth Chouinard-Frost Piolet, by Feb 2004, and likely somewhat earlier.
However, I was also a Chouinard gear retailer and buddies with the Chouinard NW rep. Dale Day: so I may have got some priority in shipment.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Aug 14, 2010 - 02:26am PT
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Here's a Chouinard Frost with two sets of teeth with what I'm guessing is a hickory shaft...
Ha ha.
Sorry for the poor, hasty photo.
Another difference I've noted: the older single teeth models are held to the shaft with two rivets, the double teeth ones have three.
Cheers!
-Brian in SLC
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Fritz
Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
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Aug 14, 2010 - 10:14am PT
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Brian: re: Here's a Chouinard Frost with two sets of teeth with what I'm guessing is a hickory shaft...
Sunnybeaches! That's awesome dude!
Have you been hiding that one, or did you just acquire it?
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Aug 14, 2010 - 12:16pm PT
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Not just a Hickory Shaft, a First Class Hickory Shaft! Brian you are awesome! Very nice piece!
I usually follow the past catalogs for history reference on gear dating, but sometimes the manufacturer starts distributing their newer pieces before the catalogs are printed. Sometimes manufacturers use their catalogs to advertise their new pieces before they finally let the public use them. Example is the Metolius BRD device that they showed for three years in their catalogs before they distributed it to the public. Another example is Chouinard which showed Crack N' Ups available in 1973 where they were not distributed to the public until 1975.
Yous manufacturers keep playing with our minds!
That's why beer was invented and then came the tall tail stories..........
Rock on, Marty
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Aug 14, 2010 - 01:04pm PT
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Yeah, recent acquisition.
Kinda bummed how beat up it is...
Hee hee.
I fancy a trip to the source some day. Lecco area, Premana. I imagine a feller could do some climbing there too...(dang, I have a couple weeks of vacation remaining to burn by the end of the year too...).
Cheers!
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Aug 15, 2010 - 01:38pm PT
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I got mine sometime in the early '70s. I can't pinpoint the purchase date.
Before the Chouinard Piolet I had a Simond Super D which was a pretty fancy axe for it's day. My dad got it for me when I was about 10 yrs old. I used it until I got the Piolet roughly when I started high school. That could have been as early as 1971.
This doesn't look like the Super D, it must have been my dad's.
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TYeary
Social climber
State of decay
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Mar 15, 2014 - 07:45pm PT
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old friends.
TY
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Mar 15, 2014 - 07:59pm PT
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I used them on Point 5 Gully on Ben Nevis in 1972.....made it seem like real climbing. Ah nostalgia, makes you want things that you wouldn't actually use.
Not me...I don't own a carabiner that ways more than an ounce.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Mar 15, 2014 - 09:50pm PT
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Donini! You forget your "gear-stash" Donini-museum in Chile! We needed some biners last year to hold down stuff on a truck, when we were visiting "Casa Donini"------- and I even found an old early 70's Eiger "Death-biner" in there.
Heidi did borrow one of your ice-tools to produce ice for our medicinal Gin & Tonics.
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA/Boulder, CO
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Mar 16, 2014 - 01:09am PT
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Compared to modern ice climbing tools those old axes are like climbing in blue Robbins' boots. I couldn't believe the difference when I switched. But, boy do they look nice!
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E
Ice climber
mogollon rim
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Mar 16, 2014 - 06:21am PT
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I have a chouinard /frost bamboo shaft northwall zero hammer for sale $750 you pay the shipping
I will even sign it (display model only with cracked shaft)
Also a pair of old grey jumars that prolly used to belong to Dr. F that I'll throw in to sweeten the deal(he signed them too)
i'll get the Bird to sign em too cuz he's seemed to sign everything else in sight, lechlinski will sign it as well if ya want.
thats the proper way to have a fundraiser on the Super topo
obviously bored and waiting for weather to improve here in glen nevis
Erik E
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Mar 16, 2014 - 12:09pm PT
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E
Can't believe you're letting "full on" conditions keep you from getting out :)
I hope to get to Scotland someday, but if I do, it will be in the summer.
Looking forward to a TR on your trip. In the meantime, send some pics from the pub!
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E
Ice climber
mogollon rim
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Mar 16, 2014 - 01:15pm PT
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here's one for yafull conditions(this was my warm up for scottish winter climbing)
I really don't do trip reports on this poseur forum
cheers
Erik E
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Stewart Johnson
climber
lake forest
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Mar 16, 2014 - 01:17pm PT
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Modern Ice Gear is a joy to use!
Cheers P. T.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Mar 16, 2014 - 06:31pm PT
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Erik,
On behalf of myself and the other poseurs here,thanks for that!
How does it compare to the North Face of Tahquitz in winter?
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rmuir
Social climber
From the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Mar 16, 2014 - 06:58pm PT
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If, in fact, the wrist strap and shaft stud came with the axe, it may have been included on some models sold by Interalp-Camp. It certainly didn't come with the earlier Piolets. That would have interfered with Yvon's interpretation of "French Technique".
I recall that we viewed the Camp-labeled Piolets as being inferior, or certainly less desirable. Didn't Camp abandon the bamboo shaft for hickory? (Or was it the other way around?)
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chappy
Social climber
ventura
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Mar 16, 2014 - 10:08pm PT
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Here is a Kev at our first bivy on the FA of the Widow's Tear with one of our two tools in the foreground--a 55 cm Chouinard axe. Bamboo I believe. It had no notches near the shaft--a problem we discovered on Sentinel Falls. We managed to add a few with a hand file. The steel was very hard and it took a lot of work to just get a few.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Mar 16, 2014 - 11:05pm PT
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Dr F. & all! Thank you for sharing these classic ice tools.
Dr.F! Based on Chouinard catalog history, your Piolet (& T. Hocking's) were produced sometime between 1968 & 1973.
The Chouinard Piolet I used--a lot, between 1973 & 1982 is nearly worn out, and is 60 Cm.long, which was the right length for me. My Moscow, Idaho outdoor shop employees gave me a nearly new 80 Cm. Piolet for my birthday, in the early 80's.
It seemed appropriate to add a 70 Cm. Piolet to my quiver a few years back. It belonged to a fellow ST poster, that no-longer needed it.
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Mar 17, 2014 - 08:28am PT
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I dropped mine on the Walker Spur, in 1975. Always regretted it.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Mar 17, 2014 - 10:21am PT
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Erik, my old climbing partner and friend,
I guess my attempts to be funny or ironic didn't come across. No snark or offense to you intended in any way! Just some bantering between friends
The photo is great, conveying well the bold nature of the climbing, as you describe. The comparison to Tahquitz in winter was a joke.
Believe it or not, I don't do Facebook since screens take up too much of my time as it is. So, I had no idea you were in Scotland and was immediately interested to hear about your trip, as it is a dream of mine to spend some time there. However if I get there, it will be mostly in the pubs rather than the crags.
I have nothing but admiration for your climbing record and ability, and especially for the way you keep getting after it after all these years.
Say hi to Jay for me.
Rick
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TYeary
Social climber
State of decay
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Mar 17, 2014 - 02:28pm PT
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A bit off topic, but I don't think anyone will mind. A few poached from Erik showing the routes they're on in the UK. Almost like the NF of Tahquitz!
Nice work, E and Co.
TY
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Mar 17, 2014 - 09:02pm PT
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Those Cairngorms photos are just amazing. Talk about the sharp end..
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Nick
climber
portland, Oregon
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Mar 17, 2014 - 09:50pm PT
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Erik that is indeed pipe.
I cherish my 74' Piolet for all the memories it brings back. I still take it out for a spin once in a while.
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E
Ice climber
mogollon rim
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Mar 19, 2014 - 04:22am PT
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hey Fellas, I wanna apologize for the poseur comment and kinda misenterpreting this thread. I thought that Craigs post was a carryover from facebook.
I guess that sometimes i just don't "get it"
The poseur comment stems from frustration with the forum that just does'nt consist of the old guard of 30 or so people when we used to all know each other anymore. Back then it was like a virtual campfire when I used to know almost everyone.
Also I have had confrontations here with old friends that have been shocking to me, kinda like stepping into a beartrap unexpectedly.
been a month without the cali
so sorry
Erik E
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Stewart Johnson
climber
lake forest
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Mar 19, 2014 - 09:49am PT
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No old tools for sale here !
Cheers!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 19, 2014 - 11:12am PT
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Scotland - a bunch of hiking!
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TYeary
Social climber
State of decay
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Mar 19, 2014 - 02:15pm PT
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TY
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Mar 19, 2014 - 09:37pm PT
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I appreciate that many of us have significant memories tied up with our old Chouinard Ice axe/ice tools.
For those who are willing to exchange memories for money, right now seems to be a good time to sell good-condition Chouinard axes on E-Bay.
This one, in very, very good condition sold tonight for:
Winning bid: US $685.00
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&_trksid=p2047675.l2565&rt=nc&item=181351639111
It is very likely that your rusty, beat to schist, Chouinard axe would fetch less than half that amount-----but you never know on E-Bay.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Mar 19, 2014 - 09:49pm PT
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I'll sell mine for $1000. No questions or palmares asked or requested.
E, you interested?
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TYeary
Social climber
State of decay
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Mar 20, 2014 - 12:43am PT
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Dave, I think E is trying to unload the one he has.
I wonder what I could get for my axe, zero, alpine hammer, thule pack, Chouinard ajustable crampons with scottish straps, and a Chouinard 40 below headlamp(the one that use a single D battery) as a set? Another trip to Peru? That Nikon body I've been lusting after?
TY
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Mar 20, 2014 - 10:23am PT
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You'll get more than you would for a 2 inch swami belt, pair of EB's and a set of hexentrics mounted on oval biners.
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TYeary
Social climber
State of decay
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Mar 20, 2014 - 02:30pm PT
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yer probably right Jim. I'll keep 'em for the old timer's museum. Those older tools are works of art to me, beautiful in design and function.
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I think Chouinard pursued this ideal in his ice axes.
TY
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Mar 20, 2014 - 02:53pm PT
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I just searched E-Bay for Chouinard wood Ice Axes that have sold in the last 60 days & found 8 with closing prices between $259.00 & $695.00. Average price = $543.06.
That's a much higher average price than I thought.
Amazing, just amazing!
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Mar 20, 2014 - 04:17pm PT
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Tad: 1973 price for a Chouinard Piolet was $35.00. Using an inflation calculator that = $185.00 today. Looks like your Piolet has been a good investment!
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Mar 20, 2014 - 04:30pm PT
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I'll give up my Piolet when they pry it from my cold dead hands!
Oh....wait a minute.....that ain't smart.
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Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
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Mar 20, 2014 - 04:57pm PT
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Considering how common they are....I am surprised that they are so expensive. So far, I have none in my collection for that reason.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Mar 20, 2014 - 09:48pm PT
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Hey Roots, you don't have one in your collection because "they are so common?"
I call bs.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Mar 20, 2014 - 09:52pm PT
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I'll give up my Piolet when they pry it from my cold dead hands!
Oh....wait a minute.....that ain't smart.
I don't care who you are, that was FUNNY!
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Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
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Mar 21, 2014 - 01:11pm PT
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Hey Roots, you don't have one in your collection because "they are so common?"
I call bs.
NO because they are overpriced.....IMO. They are regularly on Ebay and offered other places for sale so can't believe how much they go for. [shrug]
Naturally I would like to have many in my collection and eventually will have to pay up to do it!
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Keith Leaman
Trad climber
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Mar 21, 2014 - 01:15pm PT
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Ahh...the glory days of yester-life. Some terrific photos on this thread.
The thermometer said 20 below the morning we started up Thunderbolt. My partner forgot his hat and the smoke. On the approach moraine we sat down to take a break and right beside us on a boulder someone had left a wool cap and a plastic container with a doob and a lighter in it. He still got frostbite, and we bailed part way up the ridge.
Took my ice hammer up a frozen Tahquitz a few times. Sold my Piolet years ago. Still have the hammer though. I do remember some numbers scribed under the adze of my axe-like Dr F's. Quite the score, bbock if you got it for $25!
edit:
vvvvv Working on it, Tony. Might be summer but I'll let you know.
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TYeary
Social climber
State of decay
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Mar 21, 2014 - 02:09pm PT
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Great pics Keith! Actually, considering the time frame and who frequented the Palisades those years, I am not surprised to hear you found a cap, much less a stash! I'm sure it could have been left by someone at POSM or one of the Armadillo's. BTW, are you still coming to So Cal this Spring?
TY
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Brock Wagstaff
Trad climber
Larkspur
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Mar 21, 2014 - 04:39pm PT
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1977 summer in the Alps we had mostly Chouinard tools until the very first Hummingbird hammer appeared in camp. On thin hard ice the tips tended to snap off where the notches started. Began carrying two for the route and a spare in the pack just in case. The photo shows the attrition rate after about 6 - 8 weeks.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Mar 21, 2014 - 07:24pm PT
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Hey Roots, no offense. Sometimes my sense of humor gets the best of me!
The offer still stands and I live in Tustin as well so no shipping cost. I might ever reconsider my price.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Mar 21, 2014 - 08:01pm PT
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I beat the hell out of my Chouinard Piolet and never did much damage, except to dull the sharp edges. By the time I was done bashing stuff with it, I had filed the pick very close to the first notch.
Here's a Chouinard Piolet collectors dream photo from 1976 on Mt. Hess in Alaska's Hayes Range.
Fritz, just below where the previous photo was taken, enjoying easy slogging after 20 leads of 50-60 degree ice.
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Stewart Johnson
climber
lake forest
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Mar 22, 2014 - 02:18pm PT
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How Much for this baby?
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Oregon
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Mar 22, 2014 - 07:54pm PT
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Here's my pee o lay.
I purchased it in winter 1974, I( maybe 1975, but I'm pretty sure '74) as a 70 cm model. Here it is as I cut it to 55 cm for waterfalls in the NE. ( other tool was a Hummingbird) at the same time I added the teeth so it was like a zero, which only took a couple hours one evening. I also refilled the tip for a positive angle.
And you will note it is engraved, as somebody decided they needed the one before it more than I did. Apparently the deterrent worked.
It is a bamboo shaft. The dark color was from coal tar so it would take sticky ski wax, but I mostly had it wrapped with some tennis racket handle wrap.
It's the tool I had when I went to a memorable ice climbing clinic at Chapel pond with John Roskelley and John Bodine where Roskelley taught us why not to have our faces in front of a tool that might pull.
Great teacher.
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H
Mountain climber
there and back again
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Mar 23, 2014 - 01:07am PT
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Brock, nice photo. Good to see you on the Taco.
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F10
Trad climber
Bishop
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Mar 24, 2014 - 12:28pm PT
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I dug out my old Chouinard ice tools
Piolet, Ice Hammer and Climaxe,
I added wrist loops to the shafts, it made gripping them much easier when wearing Dachstein mitts
My brother's hammer is on the right, almost like new
Chouinard Rigid Crampons
Salewa Tubular Ice Screw, Salewa Spiral (Wart Hog) and Charlet-Moser Screw
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Mar 24, 2014 - 12:47pm PT
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Nice Tools folks!
Got any tool museum shots!
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Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
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Mar 24, 2014 - 02:36pm PT
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DEE EE - no worries, humor is always appreciated!
Sorry if I messed up this "For Sale" thread with my comments. Must be just me that thinks bamboo shaft axes are overpriced, because there seems to be no shortage of people willing to pay a premium for them.
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F10
Trad climber
Bishop
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Mar 24, 2014 - 06:54pm PT
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Chouinard Piolet, Ice Hammer and Crampons still in use in 87' on Middle Teton Glacier Route
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| Messages 1 - 82 of total 82 in this topic |
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