Piton hammers, ice tools and the gear climbers took with them, from hand-forged hammers of the 1940s through the big-wall and waterfall-ice era. This site extends well beyond hammers and is always a work in progress.
Recent Additions
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1988 Chouinard Yosemite Hammer
The redesigned Yosemite hammer that brought back the model, and Chouinard’s wood handles, after seven years, with a new head drilled through at the pick end.
The innovation in climbing gear was every bit as creative as the routes it was built for. Most of it was driven by the same passion that pushed the sport itself forward, and you can see it in every forged head, hand-shaped handle and odd one-off design.
The Hammers
Hammers are where this all started, and they’re still the heart of the collection. Every one is catalogued by maker, era, condition and the little marks that give its age away.
- Chouinard: Yosemite, Alpine, Crag and Rock hammers from 1966 on, tracked generation by generation.
- European makers: Stubai, Salewa, Charlet Moser, Simond, Cassin, CAMP, Grivel, ASMÜ and the Fulpmes workshops.
- American makers: Forrest Mountaineering, Lowe Alpine Systems, Holubar, A5 and others.
- Military issue: U.S. 10th Mountain Division hammers from the 1940s and 1950s, plus German and British wartime pieces.
- Ice hammers: from the MacInnes-Peck Terrordactyl to the bamboo-shafted Chouinard Zero.
- Japanese makers: Tokyo Top, Hope, Evernew and Mizo.
- The mysteries: unmarked and homemade hammers that are still waiting to be identified.
Beyond Hammers
Ice Axes
From a pre-1900 axe and Swiss and Austrian smith work to Chouinard bamboo shafts and the first modular tools.
Pitons, Nuts & Ice Protection
The hardware the hammers were made to place: pitons, nuts, ice pitons and early ice screws.
Photographs
The gear in action, from Rainier in the 1920s and 30s to Everest in 1963 and K2 in the 1970s.
New collection pages are on the way, one maker at a time. In the meantime, if you’ve got a hammer you can’t identify, or one you’re ready to part with, get in touch.
