The last Chouinard Rock and Alpine hammers were made starting in 1987. They were the last modular hammers Chouinard would release. Both used a new head with the same three-bolt pick system, and production settled on black composite handles.
Identifying Marks
- New 1987 head with no notch under the hammer face
- 3-bolt pick system, taking a curved Alpine or ice climbing pick, a toothless crag pick or a blunt big wall pick
- Rock: black composite handle, 12″ long
- Alpine: black composite handle, 13.5″ long
- “CHOUINARD MADE IN USA” and the diamond-C logo embossed into the handle
- Transition pieces: the new head on a blue composite handle
About the Models
The 1987 hammers turned the Rock and Alpine into two lengths of the same two-in-one tool. With a toothed pick it was an ice hammer, and with a crag or big wall pick it worked as a rock and piton hammer. The Rock was the shorter companion to the 13.5″ Alpine.
Some early pieces pair the new head with the blue handle from the 1984 generation, likely made while leftover blue handles were used up before the run switched to black. A blue handle on its own doesn’t always mean 1984, so it pays to check the head: the 1984 head has a notch under the hammer face and the 1987 head doesn’t. The collection’s example has its own post: 1987 Chouinard Rock Hammer, Blue Transition Handle.
The Pieces in the Collection
The collection has both 1987 models. The Rock carries a toothless crag pick. The Alpine carries an ice climbing pick with one fewer tooth than the ice climbing pick on the collection’s 1984 Alpine, a small sign the pick changed between generations. The Alpine is also missing one of its three pick bolts, so the pick is held by the remaining two.
Sources: identifying marks and dates from the Karabin Climbing Museum‘s Chouinard Equipment display; pick system and handle lengths also from Vertical Archaeology, “1987 Chouinard Hammer”; big wall pick and notch change from the Vertical Museum’s Chouinard hammer collection. Transition-handle note and pick details of these pieces from the collection. Have something to add? Let me know.
