Another unique addition to the Vertical Archaeology archives! I was contacted through Mountain Project regarding a large cache of equipment owned by John Peters who was a prolific climber in the late 1960s through 1970s in the Idaho, Wyoming, and the Northeast. There were some very interesting pieces of Dolt equipment as well as these great homemade chocks. The Dolt stuff always goes for a premium price at auction and Vertical Archaeology stays away from it most of the time. There are organizations with better Dolt collections and the funds required to add those beautiful pieces so I look forward to seeing them displayed and their history preserved.
John Peters fabricated this equipment himself. The sizing and overall construction of the nuts shows an intuitive understanding of his needs and of the intended function of the equipment. The size progression is really dialed! In a personal note through Jesse, Mr. Peters wrote: “The gear was made in 1972-1973 in Pocatello, Idaho at the university craft shop. I worked at a scrap yard in the summer and picked up the aluminum plate. (I) used a metal band saw to make the chocks. (I) used the nuts in the Tetons and city of rocks, Idaho.”
The belay plate accompanied him on most of his climbs (as can be seen by the wear on it). It was likely on expeditions where larger groups of people pooled gear, as can be seen from the orange paint. In John’s words: “you know why some of this stuff is spray painted? Because at the end of a trip everybody forgets what gear is named and calls it all ‘mine!”
John said that all this gear was used by himself and most of his climbing partners who included Warren Harding, Bill March, John Stannard, and Galen Rowell. We are very happy to have Mr. Peters equipment and his story in our archives.