Vertical Archaeology Blog
Forrest Belay Plate
The 1983 Forrest Mountaineering catalog boasted that “you’ll never wear it out”! This simple, strong, and light weight belay plate was sold for $10.45 and worked with ropes up to 11mm in size.
Chouinard Crack N’ Up
Chouinard Crack N Ups were early seam hooks designed to be hand placed into micro cracks. They came in sizes #1 through #6 but the number one size was extremely thin and produced in...
Thomas Black & Sons Catalog 1959
Only the climbing related sections of the 1959 Thomas Black & Sons equipment catalog showing the selection of equipment available to British climbers at the time. The whole catalog is eighty-four pages long covering camping, skiing,...
Forrest Mountaineering Catalog 1983
A personal Forrest story: In 1993 I worked for a small outdoor gear shop in Colorado Springs that also had an outlet in Denver. One day while rummaging around in the warehouse I discovered a treasure....
Peck Pitons
Peck channel pitons were made in the mid to late 1960’s by Peck Climbing Company. Trevor Peck made a few different types of equipment but was better known for his “Cracker” chocks than his...
MARWA Carabiners
These beautiful carabiners were produced in the 1950s through to the late1960s. They were strong and well made with several design features ahead of their time. The graceful arched spine set them apart from...