Documenting the evolving tools of our vertical world
This catalog showcases many items the modern mountaineer would recognize. There are pitons, carabiners, rappel rings, and hammers that look a bit like the types we still use. Sporthaus Jungborn seems to have been well stocked with...
Selected pages from the 1968 Matterhorn Equipment catalog.
Early Climbing Era / Literature
by Curator · Published November 6, 2014 · Last modified February 25, 2015
Rossdale was a purveyor of “high class climbing equipment” as the cover proudly proclaimed. This catalog featured some interesting items such as the Pierre Allain Descendeur and Decrocheur (which was new for that year), a...
Early Climbing Era / Literature
by Curator · Published November 6, 2014 · Last modified February 25, 2015
The Ski Hut sold camping, climbing, and general outdoor equipment from their location in Berkley, California. Many of the notable figures of 1950’s and 1960’s southern California climbing probably passed through their doors for...
Early Climbing Era / Literature
by Curator · Published November 5, 2014 · Last modified February 25, 2015
August Schuster of Munich (ASMU) started his company in 1914. ASMU manufactured high quality outdoor equipment and became especially notable for their rock and mountaineering products. Most of their axes, carabiners, pitons, and crampons...
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,...
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....
This is the climbing specific portion on the 1964 Fisher & Sons equipment catalog. Also covered in the booklet are shelters, clothing, cookware, and many other items for mountaineers and outdoor enthusiasts. Vertical Archaeology...
