The Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection
1645.2022.1
Snowdon Mouldings- Curver-Ice hammer
03/02/2022
Hermione Cooper
03/02/2022
Ice hammer with pointed ferrule, serrated pick and blue wrist leash.
Metal, glass fibre
Head- 25(L)cms. Shaft - 43(L) cms
1
“CURVER. SNOWDON MOULDINGS”
Red, silver
Snowdon Mouldings
Wales
Mo Anthoine was one of many colourful characters to dance across the North Wales climbing scene in the 1960’s, and like many others before him he decided to try and make a living from his beloved sport by creating a small business(circa 1970) which he called Snowdon Mouldings.
Along with his pal, Joe Brown, who already had a climbing shop in Capel Curig, they created the Joe Brown helmet, which became almost universal at the time, and various other items which could be sold in Joe’s shops and elsewhere.
Blacksmith and Mountain Guide, John Brailsford, was very active on the scene too, in more ways than one. He had already invented the first commercial nuts for rock climbing, the Acorn and MOAC, meanwhile charging 4/6d (25p) to droop the picks of conventional ice axes..... so who better then, than John, to help Mo create his new ice axe, the Curver.
It appeared in 1971 to universal acclaim, with the added advantage that it was made in the UK, sitting alongside Hamish MacInnes’s Terrordactyls which appeared about the same time.
The hammer version of this early, glass fibred shafted tools are considerably rarer than the ice axe variety so we are delighted to have this fine example in the collection, kindly donated by Ian Sykes.
Donated by Ian Sykes
03/02/2022
03/02/2022
Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007
03/02/2022