An icon is defined as a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration. Well, here we have the symbols made by the venerated person; in this case the Scottish mountaineer, Andy Nisbet. Andy was, without doubt, one of Scotland’s greatest ever mountaineers with his particular forte being winter climbing. Having found ordinary crampons a little unsuitable for what is known as mixed climbing (a mixture of snow, ice and rock) he created his Trampons which is a word play on Tricouni Nails and Crampons. Mountaineers had been using Tricounis for decades and they were proven to be very good on icy rocks. Andy decided to fashion an aluminium base plate which fitted his boot and attach the tricouni nails – the icon was created. Sadly, Andy and his good friend, Steve Perry, died in a mountaineering accident in February 2019 and whilst we’d rather the Trampons had not come as a result of his death, we are grateful to Andy’s sister, Liz, for passing them onto us as icons of an icon. PS Check out the internet for a wonderful tribute to Andy written by Martin Moran who, in a cruel twist of fate, was to die in the Himalayas a few weeks after Andy.