We’ve kept this bunch of pitons together since that’s how they arrived – donated by Ranald Strachan on behalf of his father, Ronald. Ronald was a mountaineer and one time member of RAF Kinloss Mountain Rescue Team back in the 1950’s – a time when pitons were much in vogue since climbers had yet to see the modern forms of rock gear we have today. The big long one ‘b’ is a Stubai ice piton which would be hammered into the ice for an anchor and hacked out afterwards – this was in the days before ice screws. All the others are rock pitons – most of which are unused and in mint condition – a collector’s dream! Apart from a few pitons made for the military, the UK did not have a piton manufacturer back in those days so these are all European, the names of which ring out like a history of the era; Ricardo Cassin of Italy, Charlet Moser of Chamonix in France and Stubai of Austria. The pitons themselves have names too : rings, spikes, angles and the beautifully crafted and wonderfully named Ace of Hearts. All in all a fabulous bunch of mountain jewellery.