We thought this was a real Climaxe originally but on closer inspection it bears all the hallmarks, or lack of them, of a replica. 99% of commercially produced mountaineering gear has some sort of stamp or logo indicating who made it, the real Climaxe this one replicates, for instance, has the Chouinard diamond logo and Chouinard Frost stamped on it, you’ll find a couple of them elsewhere in the collection with info.

So the lack of any manufacturers mark almost always indicates homemade, or possibly a prototype, in this case we think the former.

Unfortunately we don’t know who made it, but it’s beautifully done and far more precious than the real thing as far as we’re concerned – many thanks in absentia.