We use the word ‘icon’ quite a lot when describing items in our collection and when the Chouinard Zero Ice Axe was revealed to the world of mountaineering in 1976 it quickly became iconic. Named after Zero Gully on Ben Nevis, the first versions came with a wooden shaft, made from either hickory or laminated bamboo, and we have fine examples of both elsewhere in the collection. Unfortunately, the iconic status of the wooden shafted Zero faded nearly as quickly as it arrived. The era of the wooden shafted ice axe rapidly coming to an end in the 1970s/80s. Climbers had been using them as anchors in the snow, shafts had broken, people had died. Metallic, lightweight shafts we’re stronger and more reliable. For Yvon Chouinard the answer was simple, keep the iconic Zero head and replace the wooden shaft with a metal one, the result being an excellent ice axe suitable for the modern era.

So, we have a fine example of the metal shafted Zero here in the collection. It once belonged to a member of the Tayside Police Mountain Rescue Team. The team had loads of them, but decided to replace them, which we think was a bit silly as this type of axe was excellent for the job and didn’t need replacing.

P.S. It must have been around 1988/9 when a company called Allcord got in touch with Mick Tighe’s mountain guiding company, Nevis Guides, asking them if they wanted to buy six wooden shafted Zero’s at half price as they couldn’t sell them. Mick Tighe still has one of them.