Simond are stating that this version of their Chacal Ice Hammer has a “well proven semi-tubular pick” when it is almost exactly the same as the Hummingbird pick designed by American climber, Jeff Lowe, a decade or so before Simond came up with the idea! We have two excellent examples of real Hummingbirds elsewhere in the collection.

Looking much like the beak of a real hummingbird, it was thought that this design would fracture the ice less when the hammer was whacked in, an idea which caused much debate at the time and seemed to be dependant on what type of ice you intended to climb.

We’re not sure how popular the idea was elsewhere, though very few of the models were seen in the UK, British ice-climbers preferring the bash & smash technique – wrecking their knuckle joints in the process.