Climbers returning from the Eastern Bloc countries in the 1970/80s often had a bag full of titanium ice screws which they would give or sell to their mates. When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 the Russians flooded the West with thousands of tons of titanium in its raw form, or in items like ice screws and karabiners. Exactly where the items were made and by whom we are not sure but we do know that the screws were virtually useless. Many had a nut shaped top where the hanger could be slid down and used as a ‘spanner’ to screw in and out. Unfortunately, the two items didn’t match very well, edges of the nut got rounded off and climbers had lots of half in, half out screws – they were nice and light though!

AUTUMN 2025

We had an interesting e-mail from A.S. Vinogradov in Russia telling us that Irbis ice-screws were made in a town called Khimki close to Moscow. A company named NPO Lavochkin was based there in the 1980s (probably earlier). They made spacecraft for moon landings and space exploration. The titanium waste from these products was used to make Irbis ice screws and karabiners. The ice screws were not for sale outwith Russia, but were traded in mountaineering camps in the Pamirs and Tien Shan.