They reckoned it was because the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall came down (1989) that the Russians were able to trade with the outside world. We are not sure about that, but it was around the same time that these Russian, titanium ice screws appeared just about everywhere. ‘Cheap and nasty’ would probably be the best way to describe them – the lightness of the titanium being the main advantage. These two were donated by Andy MacDonald, who was for many years the manager of Nevisport in Fort William. We’ve included a scan of the wee leaflet that came with them for those who speak Russian!

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.