Folk have been banging lumps of metal and wood into rock fissures for centuries to make anchors. Swiss farmers on their ‘Alps’ used wedges to anchor cableways for transporting goods up and down the mountain. Similar wedges were used in the Tyrol area of Austria to anchor cableways between steep mountain walls. British climbers have adopted this technique, calling it a Tyrolean Traverse. Wooden wedges enjoyed a brief period of favour in the 1960’s/70’s often amongst the artificial climbing fraternity. They could be bought as you can see from the George Fisher advert opposite, though climbers often made their own as was the case with this lovely little pair made by Brian Sharp in Derbyshire around 1965. Mountain Guide, John Cheesmond, subsequently inherited them before passing them on to us in 2016.