Just about everybody had a pair of Salewa crampons in the 1970’s. There were plenty of other types around as you’ll see from the advert opposite, but Salewas were pretty much top of the hit parade, which is quite surprising since they were far from perfect; the bar that joined front and back parts of the crampon being the major problem as it sometimes broke, more often than not in a precarious position halfway up a climb. Climbers became ‘crampon mechanics’ with an array of tools and spare parts to deal with every situation. This particular pair belonged to pioneer Scottish climber, Bill Skidmore, who has customised them with a fine set of leather straps which were not standard. We’re not sure if they are well worn, well filed, or both. Climbers would file the points if they became blunt which wore them down in time, though some filed them extensively from new to shorten the points on purpose. This supposedly gave more control when climbing since the feet/boots were in close contact with the ice. Unfortunately, we can’t ask Bill for the story since he passed away in 2015, after which his widow, Mary, kindly donated some of his gear including these crampons. If you put Bill Skidmore into our keyword search box you’ll find a fabulous selection of Bill’s – mostly homemade – gear.