Early ice pitons were basically a pointed lump of metal which could be driven into the ice with a hammer – the problem then was hacking it back out again – which took forever. Corkscrew type ice screws were next on the scene, being literally a glorified and stronger version of an ordinary corkscrew. Indeed, it was considered quite ‘cool’ in the 1960’s to open your wine with an ice screw! Corkscrew ice screws were not very strong, but making them thicker made them difficult to place and they ‘starred’ the ice around which gave them less holding power. The answer was tubular ice screws which started to appear in the late 1960’s, Stubai being one of the main producers at the time. Ice screw technology moved pretty fast after that (and continues to do so in 2010) and this one became redundant having once been used by Mick Tighe’s Mountain Guiding Company, Nevis Guides.