Wooden shafted, Stubai ice axes were by far the most prolific axes in use throughout the UK in the 1950/60 and 70’s. There were very few British ice axe manufacturers and the Austrian company, Stubai, managed to capture a large share of the UK market. No surprise then, that Stubai’s were some of the first ‘tools’ to be modified when the steep ice revolution came along in the 1960’s. Climbers required shorter axes, drooped picks and long necks to let the world know that they were ‘icemen’ Climber’s workshops throughout the land echoed to the sound of sawing, hammering, welding and polishing. The drooped pick brigade also had their braziers burning late into the night, heating, bending and dousing. We’ve loads of modified and homemade axes in the collection, some Stubai, some not, though the one we have here is probably the best example, the ‘shortener’ having done a very good job. Unfortunately, we don’t know who he or she was. It wasn’t long before these tools of the trade became commercialised. One of the first was the Hamish MacInnes Terrordactyl ice climbing tool which revolutionised the way folk climbed steep ice.