Stubai Mountain Sports began life way back in the 15th century, with local blacksmiths in the Stubai valley in Austria fashioning tools mainly for agriculture. In 1897 they got together to form a kind of co-operative and while still making agricultural items the new sport of mountaineering gave them a new market with ice axes, crampons etc. The crampons we have here in the collection came along somewhat later – circa 1950 and are a modified version of fig 866 opposite. The original versions would be attached to the boot, as shown at the bottom of the page, using a length of cord or tape, whereas ours have a more modern neoprene strapping – circa 1975 – which have been secured by bending/ squeezing the original hooks. So, a nice little variation on the theme for which we have to thank long time member of the Ladies Scottish Climbing Club, Pam Cain.