Stubai of Austria began life as a consortium of blacksmiths back in the mists of time; their staple products at that time being tools for industry and agriculture. The sturdy, robust nature of the company’s early tools has continued into modern times, a good example of which we have here in the collection. The Stubai Aschenbrenner ice axe was the most successful wooden shafted ice axe of all time and there were a few variations on the theme, the wooden shafted Nanga Parbat was one. Metal shafted ice axes arrived on the scene in the 1960’s when Scottish mountaineer, Hamish MacInnes, produced his MacInnes Massey all metal ice axe. Along with many others, Stubai quickly followed in Hamish’s footsteps, creating amongst others, the Nanga Parbat Extrem, keeping the wooden versions name but changing the pick design and giving it a metal shaft. So, a classic Stubai, a chunky no frills axe which would probably last forever. It was kindly donated by Malcolm Smith – thanks Malcolm.