Got some old skool tools, these things gonna work?

I moved to Austria a couple months ago with one of my goals being to get into Alpine winter climbing. I've only done a couple of days cragging on roadside waterfall ice.

So an old school alpine club friend just gifted me a pair of Stubai ice tools to get me started. Does anyone know anything about this model? I notice the picks are straight instead of reverse curved, what's up with that? What about that funky lookin adze? Of course I'm gonna work with what I've got, just wondering if someone could tell me a little more!

cheers

Classic tools pizza.eater.

I would recommend filing the edges of the teeth to ease their removal from the ice. Modern tools have the teeth beveled for precisely this reason.
You will want to use gloves with knuckle protection and watch for bulges in the ice below where the picks are striking to avoid bashing your knuckles.
These tools will help you get a start in the cold play, but look to upgrade a few gen's for effortless removal to keep the pump at bay.
Have fun and safe climbing.

You will also a need a pink snowsuit and some Sisters of Mercy jams:

marktwight.com/videos.php?id=2

Jim

Junk...

thanks tom! Gotta get some rad neon clothing now I guess.

RobC2 wrote:Junk...

why?

Wow... Those are a blast from the past. Will they work? Sure. Will they be very efficient? Not really. If you are just getting started and not looking to do really sustained vertical ice or mixed they will be fine. But keep in mind that getting parts will be impossible and as others mentioned the picks will need some work to make them a little easier to deal with.

The mega classic WI 5's and 6's throughout the world were all climbed with tools like that.

That funny-looking adze is for chopping: removing pesky icicles from would-be screw placements, enhancing footholds, sculpting bollards to be used as rappel anchors. You may not need to do this on roadside waterfall ice, but you very well may need to in Alpine settings.

Will these work? Hell yeah. Jeffreaux hit it on the head about still-classic WI5s and WI6s going up with tools like this or worse. Take a look at any of the Scottish ice climbers' tools, read the stories. Yikes...

Besides, this way you can try out a helluva lot of ice climbing free-for-nothing. Then when you get ready to blow your budget on tools that look like modern art and/or murder weapons, you'll know you really wanna do this!

Have fun; you're gonna have stories to tell.

Looks like some pretty nifty leashes on them too.

I don't think this is the case, but looking at the upper tool in the photo, the tip of the pick is discolored. Is it really dark blue? That's a sign someone overheated it, probably by grinding it too aggressively. But hopefully it's just a lighting artifact.

More pure ice climbs have been established with straight shafted tools than any curved tool. So yes, these tools will work just fine just as Jeffreaux has said. But as Just Solo said they will not be as efficient. That said you will learn good technique. And for the alps and alpine climbs these tools will work fine. If fact when you get on moderate slopes they will actually be more efficient than modern curve tools.

pizza.eater....those Stubai's, while not currently state-of-the-Art, are wonderful tools. The Stubai's were the FIRST MODULAR ice tools and with a little twist of the head the picks and adze/head can be changed "in the field," while RobC2 is cursing his tools and wrenches. As Jeffreaux and Allen Sanderson indicated many classic ice routes were established with tools of this vantage. That odd looking adze works incredibly well.....despite flynn's reservations. RobC2...couldn't be more wrong and you could climb circles around him with these and some experience. Sharpen those picks and you're good to go. I sold mine some years back and the guy who bought them has worn out several sets of picks, he climbs so much with them. If you don't want them I know some folks that do,

Didn't they used to heat treat the steel of the picks for better strength back in the day? I think the bluing is similar to the bluing on a hand gun.

To what the others said, in the alpine those will be great. I use my first gen cobras overall, more than my nomics. Especially if low angled. Those tools remind me a bit of the tools I learned to climb with the BD x-15. Basically the same shape, but with a more aggressive pick and standard hammer and adze. Loved those tools! Only sold them because I was cleaning house. Probably should have kept them. Check out Jeff Lowe's Ice World. It has some shots of his gear when he and his brother first climbed Bridalveil in Telluride. They even made their own ice screws! Took them two days to do it... But they did it! Climb on!

They'll be just fine , sooooooo many hard ice climbs were put up with lesser tools ,ie straight shafts , back in the day we would have sold our souls for a bent shaft sexy tool
Like that .

I can remember using one forest mountaineering ice axe and a north wall hammer and a pair of strap 12 pt hinged crampons to climb some pretty wicked shit , wondering why anybody in there right mind would do this . Back in those days you could spot the ice climbers as all there knuckles were beat to shit and swollen . We're not even going to mention how shitty the screws were , shitty ice screws were the main reason your old timers soloed so many routes , not that they really wanted to , you just always remembered how bloody awful it was placing that last screw and kept climbing .

When I finally got my first set of quasars and a pair of Charlotte grade 8 poons I felt like
It was cheating .

When I bought a pair of quarks I thought , now this is fun .

When I picked up a pair of nomics I realized , here come the masses .

I've had and climbed on several different ice tools , cobras , nomics , Eros , ect ect

You know what's fun ? Digging out the old quasars and running a few laps .

Ask me what tool I climb with the most , my old quarks .

Learn to swing the tools you have , learn how to carefully sharpen and bevel the picks
And you will be just fine on anything you want to climb .

cheers for the encouragement all, I'll check out the Jeff Lowe book

i have a buddy who climbs on Black Diamond x-15's and he skitter right up WI4. Those tools make yours look space age. Enjoy them!

Benjamin Chapman wrote:pizza.eater....those Stubai's, while not currently state-of-the-Art, are wonderful tools. The Stubai's were the FIRST MODULAR ice tools and with a little twist of the head the picks and adze/head can be changed "in the field," while RobC2 is cursing his tools and wrenches. As Jeffreaux and Allen Sanderson indicated many classic ice routes were established with tools of this vantage. That odd looking adze works incredibly well.....despite flynn's reservations. RobC2...couldn't be more wrong and you could climb circles around him with these and some experience. Sharpen those picks and you're good to go. I sold mine some years back and the guy who bought them has worn out several sets of picks, he climbs so much with them. If you don't want them I know some folks that do,

Check yer calendar its 2014 and leash-less tools have been in vogue for nearly a decade. The last time I saw one of these tools it was stuck in the Rigid Designator in December 1993 after the leader had just fallen out of it...

Nostalgia for junk is just that, get yourself some modern tools if you are starting out they will represent a pittance relative to the bill your orthopedic surgeon will present you with after you crash using these lousy tools.

Anyway the Stubais that fueled the waterfall revolution in the 90s were the big Purple ones not these toys, crikey...

Benjamin Chapman wrote:pizza.eater....those Stubai's, while not currently state-of-the-Art, are wonderful tools. The Stubai's were the FIRST MODULAR ice tools and with a little twist of the head the picks and adze/head can be changed "in the field," while RobC2 is cursing his tools and wrenches. As Jeffreaux and Allen Sanderson indicated many classic ice routes were established with tools of this vantage. That odd looking adze works incredibly well.....despite flynn's reservations. RobC2...couldn't be more wrong and you could climb circles around him with these and some experience. Sharpen those picks and you're good to go. I sold mine some years back and the guy who bought them has worn out several sets of picks, he climbs so much with them. If you don't want them I know some folks that do,

Check yer calendar its 2014 and leash-less tools have been in vogue for nearly a decade. The last time I saw one of these tools it was stuck in the Rigid Designator in December 1993 after the leader had just fallen out of it...

Nostalgia for junk is just that, get yourself some modern tools if you are starting out they will represent a pittance relative to the bill your orthopedic surgeon will present you with after you crash using these lousy tools.

Anyway the Stubais that fueled the waterfall revolution in the 90s were the big Purple ones not these toys, crikey...

RobC2 wrote: Check yer calendar its 2014

Happy New Years ;)

Jeffreaux wrote:The mega classic WI 5's and 6's throughout the world were all climbed with tools like that.

Exactly.....we fired up hard steep ice with alot of work 30 years ago and didn't have tools even that good looking. Sharpen up all the edges of the pic, they look fine for ice climbs I'd say. Build some character, instead of depending on some fancy 600 dollar tools to do the work for you. Enjoy!

Those will work great. You will be the secret envy of all the girly-men using those new weirdly bent $500 tools.

And don't forget the foot fangs ! Rock em old School .

I just saw a post where a modern ice climber took a 60 foot whipper and fucked himself up pretty good ,using modern tools and gear To boot ! so I guess Robs point about new tools is kinda moot.LOL!

Ill stick with Jeff Lows mantra , " All this gear is really just for show , the real security comes from not falling off.

It does not matter one bit what tool you climb with , if you want to get up something you will . All the past and modern tools will work just fine , as long as you believe in your gear. New ,old , brand loyalty , ect,ect all boils down to what you believe works , then learning how to manipulate that gear to suit your style of climbing .

Happy 2014 all , now I think ill go out with the old quasar's n rock some steep ice!