Assistance Needed Identifying Old Chouinard-Frost Piolet

The 1975-76 Chouinard cataog mentions the Piolet is available in both bamboo and Rexilon-(18-laminates of wood). The Rexilon shafts were stronger than bamboo, but slightly heavier. Bamboo axe was $60.00 and Rexilon was $55.00.

Brian, not sure why you need to know, or why it makes a difference, but that is a 70, you can tell from the pic.

the shaft material changed again, first to a laminated hickory, then laminated ash for a short time, and eventually a synthetic called Rexilon in 1979, after the UIAA began to raise concerns with the integrity of "wooden" axe shafts.

in 1979, after the UIAA began to raise concerns with the integrity of "wooden" axe shafts

About ten years after Larry Penberthy and MSR did. The MSR Thunderbird might not have been pretty, but it sure was a durable axe - and not just for chopping ice.

Are you talking about this type of ice axe? This is not a MSR T-Bird, this is a MSR Sumner, circa 1977. It had a T-Bird profile, but much more droop. Aluminum shaft, originally covered with a heavy blue shrink tubing. I vaguely remember REI marketing a different Sumner ice axe at a much latter date. If this is correct, it was probably manufactured by SMC

BTW, my recollection of the history matches Bradely's write up to a tee. But my Alzheimers does kick in occasionally. Its not impossible I'm wrong.

Yes, they were endearingly ugly

Hello Ray,
The ice axes came from Inter Alp in large wooden shipping boxes.
The axes were individually packaged in a zip lock bag.
The boxes were lined with a waxed shipping paper to prevent moisture from entering them
The lids were removed and the inventory was stored in those boxes for shipment.
There was no inspection of the axes in the US.
They were shipped to the retailer or mail order customer as is.
There were two models in two sizes, Rexalon and Bamboo, 60 and 70 cm.
The ice axe in the image is the second generation with the additional set of teeth near the handle for frozen waterfalls climbing.
There were no seconds produced or sold ( intentionally).
I do not know about the stamp mark.
D.

That Bradley Alpinist site is pretty definitive...

and eventually a synthetic called Rexilon in 1979, after the UIAA began to raise concerns with the integrity of "wooden" axe shafts.

April 9th - P.Knap (29), Birmingham, A.Beanland (31,__ Bradford, and M.Morgan (26), Qldbury, left Glen Nevis Camp to climb on Ben and failed to return that night. Rescuers did not know where to look. H.McInnes was out searching next night. Bodies found at 1pm on 11th April, roped together at foot of Zero Gully".

This stark and rather chilling account is extracted from the official Scottish Mountain Rescue Accident Reports for 1959, and unusually has a foot-note. "Leader fell from 3rd pitch and dragged others down. Both their axes snapped off and stumps were still embedded in the snow".

For Hamish Mclnnes, who had been involved in the rescue, this accident had a fairly profound effect. It was customary at that time to belay by driving the axe into the snow and taking turns around it with the rope. The deaths on Zero Gully proved this method to be woefully inadequate, as the then universal wooden shafted axes simply broke. A metal/alloy shafted axe was the answer so

I am trying to identify the first X15 tools put out by Chouinard. The red shafted ones stand out in my memory but I would like to confirm that hunch.

I thought by 75/76, the axes were just marked "Chouinard" and had dropped "Frost" since he was no longer with the them?

This change was first seen in the 1978 catalog, even though Tom Frost had left the company years earlier, in 1975. Other designs of the Piolet included a version with two sections of teeth or notches(double-toothed) on the drooped and curved pick. In other modifications, the shaft material changed again, first to a laminated hickory, then laminated ash for a short time, and eventually a synthetic called Rexilon in 1979, after the UIAA began to raise concerns with the integrity of "wooden" axe shafts.

The Rexilon shaft on Chouinard ice axes was made of a laminate of 18-layers of beech ("faggio" in Italian). It was originally used for pole-vaulting poles in the days before fiberglass composites. CAMP used this before bamboo but both were available for a while."

My memory can make swiss cheese look comparatively like solid granite, but as I recall: Rexilon = laminated hickory.

Rexilon handles on Interalp/Chouinard ice axes were made from hardwood Beech laminates inpregnated with resin to make them stronger and absord less moisture.

Doug Robinson again:

"I think the very earliest Piolets were stamped only CHOUINARD. Then FROST was added. Rumor around the Diamond-C shop was that it was at the insistence of Tom's then-wife, Dorene. That could account for the double stamp, btw. The modest Frost would never have suggested such a thing himself. I always thought it was particularly ironic for his name to show up only on the axes, because of all the hardware that went out of there the axe was mostly YCs design, with the least input from Frost. No question, of course, that the later 70s Piolets, after YC bought out Tom, were stamped only CHOUINARD.

This axe, called the Chouinard-Frost Piolet, featured a hand forged, ground and polished chrome-nickle steel head and a hickory shaft, and has since been a mountaineering equipment classic in the both the US and in the Alps. By printing time of Chouinard Equipment's first catalog in 1972, the Chouinard Piolet shown on page 34 had a new laminated bamboo shaft design, dubbed to be lighter weight and just as strong as the hickory shafted orginal. Over the next 7 years, the Chouinard Piolet went through a few other design changes, including a revised marking on the head, omitting "Frost" from "Chouinard-Frost". This change was first seen in the 1978 catalog, even though Tom Frost had left the company years earlier, in 1975. Other designs of the Piolet included a version with two sections of teeth or notches(double-toothed) on the drooped and curved pick. In other modifications, the shaft material changed again, first to a laminated hickory, then laminated ash for a short time, and eventually a synthetic called Rexilon in 1979, after the UIAA began to raise concerns with the integrity of "wooden" axe shafts. All wooden shafted variations of the Chouinard's Piolet were made by C.A.M.P., but the axe model was phased out of production after 1979.

from: http://www.bradleyalpinist.com/cart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=28

RE: Chouinard-Frost Piolet
"Somewhere long about 1969, Yvon Chouinard and Tom Frost, of Chouinard Equipment in Ventura, California, commissioned the Codega brothers to build an axe to their specifications. This axe, called the Chouinard-Frost Piolet, featured a hand forged, ground and polished chrome-nickle steel head and a hickory shaft, and has since been a mountaineering equipment classic in the both the US and in the Alps. By printing time of Chouinard Equipment's first catalog in 1972, the Chouinard Piolet shown on page 34 had a new laminated bamboo shaft design, dubbed to be lighter weight and just as strong as the hickory shafted orginal.

Over the next 7 years, the Chouinard Piolet went through a few other design changes, including a revised marking on the head, omitting "Frost" from "Chouinard-Frost". This change was first seen in the 1978 catalog, even though Tom Frost had left the company years earlier, in 1975."

Chouinard catalogs were long known to retailers for being late to the retail market with many items discontinued or unavailable by the time the catalog made it to print and to the dealers. By 1978 the wooden handle Chouinard axes of any type were no longer available in Europe or by then easily available in the USA. And by the fall of '78 even Snell's in Chamonix had the Camp bamboo Chouinard clones on sale, what few they did have. Mind you these were "newest" three rivet dbl tooth heads but with no Chouinard marking. In 1978 The last of the US imported axes had a 3 rivet head and only Chouinard stamped on them.

The 1978 Great Pacific Iron Works catalog (formerly Chouinard and their 3rd catalog) is a interesting mix of the newest carbon fiber Piolet with a hand forged head and "fake" carbon fiber Zeros with bamboo shafts painted to resemble carbon fiber. Clearly a transition time for Chouinard piolets. The Carbon fiber axes were available by the winter of '79. I bought both a carbon fiber piolet and a Zero axe that winter. Found the early carbon fiber lacking on hard Canadian ice and went back to a bamboo Zero axe, now, in '79, extremely hard to find.