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perswig
climber
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Jul 31, 2011 - 09:24am PT
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Re: the gear in the bottom left (Marty's comment)- isn't that the other set of 'pons upside-down? They do look huge, and the "points" aren't really points, either.
She's got beautiful features, a serene expression, and that hair ... wow!
Anyway, no idea who, but nice puzzle.
Dale
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 31, 2011 - 03:23pm PT
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If you zoom in, you can make out a flat-stamped, wide-body carabiner, three verticals and a horizontal. Additionally, a swivel 8 connector not designed for climbing is shown.
I think the racking item is a second identical biner.
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Jul 31, 2011 - 04:03pm PT
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I've sent this thread link to Valerie and Vivian Mendenhall, daughters of Ruth and John Mendenhall to see if they might want to weigh in.
Tom Higgins
LongAGo
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Tobia
Social climber
GA
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This is what I was referring to....
(only mentioning because I saw this picture)
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2011 - 10:36am PT
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The metal stock size seems too fat for a piton keeper but they were common back when a good carabiner was hard to find! I don't see the wire guides on the spine and no shoulder cord visible anywhere either.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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Michael Cohen emailed this response to me today:
"We don't think it is Ruth: Also, Ruth always wore high-tops."
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Here's an enlargement like Steve describes.
I don't see a special racking biner.
I see pretty much what Steve and Marty describe:
A. stamped oval biner, maybe aluminum. My guess: "P. ALLAIN":
(photo: Stephane Pennequin collection)
B. darker biner, maybe steel
C. snap shackle or swivel or double lap link - looks pretty heavy for alpine
D. horizontal piton
E,F,G. vertical pitons
As for the lower left corner of the original, what Marty describes as an "ice pick" looks like the pick of a non-drooped ice axe which were common at the time.
Between that and the pitons looks like a crampon; points down on the table, rings where the straps attach.
But the frame does not have quite the right shape.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Interesting swivel shackle - the closest I could get to it on google images was:
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Clint,
To me it looks like item "A" and item "B" are part of the same unit. The bottom of what is considered item "B" is possibly J-shaped with some funky top holder. Maybe the hammer slips into that hole on top of item "A". I don't believe item "A" is a carabiner, but a hammer holder with piton holder all in one unit.
The laplink clasp opens sideways pivoting on the center rivet. The way it stays secure is when the load pulls on it which prevents it from opening. I have seen this item used as a hardware piece which temporarily connects two chains together. This could also be a stainless steel item used on a boat.
I see the ice axe head/pick where you can also see the ice axe wood shaft sitting under the rope. The item I am referring to stands upwards in front of the pick, and looks like flat head screw driver ends welded to something. Is this a stove stand or hmmmm?
Rule of thumb is that there were no aluminum carabiners made until after World War II ended.
Fun mystery! Who is that hot chick?
Rock on! Marty
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scuffy b
climber
dissected alluvial deposits, late Pleistocene
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Clint has the pitons and carabiners sorted out, but the labeling leads to
Marty's confusion.
The lefthand letter B is within the carabiner A.
Carabiner B runs from B to B. We see the spine. It is carrying the pitons.
The spikes in front of the ice axe pick might be points of a crampon.
The crampon pictured has points which are long and spike-like in cross
section.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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The real question is is that a Leica?
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ydpl8s
Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
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I figured it out!!!
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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You guys actually think letter "A" is a carabiner? I have never seen any carabiner shaped like that. The gate on the object opens on the short right end also which is closest to the letter "A". The other side has a obvious flat side to it (stamped "K") once again on the short side of the carabiner. Carabiners are flat mostly on the long sides, and are round on the shorts. If you are suggesting that "A" is a carabiner and letter "B" is a carabiner, look how long "A" is in comparison to "B". Also if letter "A" is racked into "B" carabiner, why does it not sit up from the table (from the biner being under it), where obviously "A" sits completely parallel to the table. For "A" to sit the way it does it can't be racked into "B" and is somehow leaning in balance against "B". I do not believe "A" or "B" are carabiners. The only carabiner I see in the photo may be attached to the crampon. Pierre Allain did not produce products until the 1950s. There were no Aluminum carabiners made until after the war was over and actually not until the early 1950s.
Wikopedia - In the 1950s Allain opened a mountaineering store in Paris, where, among other items, he offered the first modern alloy carabiners. Prior to that time, these indispensable snaplinks were made of heavy steel. However, when Allain's name comes up these days, it is frequently in connection with his pioneering bouldering efforts at Fontainebleau. The famous Allain Angle (V2 - V3), done in 1934. So he was a boulderer as well.
But I am blonde...........Marty
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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Reilly,
Probably. My dad had a leica and the case looks identincal. I'm pretty sure I ended up with that camera, need to take a pic of it.
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Vivian Mendenhall
climber
Anchorage, Alaska
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The photo is not of my mother, Ruth Dyar Mendenhall. The description of her hair, clothing, 1940s gear, etc. would fit either lady. However, her features were different, even in her 30s. A crucial clue is that Ruth wore glasses (she was very near-sighted), and this lady doesn't.
The equipment brings back nostalgic memories! Even the camera looks familiar. However, the Mendenhalls' ropes NEVER had knots tied in the ends (how would you ever retrieve a rappel?); they were bound off with friction tape or something similar.
For several photos of a younger Ruth, check out "Woman on the Rocks: The Mountaineering Letters of Ruth Dyar Mendenhall" (Bishop: Spotted Dog Press, 2007), edited by my sister Valerie Mendenhall Cohen.
Good luck at identifying the lady! BTW, she may well be a climber, but the photo looks posed-- the sorting table just looks too tidy and well-arranged to be a real mess of gear.
--Vivian Mendenhall
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Vivian thanks!
BTW I enjoyed reading your mother's book and found names of mutual friends of our family in the readings. I remember from my high school days your father at Lunch Rock pounding out his soft pitons to head off and lead the Right Ski Track! Such great times in our youth not realizing our own witness to such great history.
Kind regards,
Charlie D.
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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This is an ebay lot for tower protection gear.
I know its not the exact laplink clasp (referring to "C"), but somewhat the same idea.
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Tobia
Social climber
GA
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Aug 19, 2011 - 07:01pm PT
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So, did anyone know?
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Aug 19, 2011 - 08:57pm PT
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This is a real shamus job and now I'm interested in knowing who that woman is - can't tell you why, exactly. Maybe it's the mystery of it all.
JL
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