Ice axe 1786, Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard made the first ascent of Mont Blanc. Balmat, a chamois hunter and crystal collector, had experience with high mountain travel, and Paccard had made previous attempts to climb the peak. Illustrations show Balmat carrying two separate tools that would later be merged into the ice axe – an alpenstock (or baton) and a small axe that could be used to chop steps on icy slopes. According to the earliest manufacturer of ice axes, Grivel, these two tools were merged to create the first true ice axe around 1840. Early ice axes had a vertical
Deaf climbers climbs as well as accomplished them. These climbers are not as publicly known as hearing climbers are. Many professional climbers are sponsored by various companies such as The North Face, Mad Rock, and Patagonia to name a few, they are paid to climb as well as gain recognition with their accomplished climbs. There are two deaf climbers who reached the summit of Mount Rainier which is a 14,410 foot mountain. One of the climbers name is Alec Naiman from New York, and the other Paul Stefurak from Washington. They attempted and reached the summit alongside five blind climbers, a man