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
San Gabriel Peak San Gabriel Peak San Gabriel Peak is a summit in the San Gabriel Mountains in the U.S. state of California. It was named by the United States Geological Survey in 1894 and is located in the Angeles National Forest. This peak was first named "The Commodore" for Commodore Perry Switzer. The name is derived from the Misión del Santo Arcangel San Gabriel de los Temblores. From this mission had already come the names of the San Gabriel River and San Gabriel Canyon, the mountain range itself and the entire San Gabriel Valley. The steep south face drops approximately 1,000 feet