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
The Mountain Calls try it on the same day with two different teams, Carrel on the Italian side and Whymper on the Swiss side. The latter will successfully reach the summit along with his six companions, Hudson, Hadow, Douglas and the guides Croz and Taugwalder father and son. Only Whymper and the guides Taugwalder will survive the descent. The Mountain Calls The Mountain Calls (German: "Der Berg ruft") is a film directed by Luis Trenker which recreates the struggle between Edward Whymper and Jean-Antoine Carrel for the first successful ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. The film is a remake of "Der Kampf