T is for Titons

Forrest!

But these aren't the Tetons you're looking for.

Today, the 20th letter of the alphabet stands for a unique piece of climbing hardware from climbing engineer and designer Bill Forrest. Forrest was a prolific climbing inventor whose designs are a distinct part of climbing hardware history, including the Mjolnir, the first modular ice tool which is on display at the Smithsonian Museum. Titons were developed in 1973 with Kris Walker, as a cammable T-shaped nut that had a wide variety of possible placements. Click through the image below to see the full "Titon treatise" from an early Forrest Mountaineering catalog. 


Scan courtesy of Vertical Archaeology 

Check out the Alpinist's Alphabet

 

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