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Story: Mountaineering

1930s climbing equipment

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1930s climbing equipment

The equipment used by New Zealand amateur mountaineers of the 1930s included an ice axe, boots, crampons, snow goggles, fuel container and rope. All were important in the snow, but the crampons were crucial in freeing climbers from depending on guides who cut steps.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Making New Zealand Centennial Collection (PAColl-3060)

Reference: MNZ-1457-1/4-F

by John Dobrée Pascoe

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

John Wilson, Mountaineering – The age of the amateur, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/10496/1930s-climbing-equipment (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by John Wilson, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 February 2017.