Legendary Willisch Ice Axes
‘Somewhere still, back on Everest, George Mallory’s Willisch ice axe is up there...’
R
ight on the main road in Täsch there is a humble workshop with the sign ‘Willisch’ on it. I have driven past it blindly many times, not many passers by who have their eyes fixed up to Zermatt would take a second glance at it either. But Willisch is a name that all the great mountaineers would recognize very well. In the golden era of alpinism this ordinary workshop had some very famous customers. They span decades of mountaineering greatness including Mallory and Irvine and Chris Bonnington. Just below Zermatt in the small Walliser village of Täsch, the Brothers Willisch (Gebrudern Willisch) have made fine wooden shafted ice axes for many decades in the shadow of the Matterhorn. Three generations of men from the family Willisch have been handcrafting ice axes since 1900. Konstanz Willisch is now the only maker of hand-crafted ice axes left in Switzerland. At 67 years old he tells me that it would take him four to five years to pass on the trade to someone but no one seems to be interested. He completed his very first ice axe on February 1st 1967 and has made close to 8000 axes so far in his career. Every piece is unique. ‘I have never told anyone how long it takes to make an ice axe from start to finish.’ he tells me with pride. The mallet he uses to bang the metal axe into shape is still the original one from 1913 and the anvil is from 1910. Even to the non-climber, the ice axe appears to be the ubiquitous, universal symbol of the mountaineer. Just about any classic image of a climber you can recall very likely shows him or her clutching an ice axe as he/she ascends steep snow or ice on a mountain. It is also considered to be a symbol of friendship in the mountains and a great honour to receive one as a gift. Mountain guides give ice axes such as those from Willisch to their most loyal guests. 4
Zermatt Times