Grivel

Grivel - a family name with a history that goes back to the 19th century. The Grivel family, to be precise, dates back to 1818. Living in Courmayeur, at the foot of the highest mountain in the Alps, they had unusual goals and visions. This family realized that alpinism was not just an idea, but was slowly but surely gaining a real foothold. The Grivels were characterized by the art of forging and a wealth of ideas. And so a worker's ice axe served as the basis for a sophisticated tool for snow and ice. What was probably the world's first ice picks were born. Naturally, the people of Courmayeur eyed the innovative spirit of the Grivels with skepticism. But their success proved them right. The basic shape of the classic guide ice axe has not changed to this day. It soon became clear that an ice pick alone did not provide enough grip on snow and ice. For this reason, the blacksmiths soon began making crampons from steel, a material used for railroad tracks. The Grivels were very open to technical knowledge and innovations. New types of steel and finishing processes followed. Grivel kept bringing new products onto the market. Then, in 1932, came the epoch-making step: Laurent Grivel's twelve-pronged crampons. This invention shaped alpinism at the time and had a strong influence on climbing techniques on ice. The "3 Dimensional Relief Stamping (3DRS)" is an in-house and exclusive manufacturing method. It paved the way for ultra-modern production. Grivel thus cemented its status as a technology leader. And managed to equip the best mountain sports enthusiasts with extremely light but highly stable crampons. At the beginning of the 1970s, Grivel experienced a difficult time in the steel-hard business. Cheap products from abroad flooded the market. A market that was growing ever faster. Until then, Grivel had impressed with its quality and know-how, but then stumbled because of the aggressively priced products. The turning point came around 1982, when a new management team was formed around Gioachino Gobbi. 160 years of tradition and a respected name like Grivel were "revived". To this day, crampons and ice picks are the cornerstones of Grivel. Both product lines are still manufactured in the Italian Alps. Perhaps it is straight this proximity to the mountain that gives Grivel products this special spirit.