PRESS RELEASE

Boulder, Colorado, USA – Trango has launched its latest ice axe, the Scorpion, a fast and accurate swinging ice tool that will help beginners and experts alike to get to the top. Featuring our most radical clearance shaft yet, the Scorpion has enough room to clear the largest bulges and hook the biggest icicles. A sticky rubber handle, which works well for small and large hands, and hand hook offer the best grip possible for any conditions and we supply it with a large patch of grip tape so you can customize it for your style of climbing.

The sculpted head is investment cast from 17-4 stainless steel and is fronted by a sleek hammer face for help with ice screws. The gold anodized shaft is extruded from 7075 T6 seamless aluminum tubing for vibration-free, yet solid swings. The pick is laser cut from 4340 chrome-moly steel and tapered from 4mm to 3mm at the tip to minimize ice displacement and reduce ice shattering. It is fixed to the head with a bomber system of M12 hex screws and custom stainless nuts that will never loosen in the middle of a climb.

The well-proven Clutch Leash is included.

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Mantis

We’re all completely psyched on leashless climbing. It’s easier, more fun, much more fluid and, most of all, it’s put the fun back in to pillar climbing. Our Madame Hook and Headless Hook were the first tools of the kind which allow you to switch out grips, straight for scaredy-cats and alpine climbers, and leashless for the masses. Leashless has evolved into two very distinct discplines however: pillar cruisin’ like we all love, and the steep, overhanging mixed climbing that’s so loved by the climbers with sponsorship contracts.

The Mantis is a no-hold-barred, full-blown, over-the-top mixed climbing machine. On those steep climbs, when you’re just hanging on by the tip of your picks, even the slightest change in the angle of pull can cause the placement to blow resulting in the loss of your sponsorship contract. The solution is the Zero-Degree grip featured on Mantis. By extending the upper grip out in front of the shaft, there is little or no change in the angle of pull when you change your hand position so your pick will stay put while you climb the shaft.

The Zero-Degree grip is also the first grip manufactured using urethane handhold technology. By molding the material around an aluminum core we’ve obtained a durable, grippy and warm handle to hang on to. The leading edge of the lower grip is shaped with a slightly rounded sharp edge to make it easier to hang on to with an open hand, and the upper shaft has a patch of grip-tape right where you need it. The Mantis carries on with the tradition established by the ‘Hooks by allowing you to change grips: The Mantis with the Straight Grip is one of the lightest tools on the planet. Of course, there is complete interchangeability between all of the Trango tools.

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Cinch

The Cinch is the latest in a long line of innovative belay devices introduced by Trango. We designed it with an eye for function, aesthetics and simplicity (It’s about as complicated as a door hinge.) so it offers up a bombproof belay for ropes from 9.6mm to 11m. On smaller diameter ropes, or when holding falls that generate extremely high loads (In excess of factor 1) the Cinch acts dynamically, reducing shock loads to the belay system. In addition it will release easily and modulate fluidly while you’re rappelling or lowering off. The Cinch feeds rope easier than any other device, fits nicely in your hand and weighs 170gm.

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New Flex Cams

Totally re-vamped for Fall 2004, our new FlexCams are still offer up that killer combination of function, quality and value, yet offer many new improvements. We’re adding a #0.5 and #9 to extend the range so we’ll go all the way from sub-tips to big fists. The axle lengths have been carefully calibrated to maximize stability and minimize walking and, best of all, the five smallest sizes will be utilizing the Splitter 4Cam design. These direct-offset cams let you place them in really shallow pockets and, in a pinch, you can hang them off a single pair of cams (think shallow pin-scars) and still have enough strength to catch a reasonable fall. All sizes still have the doubled UltraTape slings so you can clip in at three different lengths.

Ten sizes (#0.5 - #9) from tiny tips to big fists.

• Weight: 60 to 244gm (lightest cams out there)
• Strength: 8kN-15kN
• Patented: #6,375,139 on 23 Apr 2002

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Shark Nut Tool/Knife

Sometimes an idea hits you and it’s like, ''duh?!'', why didn’t we think of that earlier? Our Shark combines two useful and common climbing tools into one: A beautiful swept handle, stainless nut tool and a razor-sharp knife. The blade is machined from surgical quality 440-C stainless with a serrated blade—perfect for sawing through the wad of slings that’s keeping you from clipping that fixed pin. While the locking blade can be opened and closed with one hand (duh!) it’s absolutely impossible to open when clipped to a carabiner (duh!).

Available December 2004.

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Piranha Alpine Knife

Everyone needs a little knife and a way to carry it. The diminuative Piranha clips to a key ring or a carabiner so you can easily take where you need to go. The blade is machined from surgical quality 440-C stainless with a serrated blade—just what you need to peel duct tape off your shoes or dig a splinter out of the palm of your hand. The locking blade can be opened and closed with one hand it’s absolutely impossible to open when clipped to a carabiner. Bottle opener included. Available December 2004