Grivel Monte Bianco: The Pleasure of Wood

The performance of this axe was decent, but it was not good enough to outweigh its two pitfalls: weight and price. My beef with the Monte Bianco is that there are so many axes out there that are designed for the same purpose at half the weight and half the price. Put simply, this axe is not for technical mountaineering. Fine. But why spend so much on a piece of gear when you can get something that is better at a cheaper price? For this reason, it is difficult to recommend the Monte Bianco to anyone doing anything more than simple traverses.
In the end, this wooden axe didn't bring me any closer to the spirit of classic mountaineering, and I don't think any piece of gear can. Ultimately, all I can say about the Monte Bianco is that its craftsmanship and homage to traditional alpinism is well-intentioned, but when it comes to serious fun-having in the mountains I'd recommend leaving the wood-handled axe at home on the mantel.