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Monday - Friday 9AM - 7PM | Saturday & Sunday 9AM - 6PM

We are so excited you decided to join us! Neptune Mountaineering is not just your friendly, knowledgeable, and family-owned gear shop, the famed Neptune Museum displays one of the most extensive collections of mountaineering artifacts in the country

Travel back in time with stories, photos, and gear from the earliest expeditions in mountaineering history - boots from Hillary's summit of Mount Everest, pitons from the first ascent of the Eiger, and fur suits for warmth in Antarctica.


The following is a series of short videos of Gary Neptune discussing a few of his favorite exhibits in the Neptune Museum.


Click the links below to get a history lesson from Gary.


 
Welcome to Neptune Mountaineering! 
How it all got started. Gary Neptune introduces Neptune Mountaineering and the origin of the Neptune Museum.


Mountaineering in the 1800s 
Gary takes us back to climbing in the 1800s. Long ice axes, hobnail boots, and rope-soled shoes. "On Belay?"


Mountaineering in the 1900s 
The innovations begin and climbing hardware starts to take shape.


High Altitude Mountaineering 
Thin air, down suits, and frozen digits


Evolution of Skis & Bindings 
Gary shows us skis and bindings from the early 1900s through World War II, XC race skis, and the evolution of alpine touring bindings.


6 pin bindings and snowshoes for horses?! 
Gary shares his best avalanche advice and showcases Nordic-style ski boots, the 3-pin binding progression, and avalanche safety cords.


10th Mountain Division gear, techniques, and ski area development. 
The 10th Mountain Division revolutionized mountain warfare abroad and they were instrumental in allied victories during WWII. After the war, they worked to refine equipment and techniques, and usher in skiing and climbing as recreational pursuits.


Gary climbed The Designator with what!?
Shrinking ice axes and sketchy pro.


Put the hammer down! History of Grivel, Chouinard, and the "clean climbing" revolution
Oscar Eckenstein designs a superior crampon, and Henry Grivel agrees to manufacture them. Yvon Chouinard and Doug Robinson inspire a generation of young climbers to put down their hammers and pick up their nuts.


"This is the way to do it." Nuts and cams hit the scene
Royal Robbins brings the first "nuts" over from England. Rock climbing protection shifts from pitons and hammers of the '50s to removable nuts and spring-loaded camming devices, and the mountains rejoice.


Remix the picks. Ice climbing equipment from the 1950s-1980s
Ever the innovators, ice climbers of the '60s and '70s begin to design ice tools for steeper, overhanging ice climbs. Steeply drooped picks offer great purchase but are awkward to place and hard to clean. In the 1970s the French introduced a strange, but effective concept. These relics are far from the lightweight, ergonomic tools we use today, but with each decade new and creative designs emerge.


Krohnhoffer’s, Galoshes and Russian speed climbers - The birth of the climbing shoe. 
A young French climber's love of Fontainebleau's sandstone boulders leads to the development of soft, rubber-soled shoes designed specifically for rock climbing.
You'll have a whole new respect for those TC pros after you watch this video.