Fritzke Alpine Box
Fritzke Alpine Box /w Petzl Basic on Plate
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| Original | Modified |
The Cuddington Three-phase is an exceptionally versatile climbing system, and Phase 1, the Mitchell System, is a fast way to climb free-hanging rope. The modern Mitchell uses a chest box, Keith Wilson’s invention. When he first used it in Golondrinas, Keith ascended the 333 m. pit in 33 minutes. Try that with a Frog System; and you’ll appreciate how fast that pace is.
Some of the original chest boxes from BlueWater and others were awkward, others like the clever British Neill Box from Goldlock were not available on this side of the pond, and it wasn't until Jim Gossett and Darell Tomer introduced the Gossett Block in 1978 that we had a good (albeit heavy) box readily available. It was a brick. Darrel made a custom milled-out Block for me to use, reducing its weight from 370 to 166 g. When Ron Simmons came out with the Simmons Roller he killed the heavy Gossett Block, but I continued using my lightweight modified version until 1992.
Mike Fritzke introduced his Alpine Box at the 1992 NSS Convention. I immediately recognized it as a major improvement and started using it as my main box. The side plates are held closed by a flat spring that can be depressed with a single finger, allowing the same finger to swing the plates open in a single motion. This was much faster than unscrewing the rollers in the Gossett block. In addition, the wide plate helps the harness keep the box closer to the chest, improving climbing efficiency. This compensates for the increased weight of the box (293 g.). By comparison, my similar size Simmons Racing Double weighs 428 g.
Paul Stovall made two or three boxes patterned after the Alpine Box, but provided metal rollers and a more traditional harness slot pattern. His version weighed 334 g. The Russians also copied the Alpine Box, and I bought one from Vladimir Kisseljov and Ilia Alexandrov at the 1994 Old Timers’ Reunion. That box also featured metal rollers and a traditional harness slot arrangement. It weighed 287 g and was inscribed with the Russian proverb, “Whoever burns will not drown.”
[ Top | Modified | Return to Chest Boxes ]
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| Front View: Closed |
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| Open for Rigging |
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| Top View |
I acquired my Alpine Box from Mike Fritzke at the 1992 NSS Convention. I acquired another in 2017 as part of Bob Thrun’s collection.
My Alpine Box is 51 mm. long, 203 mm. wide, 42 mm. high, and weighs 293 g. It is a double channel chest box consisting of a solid aluminum plate, two plastic rollers, and swinging aluminum gates with spring steel latches. The rollers and gates are attached to a subtriangular aluminum rib with a stainless steel bolt. The rib is bolted to the back plate. The back plate has a 33 mm. diagonal slot on each side for attaching a harness, and a subtriangular lightening hole on each side as well. All of the aluminum parts are anodized.
My plate is engraved with the serial number "A033" and Bob's with "A030."
Normally I cave using a Cuddington 3-phase climbing system, and the Fritzke Alpine Box was my normal caving chest box for many of my most active years. The box was manufactured using a CNC mill, so the workmanship is excellent. The long bar helps keep the rope close to the chest. The rope and long foot sling are held in by swinging gates that open by pressing in on the brass-colored buttons attached to the spring steel catches. Each side opens independently. I consider this to be an essential convenience feature for any double-sided box.
The size and weight of the Alpine Box are quite reasonable.
My only complaint with the Alpine box is the location of the slots for the chest harness. The diagonal slot is not the best arrangement for my chest harness, although I can see how a harness could be designed where this would be a good feature. Personally, I prefer the vertical slot arrangement seen on the Paul Stovall and Russian copies.
I tried climbing with the box upside down, but on the harness I used, it was a disaster: the box kept rotating and jamming. Turning the box right-side-up completely cured the problem. I'm amazed that this minor inversion made such a big difference.
[ Top | Original | Return to Chest Boxes ]
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| Front View |
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| Rear View |
I acquired this modified Alpine Box from Rick R. Zimmerman in 2025.
This assembly is 166 mm. wide, 203 mm. high, 45 mm. thick, and weighs 600 g.
Circa 1997, Rick modified a standard Alpine Box by adding an aluminum plate and a Petzl Basic below. He described his construction as follows:
I attached (with steel rivets) a piece of aluminum to the Fritzke box, to which is attached a Petzl Croll [sic]. This keeps the rope feeding perfectly from the ascender up through the roller on the Fritzke box. The bottom of the Croll [sic] is attached to my harness with maillon rapides so that my weight in the harness hangs from the ascender. This leaves me with both hands free on the way up the rope. The rivets are all padded with nylon washers so there is no damage to the finish and by drilling out the rivets, you would never know it had been attached.
The Petzl Basic used matches my Version M except the safety is anodized like my Version L.
The aluminum plate is 1/8" (3.2 mm.) thick
The Alpine Box plate is engraved with the serial number "0182." The back of the Petzl Basic shell is stamped with the Petzl logo, "BREVETE FRANCE," "ROPES Ø8-13mm," and "CE950082." There probably is a date code similar to the "97181A" on my Petzl Basic Version M, but the expected location is hidden by the plate. A Sieg Heil icon is stamped onto the front above a UIAA logo. The word "PETZL" is cast into each side of the cam, and "OIL" and an arrow are stamped on each side of the cam safety. Rick engraved "R. ZIMMERMAN" on the rear of the Alpine Box, and painted "R.X>" on the rear of the ascender.
The design of my preferred harness keeps the seat maillon low, but this causes it to rise with respect to my chest when I sit. This is not compatible with having a cam built into my chest boxes, as I discovered forty years ago when experimenting with Gossett Block modifications. This Alpine Box modification has the same problem.
More generally, this modification doubles the weight and triples the bulk of the Alpine Box. In my mind, the modification is not justified for general caving, but might be worth considering for very long free drops where multiple rest stops are planned.
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