Piton

From Free net encyclopedia

This article is about the rock climbing tool. There is a pair of mountains known as the Piton Mountains.

In climbing, a piton or pin is a steel spike that is driven into a crack or seam in the rock with a hammer, and which acts as an anchor to protect the climber against the consequences of a fall, or to assist progress in aid climbing.

Pitons were the original equipment for protection and there are still times when nothing else will do. But the repeated hammering and extraction of pitons damages the rock, and climbers who subscribe to the ethic of clean climbing eschew their use. Today, pitons have largely been replaced by nuts and cams, although they are often still found in place on established climbing routes.

The smallest pitons are called knifeblades; medium pitons are angles; the largest pitons are bongs. The very smallest piton is called a RURP (an acronym for Realized Ultimate Reality Piton); a RURP is roughly the size of a postage stamp and is generally considered to be marginal protection at best. RURPs are usually only used for aid climbing.it:Chiodi da roccia