Pitch (climbing)

In climbing, a pitch is a section of a climbing route between two belay points (or belay stations), and is most commonly related to the task of lead climbing (going up), but is also related to abseiling (going down). Climbing on routes that require only one pitch is known as single-pitch climbing, and climbing on routes with more than one pitch is known as multi-pitch climbing (where the number is large, it can be big wall or alpine climbing).

Modern climbing ropes are typically 60–70 metres (200–230 ft) in length, which sets the theoretical maximum length of a 'pitch', however, other factors mean that the average pitch on a multi-pitch route is circa 30–40 metres (98–131 ft) in length. Advanced climbing techniques such as simul climbing can materially reduce—and even completely remove—the need for 'pitches' on a multi-pitch climbing route. The term is also used in caving.

In lead climbing — either in rock climbing, mountaineering, and ice climbing — the term 'pitch' describes the length of a section of a climbing route between belays of the 'lead climber'. A route that requires a leader to be belayed only once (ignoring any follow-up belay of the 'second climber' by the leader), is called a 'single-pitch climb'; where there are multiple belays of the leader, it is called a 'multi-pitch climb'. The term is also applied to the reverse process of abseiling, where it denotes the number of anchor points needed to complete the abseil (abseil anchor points are often, but not always, lead climbing belay points).

Most lead climbing — and particularly sport climbing — routes are 'single-pitch'. Single-pitch routes vary from 10 metres (33 ft) to the full length of the climbing rope, which is typically 60–70 metres (200–230 ft). Very short single-pitch routes (i.e. under 10 metres (33 ft) in length) can be classed as highball bouldering routes, and do not require any protection or the need for belaying (i.e. the concept of a 'pitch' is redundant in bouldering).

Multi-pitch climbing introduces greater risk and requires greater skills and additional climbing equipment. In big wall climbing and in alpine climbing, it is possible to have multi-pitch routes with over 30 pitches, with notable examples being the 1,000-metre (3,300 ft) 31-pitch big wall route, The Nose (VI, 5.9, C2) on El Capitan, or the 1,200-metre (3,900 ft) +30-pitch alpine climbing route, the Walker Spur (ED1, IV, 5c/6a, A1) on the Grandes Jorasses.

Climbing guidebooks will typically have a topo that outlines the key features of each individual 'pitch(s)' on a given climbing route (e.g. grade, length, climbing challenges, availability of climbing protection and belay stations etc.,).

A single-pitch route can range from 7 metres (23 ft) to the full length of the climbing rope (by definition, the longest belay of a 'leader' is limited by the length of the rope). In the 1960s to the 1980s, climbing ropes were typically 50 metres (160 ft) in length, however, modern ropes are typically 60–70 metres (200–230 ft) in length (and can extend to 80–100 metres (260–330 ft)), which sets the current theoretical maximum length of a 'pitch'.

On multi-pitch routes, the typical average length of a pitch tends to be in the 30–40 metres (98–131 ft) range, which is well inside the length of the most commonly used modern climbing ropes. This is due to the effect of other factors that also determine the ideal length of pitches (and thus the total number of pitches) on a multi-pitch route, including: