Sierra Winter Climbing

This is a primer on pitons (or "pins") for a modern climber who has maybe only occasionally clipped one but never placed one. Pitons are heavy and take more time and energy, and a better stance, to place than a nut or cam. They're not necessary on classic summer routes being climbed in the winter. They can be somewhat useful on new winter routes, and they're especially helpful on the rock in the Mount Morrison area and on Blue Crag. Black Diamond is the number one seller of pitons in the US, so I'll reference them a lot here. Camp, Petzl, and Moses pins can be found online and occasionally in shops. Moses and Singing Rock pitons can be found at the Fixe store in Bishop. I've only seen Krukonogi pins for sale online. Camp and Petzl also sell soft iron pins, you can tell these by their more silvery color. They can work better in some non-granite rock types, but don't have quite as long of a life as the chrome-moly options. They're also better for fixing.