Chris and Sean on Wino Tower Beneath New Wave A4 Death Pitch

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This is page 15 of my presentation.

There are actually TWO real live death pitches on Reticent, the first of which climbs the corner above Wino Tower, where Warren Harding bivouaced on his ascent of The Wall of the Early Morning Light. There are still shards of glass here from Harding's wine bottles!

Harding wrote that he was disappointed not to find a crack in this dihedral, and had to climb up and right instead. Well, there is a crack, it's just that it's new wave A4.

The only reason this pitch is not new wave A5 is because of the single rivet placed by its first ascensionist. When I asked Steve Gerberding why he drilled it, he told me that while he could have hooked a loose flake, the flake was so loose he was certain it would have fallen off subsequently, and he drilled the rivet so as not to overly inflate the pitch's rating.

But rivet or not, if you fall off this pitch, you're dead. Sean dispatched it in masterful style in an all day beak- and hookfest.

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