The pitons are redundant but the point I was trying to illustrate was, that, even with a detailed route description, as on thesarvo, if the pitch description ends with 'Belay to a piton at the foot of a detached pinnacle' then if the piton isn't there then it doesn't help with route finding.
Of course it's good style just to 'climb the line' and leave the guide book at home but for some folks a rusty old piton is a nice sign that you're still on route, even if it's useless as protection. |