Pitch (vertical space)

For other uses, see Pitch

A pitch is a significant underground vertical space in mining terminology. The name is thought to have originated through the description of deep shafts which had bottoms that could not be easily seen as being "pitch-black".

The term has been adopted by cavers to refer to a drop (of anything above trivial size) in a cave. (It is usually only applied to a drop that has to be descended; a vertical space that has to be ascended is known as an aven). The deepest pitch so far discovered underground is 643 m in Vrtoglavica cave, Slovenia.

Climbers also apply the term to a section of a (generally, above-ground, in a modification of its original meaning) climb between two belays. See climbing system.