piton

noun Mountain Climbing.

1. a metal spike with an eye through which a rope may be passed.

noun

1. mountaineering a metal spike that may be driven into a crevice of rock or into ice and used to secure a rope

n.1898, from French piton “hook, peak of a mountain, piton, eyebolt,” in Old French “nail, hook,” from Vulgar Latin root *pitt- “point, peak” [Barnhart].