Wender·Vista
Cirque of the Towers Pingora
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileWyoming
in the Wind River Range, above Lonesome Lake

Cirque of the Towers Pingora

— — a single tower that holds the morning sun.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Pingora rises clean off the floor of the Cirque of the Towers, a granite spire that climbers have been working since the nineteen-forties. The name is Shoshone, meaning roughly a high rock that cannot be reached. The South Buttress is the classic line and goes at a moderate grade, which is why the summit shows up in so many alpine logbooks. The light hits the east face first. — from the studio

from the studio
Cirque of the Towers Pingora
— bring it home

Cirque of the Towers Pingora, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Cirque of the Towers Pingora

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Pingora Peak is the signature spire of the Cirque of the Towers, rising to about 11,884 feet at the southern end of the Wind River Range in Wyoming. It sits in the Popo Agie Wilderness on the Shoshone National Forest, with Lonesome Lake at its base. The name is taken from a Shoshone word for a high, inaccessible rock. The standard approach is the Big Sandy trailhead, about nine miles in over Jackass Pass.

— the stone

The tower is clean granite, part of the Archean batholith that forms the core of the Wind River Range. The rock has cooled and weathered into long, parallel cracks that take protection well, which is why Pingora became a teaching peak for a generation of American alpinists after Fred and Dorothy Beckey's first ascent in 1940. The South Buttress, a 5.8 line, is one of the most repeated alpine routes in the Mountain West.

— the light

The east face catches first sun. Because the spire stands free of the rest of the cirque rim, the morning light strikes the granite at a low angle for almost an hour before it reaches the basin below, and the rock turns a warm orange against the cold blue of the still-shaded west wall. The same effect runs in reverse at sunset, when the last light holds on the west face after the lake has gone grey.

— where
United States · Sublette County, Wyoming
— within
Popo Agie Wilderness
— elevation
3,621 m · 11,884 ft
— position
42.7686° N · 109.2103° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
1 km S
Lonesome Lake
alpine lake· on a tile
1 km E
Wolf's Head
granite spire
1 km W
Warbonnet Peak
granite spire
N
Cirque of the Towers Pingora
Lonesome Lake
Wolf's Head
Warbonnet Peak
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Cirque of the Towers Pingora — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Pingora rises to about 11,884 feet in the southern Wind River Range. It is the most prominent spire on the rim of the Cirque of the Towers, above Lonesome Lake.

The name comes from a Shoshone word meaning, roughly, a high rocky peak that cannot be reached. Climbers have reached it many times since the first ascent in 1940.

The first recorded ascent was by Fred Beckey and Dorothy Beckey in 1940, by a line on the southwest side. The South Buttress, climbed later, is now the classic route.

Climbers approach from the Big Sandy trailhead in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, about nine miles over Jackass Pass into the Cirque, then a short scramble up to the base.

No. Pingora sits inside the Popo Agie Wilderness on the Shoshone National Forest. The Wind River Range is national forest land, not a national park.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Pingora is on most American alpinists' lifetime list. The South Buttress is a rite of passage. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries the weight of that summit well.

The cool granite-and-shadow palette works in mountain-modern, climber's cabin, and minimalist alpine interiors. It also sits well in a Japandi room against unfinished oak and pale linen.

Yes. Single-peak portraits in cool granite tones are a steady fixture in alpine-modern and Mountain West design, both in cabin renovations and contemporary urban apartments.

Above a sofa, a single Large reads like a portrait window onto the peak. For a console or a stair landing, a four-tile Mural or nine-tile Mural carries the full height of the tower.

Yes. Choose the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any bathroom, shower wall, or kitchen backsplash. Both are scratch-resistant and rated for vertical wet installations.

Plain water and a microfibre cloth for the glossy show pieces. The Dura Satin and Matte finishes take a little mild dish soap and a soft cloth without any trouble.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio and not licensed anywhere. The Pingora painting was made for our atlas of places by Reid Wender, the curator.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.