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Abseiling Synonym for rappelling. ________________________________________ Aid Climbing Climbing rock using fixed or placed gear as the primary mode of ascent wherein the climber uses mechanical devices to stand higher, clip gear from a distance or otherwise progress through a section of rock. ________________________________________ Aider Webbing ladder used for aid climbing. A.K.A.: étrier. ________________________________________ Aid Route Route that can only be ascended using aid climbing techniques ________________________________________ Alcove A ledge enclosed by rock on all sides. ________________________________________ AMGA - American Mountain Guides Association, a national nonprofit organization that trains and certifies professional climbing guides. ________________________________________ Anchor A point providing safe attachment of equipment for climbers and their gear. ________________________________________ Ape Index, The measurement of one’s arm span from right hand fingertip to left hand fingertip, with arms fully outstreched. This measurement is then compared to ones height. If the distance from fingertip to fingertip is greater than the persons height, he / she is said to have a “positive ape index” (a favorable trait for climbing). . If the distance is less than the persons height, he / she is said to have a “negative ape index”. (no help on long moves, sorry). ________________________________________ Arete A ridge, usually approximately at 90 degrees, something akin to the apex of a ship’s prow, but not so overhanging. Were it overhanging, it would simply be called a prow. ________________________________________ Ascenders Devices which clamp on to ascend a rope. ________________________________________ ATC 'Air Trafic Controller', a frequently generic name for many types of belaying devices, but is in fact made by Black Diamond. ________________________________________ "B" Grades A grading system for boulder problems with grading from B-1 to B-3, concieved by John Gill. Now largely superseded by the open ended "V" , or Vermin system perpetuated by John (the Vermin) Sherman. ________________________________________ Bachar Ladder A rope ladder with wooden or PVC rungs used to improve campusing and core strength, notorious for causing elbow injuries in the unprepared. ________________________________________ Back-clipping The climbing rope is clipped into a quickdraw in the wrong direction, increasing the likelihood of the rope becoming unclipped during a fall and practically making upward movement impossible. ________________________________________ Backstepping Using your foot on its outside edge with your knee bent inward ________________________________________ Bail To give up on and retreat from a rock climb because of bad weather or the overwhelming nature of the climb. ________________________________________ Barn Dooring Swinging out from the wall like a door on a hinge. ________________________________________ Belay To safely handle the rope and equipment to protect a climber in case of a fall. ________________________________________ Belay device A mechanical device used to hold falls or the bodyweight of a climber by creating friction on climbing rope. ________________________________________ Belay station A safe anchoring spot from which to belay. ________________________________________ Belayer The person at the belay station securing the climber. In a most ideal (or unhealthy depending upon which side of the rope one is on) situation, one uses a belay slave; the person who only belays and never gets to climb. ________________________________________ Bent Gate Caribiner Caribiner with the gate bent to accept the rope more easily during lead climbs. ________________________________________ Beta Insider information about a climb. The original use of the term Beta in climbing is attributed to the late climber, Jack Mileski. “Beta” was short for Betamax, a reference to an old videotape format, replaced by the VHS format. This was actually a play on words, as Jack would often ask, “you want the beta, Max?” ________________________________________ Beta flash Leading a climb with no falling or hanging, but with some level of foreknowledge. Pre-information may be anything from one hint to full running instruction and watching the climb hundreds of times on slow motion video. ________________________________________ Big wall Rock climb that is so long and sustained that a normal ascent requires sleeping overnight on the cliff. ________________________________________ Bomber Anything that is exceptionally solid, such as an anchor, a hold, a loose looking block that is actually very permenant. AKA: bombproof. ________________________________________ Bong Super wide piton. ________________________________________ Bouldering Climbing on boulders or short cliffs where a spotter and / or crash pads are used to protect falls. ________________________________________ Bowline A bowline is a popular climbing knot. It can be tied with one hand, making it a versatile knot to know how to tie. Competition climbers like this knot because of how closely it can snug up to the harness, thus avoiding bulkiness issues of the more widely used figure eight knot. ________________________________________ Brain bucket Aka helmet. ________________________________________ Bucket A large hold. ________________________________________ Buildering Climbing on buildings. ________________________________________ Buttress The part of the mountain or rock that stands in front of the main face. ________________________________________ Cam Generic reference to the family of spring loaded camming devices (SLCD) such as friends, camalots, aliens, TCUs, etc. ________________________________________ Campus A dyno executed using the arms only. Comes from the term campus board. ________________________________________ Campus board A wooden training board with finger ledges that is used for training dynos and finger power, innovated by the late Wolfgang Gillich while he was working on the first ascent of the route Action Directe . ________________________________________ Carabiner Metal rings with spring-loaded gates, used as connectors. Also known as a biner (pronounced beaner). ________________________________________ Cairn A distinctive pile of stones placed to designate a summit or mark a trail ________________________________________ Chalk Magnesium carbonate gymnastic chalk used to absorb sweat, resulting in increased adhesion to holds; a source of controversy for years among climbers. ________________________________________ Chalk bag A small stuff-sack like bag for a climbing chalk, usually carried on a belt for easy access during a climb. ________________________________________ Cheese grater Graphic description for very rough rock resulting in obvious consequences if one were to fall against it’s surface. ________________________________________ Chest harness A halter like harness to be used in combination with a waist harness, usually in order to prevent flipping upside down in a fall, but also to ease the difficulty of rope ascending. ________________________________________ Chickenhead Knobby holds, usually on granite. Geeks love them. ________________________________________ Chimney A wide crack that accommodates the body of the climber. Ascent is via various counter pressure techniques. ________________________________________ Chimneying The verb form of chimney. The act of climbing a chimney. ________________________________________ Chipping Improving or creating a hold. Generally not ethically accepted. ________________________________________ Chock A stone or object that becomes wedged in a constriction point in a crack, or more commonly for climbers: passive wired protection devices, called nuts, stoppers, wires, hexes, etc. ________________________________________ Choss Rotten, unstable rock. ________________________________________ Chute A very steep gully. The word chute is french for fall and refers to the rockfall that is very common in a chute. ________________________________________ Class A number designating the general technical level of a route. ________________________________________ Clean A) climbing without the use of pitons, bolts or anything requiring a hammer. B)Climbing without falling or hanging. C) removing equipment from a climb. ________________________________________ Cleaning tool Rigid device used to un-jam stuck climbing equipment. ________________________________________ Cliff A vertical piece of rock good for climbing. ________________________________________ Cliffhanger Aid climbing hook used to ascend small edges and pockets. ________________________________________ "Climbing" What the climber shouts after the belayer screams "Belay on". ________________________________________ Climbing gym Indoor climbing training facility. ________________________________________ Climbing shoes Shoes made of sticky rubber with a form fit to increase precision of weight transfer from the foot to the rock. ________________________________________ Climbing wall Usually synonymous with climbing gym. ________________________________________ Clip in Attaching equipment to an anchor point. ________________________________________ Clove hitch A quick, easily adjustable climbing knot usually used to tie the rope into a karibiner. ________________________________________ Cold Shuts A type of bolt hanger with a rounded clip in point that allows rope to be threaded through and the climber to lower off without leaving any gear. Properly welded cold shuts have been tested and will hold loads equal to standard bolt hangers, but many unsafe, unwelded cold shuts exist. Learn and be aware if which are safe and which are not. ________________________________________ Cord Formerly referred to thin static rope (5, 5.5 or 6 mm) but in many circles may also refer to full thickness dynamic climbing rope. ________________________________________ Corner Inside corner (see dihedral), usually looking like a book opened to approximately a 90 degree angle. ________________________________________ Crack A gap or fissure in the rock varying in width from a hairline to bodywidth, or more. ________________________________________ Crag Small cliff or climbing area. ________________________________________ Crank To pull on a hold as hard as possible. ________________________________________ Crater, to To fall to the ground ________________________________________ Crash pad Portable mattress sewn to be carried like a backpack that absorbs the impact of bouldering falls. ________________________________________ Crimp A very small hold that accepts only the finger tips. This can be a noun or verb. ________________________________________ Crux The hard move(s) on a climb. ________________________________________ Cut loose To hang by the arms only as the feet lose contact with the rock surface. ________________________________________ Daisy chain A sling with numerous loops along its length, used as an adjustable sling in aid climbing. ________________________________________ Deadhang To hold on so that the muscles are relaxed usually with elbows at full extension and arms fully outstretched. ________________________________________ Deadpoint A dynamic move where the next hold is grabbed at the point between the upward momentum of a dynamic move and the beginning of the fall downward. ________________________________________ Deck Noun: the ground. Verb: to fall to the ground as in “he hit the deck” or “he decked”. ________________________________________ Deep water soloing A more recent term for climbing unroped high over water deep enough that the impact of a fall will be absorbed and no underwater rocks or beach will be struck on impact. ________________________________________ Descender Device used for rappeling. ________________________________________ Dialled To have all moves of a climbed mastered. Same as “Wired”. ________________________________________ Dihedral Inside corner resembling an open book. ________________________________________ Direct aid Aid Climbing, often referring to the use of rope tension or being hauled up mechanically. ________________________________________ Double fisherman's knot Knot used to tie two ropes or pieces of webbing together (Aka. grapevine knot). ________________________________________ Double rope Using two ropes, usually of small diameter simultaneously. ________________________________________ Downclimbing Descending either on the route itself, or to the bottom of a cliff after climbing a route. ________________________________________ Dynamic belay A belay method in which some rope is allowed to slip during severe falls. A dynamic belay can severely reduce the impact force from a serious fall. ________________________________________ Dynamic rope A rope with enough stretch to reduce the shock of a fall that would injure a climber if it was “static” like a cable. ________________________________________ Dyno Dynamic movement used to reach a distant hold. ________________________________________ Edge A sharp or thin ledge on a rock face, usually referring to a type of handhaold. ________________________________________ Edging Foot technique where one uses the edge of the climbing shoe to stand on small footholds. ________________________________________ Eliminate Restricting which holds may or may not be used on a boulder problem. ________________________________________ Epic The story of a well planned climb that turned into a grueling adventure due to unanticipated factors. ________________________________________ Etrier Pronounced: Eh-tree-eh. Webbing ladder used for aid climbing. Also known as 'aider'. ________________________________________ Face climbing Climbing on edges, pockets, chicken heads and rugosities, but not on cracks. ________________________________________ Fall A dynamic descent from a previous high point on the rock. Depending on the length and fear involved, could be upgraded to a “whipper” or “screamer”. ________________________________________ Falling Yelled when a climber is (about to) fall. ________________________________________ Fifi hook An open hook used to allow easy clipping during aid climbing. Usually found on aiders, daisy chains, etc. ________________________________________ Figure four Advanced climbing technique where the climber hooks a leg over the opposite arm, and then pushes down with his leg to achieve a greater vertical reach. Requires a very solid handhold. ________________________________________ Figure 8 A) Metal rappelling/belaying device shaped like an 8. B) Common tie-in knot. ________________________________________ Fingerlock Technique of twisting, wedging and thereby “locking” fingers into a narrow crack. ________________________________________ First ascent Successful ascent of a previously unclimbed route. “F.A.” ________________________________________ Fixed rope A rope which has a fixed attachment point. Commonly used to re-ascend a section of that had been previously climbed, but returning to a ledge or the ground was an expedient course of action at the time. ________________________________________ Flagging Climbing technique where a leg is held in a position to maintain balance, rather than to support weight. ________________________________________ Flake A thin slab of rock detached from the main face, often creating an excellent handhold. ________________________________________ Flapper An injury consisting of a piece of loose, dangling skin. ________________________________________ Flash To lead a climb with no falls or hanging and with no previous attempts on the climb. Usually the climber has foreknowledge of some sort or has seen someone do the climb. ________________________________________ Following Being second climber on a rope. ________________________________________ Free climbing Moving up a rock using only hands, feet, and natural holds without reliance on equipment for upward progress. ________________________________________ Free solo Climbing without using ropes for protection. A fall usually implies very serious injury or death. ________________________________________ Friend Name for the original spring loaded camming devices innovated by Ray Jardine. Often used as a generic term for many other SLCD’s : Camalots, TCU's, Quads, Aliens, Big Dudes, etc. ________________________________________ Gaston “Beta” term describing a climbing maneuver wherein a handhold is only good from the side, but you must hold it with your elbows pointing out and leaning onto the hold. ________________________________________ Glacier A slowly moving permanent mass of ice. ________________________________________ Grade A subjective rating leading to a semi objective measure of the technical difficultly of a particular climb or boulder problem once consensus has been reached by a number of climbers. ________________________________________ Grigri A belay and descending device designed to be easy to use and safer for beginners because it is self-locking under load. Commonly used ay many fixed belay points in climbing gyms. ________________________________________ Gripped High level of fear. ________________________________________ Grounder A fall to the ground. “Decking.” ________________________________________ Gully A wide, shallow ravine on a mountainside. ________________________________________ Gumby Inexperienced climber. Not uncommonly one who is making a fool of himself due to ineptitude. ________________________________________ Gym Indoor climbing facility. ________________________________________ Handjam Technique where the hand is wedged into a crack. ________________________________________ Hangboard Hand and pull strength training device with multiple simulated handholds. AKA: Fingerboard. ________________________________________ Hang-dog To work the moves on a route by resting on the rope between attempts. ________________________________________ Hanging belay - A belay stance without a ledge to stand on, wherein the climbers are suspended by their equipment. ________________________________________ Harness A sewn nylon webbing device worn around the waist and thighs that is designed to attach rope and equipment systems required for safe climbing. ________________________________________ Haul bag Large and robust bag used to haul food, water, climbing gear, needed to ascenda big wall. Also know as "the pig". ________________________________________ Head point Top-roping a hard non-bolted route before leading it cleanly. ________________________________________ Headwall Where the face of a cliff or mountain steepens dramatically. ________________________________________ Helmet Climbing helmets are used equally to protect from the danger of rockfall onto a climber as well as the impact of a dangerous climbing fall. (Aka a brainbucket). ________________________________________ Hex Short for Hexentrix. A type of nut with an excentric hexadiagonal shape. Works for wedging (as a nut) but also for camming. ________________________________________ Hueco A pocket with a positive lip named after the distinct features found at the Hueco Tanks bouldering area in Texas. ________________________________________ HMS Karibiner with one wide side used for belaying with a munter hitch (aka pearabiner). From the German term for munter hitch belay: 'Halbmastwurfsicherung'. ________________________________________ Hold Anything that can be held on to. ________________________________________ Honed In great climbing condition. ________________________________________ Horn Spike of rock that can be for a hold or protection. Could also be called a knob or chickenhead. ________________________________________ Jam, to Wedging body parts in a crack. ________________________________________ Jib Very small foothold. Mostly referring to a hold on indoor climbing walls. ________________________________________ Jug Very large hold (short for jug handle) (Aka "bucket" in the US). ________________________________________ Jugs Jumars or any other type of ascenders. ________________________________________ Jugging To ascending a rope with Jugs. ________________________________________ Jumar The most well known rope ascending device. As a verb: Jugging ________________________________________ Kernmantle Climbing rope consisting of bundles of continuous nylon filaments. Kernmantle means "core and sheath". ________________________________________ Kilonewton - A measurement of force; abbreviated kN ________________________________________ Lap link - An open, steel ring with overlapping ends that are hammered together after the ring is placed around something; often used as the connecting point between bolt hangers and chains on fixed belay anchors. ________________________________________ Layback/Lieback A climbing move that involves pulling with the hands while pushing with the feet. ________________________________________ Leader Person who leads a climb. ________________________________________ Locking carabiner A carabiner with a locking mechanisms that prevents the gate from opening. ________________________________________ Lock-off To hold on to the rock with one bent arm while using the other arm to reach up for the next hold or to place or clip protection. ________________________________________ Lowering / lower off A descent where the climber weights the rope and is let down by the belayer; the common method of descent from sport climbs with a fixed anchor at a height of less than half the length of the rope, allowing full descent to the ground, pulley style. ________________________________________ Mantle A technique used to surmount a ledge or feature in the rock in the absence of any useful holds directly above. It involves pushing down on a ledge or feature instead of pulling down. ________________________________________ Match Placement of both hands or feet on the same hold or quickly replace one for the other. ________________________________________ Mixed climbing Climbing with a combination of different methods of ascent such as mixed free and aid climbing or mixed rock and ice climbing. ________________________________________ Multidirectional An anchor that is secure in any direction ________________________________________ Multi pitch climb Climb that is accomplished in multiple stages. ________________________________________ Munter Hitch A hitch usually running through a large pear shaped locking carabiner that binds on itself, creating friction; used for belaying and rappelling. Also known as an Italian hitch or a Friction hitch. ________________________________________ Nailing An old term used to describe aid climbing with pitons. ________________________________________ Nut Removable metal wedge used for protection in cracks that have largely replaced pitons forever. ________________________________________ Nut tool Long, thin sturdy piece of metal used to remove stuck nuts and other passive protection equipment. ________________________________________ Off width A climb too wide to jam, too small to chimney. ________________________________________ On-sight flash Leading a climb with no falls or hanging and without any prior attempts, watching someone do it or beta on how to do the moves. ________________________________________ Overhang Rock (or ice) that is "more than vertical". ________________________________________ Pendulum A swing on the rope, either intentionaly to gain a distant anchor on big wall climbs or unintentional when falling during a traverse. ________________________________________ Pig The haul bag used in big wall climbing. ________________________________________ Pillar Outside corner ________________________________________ Pink point To complete a climb where gear has been pre-placed. ________________________________________ Pitch A section of climb between two belays and no longer than the length of one rope ________________________________________ Piton Metal spike hammered into a crack. Pitons are used only for aid climbing in modern rock climbing. ________________________________________ A hold formed by a hole type depression in the rock. Most commonly found on limestone. ________________________________________ Portaledge A hanging cot with a tent used on big walls for bivying anywhere. ________________________________________ Pro, Protection An anchor that the rope runs freely through to protect a climber during a lead ________________________________________ Prusik The sliding knot or the method to ascend a rope (named after its inventer Dr. Karl Prusik). ________________________________________ Quickdraw Short sling with carabiners on either side. ________________________________________ Rack The climbing gear carried during an ascent. ________________________________________ Rand The rubber band like portion of a climbing shoe that runs around the shoe just above the sole. ________________________________________ Rappel Descending by sliding down a rope with the application of friction to the rope in order to maintain control of the rate of descent. ________________________________________ Redpoint To lead a climb without falling or dogging after a number of attempts. This is different from onsight, where the climb is lead without falling or dogging on the first attempt. ________________________________________ Roof Horizontal overhang. ________________________________________ Route A path up a rock or mountain. ________________________________________ Runner A loop of webbing either sewn or tied (Aka sling). ________________________________________ Runout Distance between two elements of pro. A route is "runout" when the distance between those two elements of pro becomes uncomfortably long. ________________________________________ RURP “Realized Ultimate Reality Piton”. Miniature, postage-stamp sized piton. ________________________________________ Screamer A very, very long fall. ________________________________________ Second The climber who follows the leader. ________________________________________ Send To Send is to successfully Ascend the route. ________________________________________ Sewing-machine leg or arm A leg (or arm) under tension that suddenly starts jerking up and down like a sewing machine. Stretch the muscle, take a deep breath, and don't think of falling. ________________________________________ Sharp end The end of the rope to which the leader is attached. ________________________________________ Slab A less than vertical rock face. ________________________________________ SLCD Spring Loaded Camming Device. Any of the numerous Passive protection devices such as Friends, Camalots TCU’s that use spring loaded cams to create an anchor in a crack. ________________________________________ Sloper Pathetic downward slanting hold. (Usually look like buckets from below.) ________________________________________ Smearing A technique where the ball of the foot is pressed onto the rock surface so that a large part of a climbing shoe is used to generate as much friction as possible, in the absence of a useable positive foothold. ________________________________________ Soloing Climbing alone, though not necessarily without the protection of a rope. ________________________________________ Sport climbing Climbing well bolted or pre-protected routes. Sport climbing often implies difficult to extreme single pitch face climbing. ________________________________________ Stem or Stemming A climbing technique wherein opposing footholds are pushed off from each other for security or upward movement; often used in inside corners. ________________________________________ Stick it "Hold on". ________________________________________ Sticht plate A belay device consisting of a plate with two slots in it. An original creation by Franz Sticht. ________________________________________ Stick clip Originally used on big walls as a time saving measure, stick clips are a necessity on some sport climbs to clip a high first bolt. A stick clip can be bought or easily made by attaching a quickdraw to a stick with a rubber band, or sturdy tape. ________________________________________ Swami Belt A kind of proto- climbing harness consisting of a long length of wide tubular webbing wrapped several times around the climbers waist and secured with a water knot. Swami’s have largely been replaced by climbing harnesses since the late 1970’s. ________________________________________ “Take” What a climber calls out to his / her belayer when tension is needed on the rope, as in “take me.” ________________________________________ Talus Large blocks of rock. A coarse variation of scree. ________________________________________ Tension Synonym for “Up Rope” or a technique for maintaining balance using a taught rope through a point of protection. ________________________________________ Third class - Unroped climbing, usually implying climbing something mildly technical on an approach to the actual hard climbing. Alternately, to "third class" a route is to demote its grade to that of a third class route, which does not require a rope - soloing. ________________________________________ Thread Passing a sling through a naturally occurring tunnel in the rock in order to make an anchor. ________________________________________ Topo A short drawing of the route. Good topos will allow you to spot the line right away, show the placement of bolts and belay stances, indicate where the crux is and what rating it has. ________________________________________ Top-rope Free climbing a route that has the rope attached to the top of the climb (usually one walks to the top to set up the top-rope belay). ________________________________________ Threaded overhand Solid but not failproof knot also known as water knot (or ring bend when used on webbing). ________________________________________ Trad Traditional climbing, characterized by the placing of protection (cams, nuts, etc.) in cracks and pockets. Trad also includes multi-pitch routes often with long runouts.. ________________________________________ Tramming A quickdraw is clipped between the climber's harness and the rope that is threaded through the gear. As the climber is lowered by the belayer, they will descend along the line of the gear. Tramming is an important technique employed when cleaning steep routes. Care must be used too prevent dangerous pendulum type falls when the last piece of gear is released and the tram is not bound to the crag!!! ________________________________________ Traverse Horizontal climbing . ________________________________________ Tufa A limestone feature, like a stalactite attached to the wall. ________________________________________ UIAA The Union Internationale des Associations Alpines; the international agency that sets standards for and tests climbing safety equipment. ________________________________________ Undercling Upside down and usually incut hold. ________________________________________ Up Rope Yelled by the climber when she/he wants a tighter belay. ________________________________________ “V” grading system Bouldering grading system invented by John (the Vermin) Sherman. This could also be called the Vermin scale or grades. ________________________________________ Watch me Call to indicate the climber may potentially fall. ________________________________________ Water ice Ice formed directly from frozen water. Water ice is clear and brittle and contains few air bubbles. Sometimes water is even flowing around the ice. ________________________________________ Water knot See threaded overhand. ________________________________________ Webbing Flat and strong strip of nylon, that is hollow in the inside. ________________________________________ Whipper A very long fall. ________________________________________ Wired A completely mastered sequence of moves on any climb. AKA Dailed. ________________________________________ Woodie A homemade climbing wall. ________________________________________ YDS Yosemite Decimal System. Open ended North-American grades innovated in California. See a more complete explanation at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System%20 ________________________________________ Zipper A fall where the protection pulls out one after the other, after another.
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