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Climbing lingo

Climber speak explained. Read on, and you’ll soon know the difference between a ‘dyno’ and a ‘deadpoint’ and between a ‘crab’ and a ‘cam’.

two climbers talking

If you’re new to climbing, you might find that seasoned climbers seem to speak a language all of their own. They do… kind of. In the U.S, Canada, and other Commonwealth countries, climbing speak is actually derived from English and contains many words also found in its parent language. Despite this, many neophytes are baffled by some of its terminology, and I’m regularly asked to explain the difference between words like ‘deadpoint’ and ‘dyno’. Luckily, you now have this article – a handy reference for all things climbing.

Styles of climbing

Sport climbing

Climbing routes that are protected with bolts. Often referred to simply as Sport. Also the most popular type of climbing.

Trad

Traditional climbing. This involves climbing routes which are protected with pieces of removable gear (see active pro and passive pro) placed by the leading climber. 

Bouldering

Climbing short, challenging walls or boulders without a rope. When attempting these ‘problems’, climbers are protected by boulder pads placed on the ground.

Highball

High bouldering. Climbing higher than normal bouldering height and into broken ankle territory.

Free solo

Climbing without gear (other than shoes and chalk bag). Always risky.

DWS

Deep water soloing. That’s climbing above deep water with no gear.

Free climbing

A type of climbing in which you use only your hands and feet to ascend a rock face. All the styles of climbing listed above are types of free climbing.

Aid climbing

A type of climbing in which you pull on the gear to ascend a route – as opposed to using it just for safety and descending as with free climbing.

Cragging

Climbing low commitment routes at an area that’s a short walk from the car (usually under an hour). A relaxed climbing outing.

Styles of ascent

Send

Any kind of lead ascent in free climbing where the climber does not fall or rely on the gear.

Onsight

The most difficult form of ascent. To climb a route clean (bottom to top without relying on the gear) on the first attempt with no prior knowledge of that route.

Flash

To climb a route clean on the first attempt but with prior knowledge of the route. Boulders that can be inspected from the ground before the first attempt can only be flashed and not onsighted.

Redpoint

To climb a route clean after having spent some time on it rehearsing the moves. To claim a send as a true redpoint, the climber has to hang the draws while climbing.

Pink point

Similar to a redpoint in that the route is climbed clean only after previous attempts, only now the draws are already hanging on the route when the climber starts. Easier than a red point.

Headpoint

To climb a route, usually a dangerous trad line, on lead after rehearsing the moves and gear placements beforehand on top-rope.

Ground up

To climb a route by starting at the bottom and working your way up. The climber might take some falls, but eventually climbs the route clean. The alternative is to pre-inspect the route while rappelling or top-roping.

First ascent (FA)

The first person to climb a route claims the FA and gets to name and grade it. Amongst driven and adventurous climbers, FAs are much sought after.

Crush

To send a route with power and style

Sharp end

To take the sharp end is to lead a route. That means starting a climb with the rope on the ground and clipping it into gear as you go.

Top-rope

To climb a rope with the rope running through gear at the top anchors. Usually a safe way to climb as falls are limited and soft

Follow

To climb a route after the leader, who then belays from above. It is common to follow on trad routes and multi-pitch sport routes. The following climber is also called the second.

Types of holds & rock features

Mono

A pocket that takes only a single finger. Usually only found on hard routes.

Pocket

A hole in the rock large enough to take two fingers, sometimes three.

Hueco

A crater-like depression in the rock. These can be juggy, slopey, or crimpy.

Sloper

A slopey or non-positive hold that has to be held with an open hand

Crimper

A small edge that has to be held in a crimp – that is with knuckles bent and fingertips angled downwards

Edge

A more or less square-cut hold bigger than a crimp but smaller than a rail

Pinch

A protruding rock feature that you pinch between fingers and thumb to generate purchase

Jug

A large in-cut hold that you can get your whole hand in. Also known as a bucket

Rail

A horizontal crack that is relatively square-cut and uniform inside

Undercling

A downward facing hold. This is almost always grabbed palm-up.

Crack

The vertical kind. Dictates a whole different climbing technique and is usually only mastered by trad climbers.

Off-width

A crack wider than your fist. Requires special techniques such as hand and foot stacking and is synonymous with ‘sufferfest’

Chimney

A crack big enough to climb into

Dihedral

Also known as an open book corner. A corner that is roughly 90 degrees or wider

Arete

A large edge of rock protruding from the main wall. This can be rounded and blunt or sharp. Essentially the inverse of a dihedral

Face

A relatively featureless and vertical section of rock. Favoured by sport climbers, who protect them with bolts.

Slab

A wall that is less than vertical and has even smaller features. This type of terrain often calls for a technique that involves smearing and precision balance.

Chockstone

A rock that is tightly wedged in a crack

Route descriptions

Run-out

Describes a route with large gaps between gear placements or bolts. Committing

Exposed

Terrain that feels high and ‘out there’

Sandbagged

More difficult than the advertised grade suggests

Crux

The hardest part of a route

Pump fest

Pumpy. Strenuous enough to induce lactic overload in the forearms

Technical

Requires intricate movement and skill

Chossy

Loose, dirty, and often dangerous

Bomber

Bombproof, solid, excellent. Used to describe both rock quality and gear placements

Clean

Not dirty or lichenous

Flared

Describes a crack that widens outwards. Not positive. Difficult to protect and move off

Movement techniques

Scum

To force a limb into the rock to get extra purchase (even if it’s marginal). The most commonly used scumming technique is the kneebar.

Crimp

A type of grip in which the knuckles are flexed in a way that puts your fingertips at a 90 degree angle to a hold. Usually used on small holds with defined edges

Hand jam

A technique that involves camming your hand inside a crack to obtain a purchase

Fingerlock

Involves camming two or three fingers into the sides of a thin crack or tapered pocket. Like a hand jam but for smaller features

Ringlock

Using your index finger and thumb to create a ring – with the tip of both finger and thumb touching – around a constriction in a crack

Sidepull

Pulling away from a vertical hold to enable upward movement

Gaston

Pushing into a vertical hold with the hand turned outwards.

Layback

Climbing a vertical crack by opposing repeated and strenuous sidepulls with smeared feet

Rock-over

To gain height by rocking one’s centre of gravity onto a high foothold

Deadpoint

A semi dynamic move in which the climber lunges to a hold at the limit of their reach. At least one foot and one hand maintain contact with the rock throughout the move.

Dyno

A move in which a climber throws herself towards a hold that would otherwise be out of reach. In a dyno, both feet leave the rock.

Campus

To climb using only your arms

Mantle

A move used to get onto a ledge. Similar to how you get out of the pool – by pushing down on your palms

Drop-knee

A move used on steep rock. One knee is rotated inwards and downwards to get one hip closer to the wall and extend your reach. Also known as Egyptian

Kneebar

A resting position afforded by scumming a knee under or behind a feature in the rock. A good kneebar will get you a no-hands rest.

Smear

Footwork that involves pressing the sole of your shoe (under your toes) into a featureless section of the rock to gain purchase

Edging

Using the edge of your shoes to gain purchase on a feature in the rock. This can be instepped (using the inside of your foot) or backstepped (using the outside of your foot).

Heel hook

Use of the heel to grip and pull the body up or sideways (to enable compression). Heel hooks can also afford good rests.

Flag

Holding a leg out to improve balance during a move.

Bridge

A move in which you push your feet into the opposite sides of a chimney or dihedral to obtain purchase. Also known as stemming.

Crank

To pull hard on a hold. Doesn't actually necessitate the use of technique.

Other techniques

Gardening

To clean vegetation off a climb

Cleaning

To redirect the rope from the quickdraws at the top of a route through the top anchors themselves. This allows a climber to remove their quickdraws from the top anchors before lowering off.

Stick clip

To use a stick or special pole to clip the first or even second bolt. Useful if the these lower clips would be sketchy

Hangdogging

Hanging on the rope (on lead) to figure out the moves

Project

As a verb, this means to figure out all the moves on a route over a series of sessions before linking them in a send.

Soft catch

To catch a falling climber softly. The belayer achieves this by making a small jump as the rope tightens in a fall.

Prusik

To ascend a rope using prusik knots. A self-rescue technique

Jumar

To use a toothed ascending device to go up a fixed rope. Commonly used in big wall climbing, where the seconder sometimes ‘jugs’ or jumars up behind the leader.

Bivy

Bivouac. To camp temporarily with little or no shelter

Down climb

To climb down a route. Used when lowering off or rappelling is not an option

Shake out

To reduce lactic acid levels in your forearms by giving them a gentle shake, thereby encourage blood circulation.

Hanging belay

A multi-pitch belay stance with no little or no ledge to stand on.

Equipment

Pro

Protection. Trad gear that attaches to the rock and which you clip the rope through. Protection can be active or passive.

Active pro

Protection that has moving parts – often springloaded. These include cams, BallNutz, and Big Bros.

Passive pro

Protection that does not have moving parts. These include hexes, nuts and tricams.

Wire

A nut or hex

Crab

Biner, carabiner

Extender

Gear used for connecting the rope to a piece of pro or bolt. These include quickdraws, alpine draws, and runners.

Cam

Camming device. A spring loaded type of protection that is used to protect parallel sided cracks. The original cam was the Friend, and some veterans still call cams by this name.

In situ

Already in place. This is used to describe gear (often a peg or nut) that is left on a route.

Backup

An additional piece of gear used to create redundancy. Most often relied on in trad climbing

Rack

A climber’s personal collection of protection. It can also refer to the gear he or she racks up with for a given climb. In this case, the rack might be adapted to a route or area.

Bug

An ATC or other model of tubular belay device

Grigri

A popular auto-braking belay device made by Petzl

Personal anchor system (PAS)

An adjustable lanyard.

Lanyard

A piece of gear like a sling or personal anchor system that is used to connect the climber to the anchors while cleaning, preparing a rappel, or changing over on a multipitch stance.

CE

The CE stamp marks products that have been produced in accordance with the standards of the European Economic Community. These standards dictate the levels of safety and quality that manufacturers have to adhere to.

UIAA

This international climbing federation established the first safety standards for climbing gear (and are still slightly more stringent than CE standards). Most load-bearing gear (especially ropes and slings) are designed to hold up against the UIAA’s tests.

Other terms

Approach

The walk or hike to the climbing area

Beta

Information about a route given to you by another climber. This can also be acquired by watching a climbing work or send a route.

Beta bashing

Giving beta when it is not asked for. Also known as spraying

Drag

The friction that makes a rope difficult to pull through gear or bolts

Gumby

A novice climber. Someone who moves like the cartoon character

Gym rat

A climber who spends almost all of his time in the gym. Usually lacks real rock skills

Second

A climber who is belayed from above. Here the leader – now the belayer – essentially has the second on top-rope. Standard practice on multi-pitch climbs

Flapper

Loose piece of flapping skin torn away from your hand in a hard move.

Dab

To have your foot touch the floor during an attempt to send a boulder problem.

Barn door

To have an arm and leg swing sideways away from the rock. This occurs when you are off balance and usually results in lost purchase and a fall.

Z-clip

A clipping error in which the climber clips their rope through the quickdraws in a Z pattern. Happens when you pull slack up from below the last draw and then clip the next draw.

Take

To have the belayer take slack out of the rope and then put their weight on. To make the rope tight

Gripped

To be overcome by fear

Pumped

When lactic acid levels in your forearms results in an energy-sapping burn

Whipper

A fall. Usually happens when you are pumped or gripped