Climbers Dictionary

Aid Climbing -  Originally called direct aid or artificial climbing, aid climbing is a means of ascent where the climber’s
weight is supported primarily, or entirely, by slings attached to a device attached to the rock, rather than by the climber’s
own hands, feet and other body parts as in free climbing. Upward progress is not required: weighting the rope, or resting
on gear is aid. Difficulty increases as security diminishes. (See Aid ratings.)

Angle -  A type of piton made of a few inches of chromoly steel with a 90 degree angle down its spine, like a shallow taco.
Comes in sizes of less than 1/2 inch (baby angle) to 2 inches wide, 4 to 6 inches long, and with an eye in the end for
clipping a carabiner. Rarely used now except on aid climbs, and when left as fixed protection on free climbs.

Arete -  A narrow ridge, or corner, of rock or snow. Derived from the french word for "stop".

Bail -  To give up and rappel or otherwise get off the route because of weather, darkness, or difficulties. “We both tried
and fell on the crux several times, so we bailed.” “We didn’t want to finish in the dark, so we bailed.”

Bail Biner -  A carabiner left behind when rappelling or lowering off of a climb, usually left on a single bolt or other
protection device mid-pitch.

Barn door -  When the body swings away from the rock from two or more pivot points (usually one hand and one foot)
due to the angle. Can occur on a steep lieback as well. Difficult to recover from and often results in a fall.

Belay Station -  A secure stance consisting of an anchor, a rope, and a belayer with a belay device. The place where a
belayer sits, stands or hangs while belaying.

Beta -  information about a route.

Betaflash -  a clean first ascent with no falls after having received beta. (This contrasts an onsightflash, a clean ascent
with no prior knowledge of the route. 2. (vb.) to perform a betaflash.

Bouncing -  Sport climbing technique used to regain the rock after falling and the climber is hanging free and out of reach
of the rock. The climber climbs the rope hand over hand (very strenuous), and then drops. At the instant the climber lets
go, the belayer hauls in slack thereby raising the climber. Repeating this process eventually brings the climber back to the
rock. Also known as boinking, and to superman (compare with batman).

Bridging -  Climbing manouver involving arching the legs across a gap to put pressure on two opposing holds or walls.
See also: Stemming.

Bucket -  big handhold that is easy to hold onto. Usually a depression, hole or scoop (concave) in the rock. See also jug.

Buttress -  A part of the mountain or rock formation that stands out from the main face. May also be used to describe the
corner of a rock formation, e.g., the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral.

Chicken Wing -  A type of arm bar useful in off widths and tight chimneys. Bend arm at elbow so that hand touches
shoulder. Insert in crack and push against opposite sides. Works especially well vertically in squeeze chimneys, with elbow
pointing up and pressing against one side of chimney, and heel of hand against the other side. 2.(v.) To Chicken Wing:
bad climbing form on a face climb where the climber's elbows point out and back at an awkward angle.

Chickhead -  A knobby feature (resembling a chicken's head) found in granite which provides excellent holds for hands or
feet.

Chipping -  the act of altering the rock by breaking it. Almost universally shunned by climbers, but still performed by those
whose bodies and egos are too weak to meet the challenge of a climb.

Chock -  A generic term for all passive protection that can be wedged into a crack or slot in the rock, i.e., wired nuts, slung
nuts, hexes, stoppers, wedges, etc. . .

Class 1 -   Denotes walking where no special footwear is required. One of six classes describing travel in the mountains.

Class 2 -   Denotes trail walking where it is advisable to have boots or other sturdy footwear. One of six classes describing
travel in the mountains.

Class 3 -   Denotes scrambling involving the use of the hands as well as the feet, but where a rope is not needed. More
commonly used to describe climbing without a rope, especially when the climbers have a rope.

Class 4 -  Fourth Class, like Class 3, requiring use of hands as well as feet, sometimes referred to as scrambling, but
where a rope is advisable because a fall would likely result in serious injury or death. Class 4 is a step below technical rock
climbing (Class 5), which involves more difficult climbing and requires the use of protection devices. For a rock climber to
describe something as fourth class usually means that it is easy.

Class 5 -  Technical rock climbing requiring the use of rope and protection, and where only one climber moves at a time
while belayed by another climber. This is why the Yosemite Decimal System starts at 5.0.

Class 6 -   Direct aid. When the Yosemite Decimal System was first devised, free climbs were rated from 5.0 to 5.9, and
the next rating up was 6.0, the point at which you had to hang on the rope. The decimal system never caught on for aid.
(See aid ratings.)

Clipping -  The act of putting a carabiner onto a bold, the rope, or a piece of protection. 'Clipping!' is a common call to
indicate to the belayer that you are about to pull up rope to make a clip.

Clove Hitch - Knot often used to tie a rope to a carabiner.

Copperhead - Aid device made of a malleable copper alloy and slung on swaged wire cable, used to hammer into shallow
grooves and slots in the rock. When pounded with a hammer and chisel, they deform to fit the shape of the rock. These
are typically left fixed because they are difficult to remove without damaging the rock.

Crampons -  Meal spikes which attach onto climbing boots to allow a firm grip on snow or ice.

Crank -  Slang for pulling on a hold at your maximum power.

Crater -  to fall off a climb to the ground.

Crimp -  to grip in a way such that fingertips contact the hold with knuckles raised slightly.

Crimper - a small edged hold which is conducive to crimping.

Cross through -  a reach with hand or foot that crosses the line of the other appendage.

Dead Hang -  Hanging from a hold with the arms straightened allowing body weight to be held by the skeleton rather than
arm muscles. - good for relaxing the arm muscles

Descender -  Any device used to rappel or abseil. ie: figure 8, rappel rack, stitch plate

Dihedral - A corner. Literally, the word means two planes coming together. It may be a 90 degree corner, and it may be
more or less than 90 degrees. (Right, obtuse, acute angles.) Look at a picture of the Nose of El Cap. See that big corner
that forms the upper third of the route? Now that’s a dihedral.

Disco Leg -  Also known as 'sewing maching leg' or 'doing the wild elvis'. Referres the the uncontrollable shaking of the leg
(s) while climbing. Result of tired leg muscles.

Dogging -  short for 'hang-dogging'. Refers to spending large amounts of time hanging in the harness while working a
climb.

Doubled Back -  Bringing your harness webbing loop back through the buckle when putting it on. This is an important
part of ensuring that your harness is done up correctly.

Drop knee -  a technique requiring the downward turning of the knee to increase reach efficiency.

Dyno -  abbreviation for "dynamic movement", a move that requires some use of momentum. (antonym: static movement)
2. (vb.) to perform a dyno.

Edge -  a small, horizontal hold. 2. (vb.) to stand on an edge with the corner of a shoe maximizing the pressure applied to
a small area of rubber.

Epic -  Surpassing the usual or ordinary, particularly in scope or size. An adventure where everything seems to go wrong
and the adventurers are constatnly put at risk.

Etriers -  The original French term for Aiders. Nylon webbing steps for use when aid climbing.

Face Climbing - Climbing on the flat part of a rock face, considered the be the opposite of crack climbing.

Fall Factor - The length of the fall divided by the amount of rope paid out. Used when deciding how much strain has been
placed on a rope or piece of gear after it has been fallen on.

Fifi Hook -  A small hook, primarily used when aiding, to clip into a daisy chain or piece of gear.

Figure 4 -  An uncommon technique to make long reaches that requires lifting a leg over one arm putting the body in a
position that resembles a "4".

Fixed Rope -  A rope fixed to a route by the lead climber and left in place for all who follow. Also refers to ropes left on
sections of alpine climbs in order to aid the next party to attempt the route.

Flag - . to dangle a leg in a way that improves balance.

Flake -  A rock formation where a 'flake' of rock sticks out from the rest of the wall.

Flared Crack - A crack with sides that are not parallel, but instead form two converging planes of rock.

Flash -  completion of a climb first try with no falls. 2. (vb.) to perform a flash.

Fourth Class - Refers to the Class 1 to 6 system (See Class 1 through 6); movement requiring the use of the hands as
well as the feet and requiring specialized foot wear, and requiring a rope for safety, unlike Class 3. Experienced rock
climbers tend to think of fourth class as easy and often do not rope up until they are on Class 5 terrain.

Gaston -  a climbing technique that involves sidepulling with an elbow pointed outward.

Gate -  The hinged part of a carabiner which opens to allow the clipping of a rope or piece of gear. etc.

Greenpoint -  To flash a route on toprope.

Gripped -  tired and/or scared. Often a synergy between the two.

Hand Traverse -  Climbing horizontally using hands only. Also: Campus Traverse

Hang Dog -  to repeatedly rest on the rope while climbing.

Haul Bag - Large and sturdy bag used to carry gear up a big wall climb. Generally cylindrical in shape with a minimal
number of straps to avoid snagging on the rock face as it is hauled up at each pitch.

Heel hook -  a climbing technique involving the use of a heel to pull down like a third arm.

Heel toe lock - a climbing technique involving the wedging of a foot lengthwise in a constriction

Hexcentric - Commonly reffered to as a Hex; a hexagonal shaped metal piece of protection. Allows for passive protection
when placed one way and camming action when placed another.

Highball -A very high boulder problem, often with a hard landing. A high boulder problem with a sandy or otherwise soft
landing may not be considered a highball. Of Planet X in Joshua Tree John Bachar said: “That’s not a f@#%in’ highball.”

Hook - Small 'r' shaped piece of metal used as protection on ledges and small holes when aid climbing. Requires a fair
amount of skill to place and weight efficiently.

Hueco - a large indented pocket in the rock. From Hueco Tanks, a popular climbing area with many such features.

Incut -  An indent An indent in a rockface or climbing wall big enough to be used as a hand or foot hold. Also refers to a
hand/foot hold which slants downwards into the wall affording a better grip. ie: an incut crimper, rather than a flat or
sloping crimper.

Jamming -  Placing and wedging a body part into a crack in order to hold yourself on the wall.

Jug -  A big hand hold, usually a great relief to find. (See also, bucket.) Also a verb meaning “to jumar” or the act of
ascending a fixed rope with jumars.

Jumar -  A device with a handle and a toothed cam that bites the rope when weighted used to ascend a fixed rope.
Replaced prussik knots in the 60's, and was one of only two mechanical ascenders on the market for years. Useless on
iced ropes. Also a verb meaning “to jumar.” “I was jumaring when it started to rain.”

Jumaring -Jugging - v. Ascending a rope using jumars.

Lay back - . a move requiring pulling with arms to the side and pushing with the feet in the opposite direction. (syn. lieback)


Leverage -  The action of the climbing rope on protection placed in the rock, this action can cause the protection to work
loose.

Manky -  The opposite of Bombproof. A piece of gear is said to be manky if it is not placed well and could fall out at any
moment.

Mantel -  a climbing technique involving the transfer of upward force from a pulling action to a pushing action much like a
child would climb the kitchen counter to reach the cabinets above.

Match - To place both hands or feet on the same hold.

Mixed Climbing -  Refers to a route with both rock and ice sections. May also refer to a route with both sport and trad
sections.

Natural Protection -  Gear that is placed in cracks or pockets which can be removed with no harm to the rock. ie: cams,
nuts, hexes.

Nubbin -  A very tiny protrusion that may be used as a sketchy foot or hand hold.

Onsight - a clean ascent with no falls, first try, with no prior knowledge of the route.

Open Book -  An inside corner on a right angle. The rock flares out from a central corner looking like an open book.

Passive -  Passive protection has no special action like a cam, it is merely wedged into a crack and functions only one
way.

Pendulum -  To swing in an arc on the end of a rope to gain access to an anchor or rock feature to one side of your
current position.

Pinkpoint -  A clean (no-falls) ascent of a route on lead with gear pre-placed. The climber need only clip the rope into the
preplaced protection while climbing. Note: This term has disappeared from sport climbing terminology with all clean leads
called redpoints.

Pocket -  an indented climbing feature that requires insertion of appendages to use.

Protection Point - The last place on a climb where the leader placed and clipped their rope into a piece of protection.

Prusik Knot -  A friction knot that when loaded, will lock on a rope. It is used when climbing a rope, backing up a rappel or
locking off the belay system.

Quick Link -  An oval shaped, metal ring with a screw gate requiring a wrench to fasten. These are often used to secure
quickdraws to bolt hangers on indoor walls or as bail biners when a climber needs to decend from a route which is too
difficult.

Redpoint - a clean ascent with no falls, placing protection while climbing.

Sandbag -  a climb that receives a rating inappropriately low rating for the difficulty.

Screamer - n a very long fall.

Send -  to complete a route successfully.

Stem -  movement requiring opposing outward pressure much like a child climbing a door jam.

Whipper -  a fall.

Wired -  describing a well rehearsed climbing sequence.

Zipper - . to pull out protection sequentially while falling.
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