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Climbing Terminology/Thesaurus
Abseil - Descending by sliding down a rope. Americans usually call this rappelling.
Adze - The flat cutting end of the ice axe head. We remove them from the axes used on our dry-tooling wall, as they can do great damage to a forehead on the backswing!
Aid climbing - Moving up a rock using fixed or placed protecting as a means of progression (and not just for protection).
Aider - Webbing ladder used for aid climbing. Also known as an étrier.
Aid route - Route that can only be ascended using aid climbing techniques
Alpine butterfly - knot used predominantly in anchor set up or where you need to be able to equalise load.
Arête - A narrow (more or less - but often more less than more - horizontal) ridge.
Ascenders - Devices (e.g. Jumars, Petzl Ascension) to ascend a rope. Also known as ‘jugs'.
ATC - 'Air Traffic Controller', passive belaying device made by Black Diamond.
Barn door - To lose the foot and hand holds on one side of the body. Usually causes the climber to swing like a barn door. Try out the grey climb on wall # 2 at Cliffhanger for a physical example.
Belay station - A safe stance consisting of an anchor, a rope, and a belayer (aka "the belay"). Similar to the belay station set-up we have rigged at each wall at Cliffhanger.
Belayer - The person at the belay station securing/belaying the climber.
"Below" - Used in Australia/UK to warn for impending impact with objects coming from above (e.g. falling rock). Don't look up if you hear this call!
Beta - Insider information about a climb. Running or auto beta is someone telling you how to do the moves as you go (as in "can you please shut up with that running beta, I want to find out myself").
Beta flash - Leading a climb with no falling or dogging, but with a piece of previous knowledge hints on how to do those crux moves. Even seeing someone do the climb already classifies as 'previous knowledge'.
Big wall - A face/climb that is so long and sustained that a normal ascent lasts several days.
Birdbeak - A tiny hooked piton that used to be manufactured by A5. It is similar to the old Chouinard "Crack'n up", except that it only has a single side and that it is intended to be hammered in if necessary. Similar to the current Black Diamond PECKER's.
Bomber - Used to indicate that something is exceptionally solid, e.g. an anchor, a hold. See also bombproof.
Bombproof - The illusion that an anchor is infallible
Boulder (ing), - Climbing unroped on boulders or at the foot of climbs to a height where it is still safe to jump off. Or in the indoor environment, in our Bouldering Cave or HiBall area. Also see Highball Bouldering.
Bounce - To bounce/land/crater from an extreme height. Usually lethal, unless it's on to our 60mm impact attenuating flooring!
Bowline - originally a sailing knot, traditionally used in Australia as a method of attachment. Not permitted for use in gyms, as it can easily be miss-tied. (not to be used for climbing, unless backed up with a second knot)
Brain bucket - Aka helmet. That all important hard shelled thing that covers our (second?) most valuable asset.
Bucket - A large hold (Aka "jug", esp. in UK)
Buttress - The part of the mountain or rock that stands in front of the main mountain face.
Cam - Generic reference to the family of spring loaded camming devices (SLCD's) such as FriendsTM, CamalotsTM, AliensTM, TCUs, etc
Campus - A dyno executed using the arms only. Comes from the campus board where the people who do this move get the muscle to do it.
Campus board - A wooden training board with finger ledges that is used for training dynos and finger power. See our bouldering Cave for an example of a small Campus board.
Chalk - Aka psychological assistance, Magic powder that makes the hands stick to even the smoothest rock. Usually made with Magnesium Carbonate. Some brands have additional moisture wicking chemicals too. Also available in liquid form, made from combining chalk with rubbing alcohol.
Cheese grater - what happens when you slide down a slab while scraping the knees, hands, and face.
Chest harness - Bra-like looking harness that attaches to a sit harness, to effectively form a fully body harness. Often used by people that are "top heavy" to keep them upright in a fall, or prevent slipping out of a sit harness.
Chicken head - Sometimes phallic shaped, protruding lumps that make excellent hand or footholds on granite, etc.
Chimney - A wide crack that accommodates (most of) the body of the climber. See Cliffhanger wall number 1, for an example.
Chimney, to - A climbing technique used to conquer chimneys. Usually requires the use of the back and feet, arms, head and other body parts.
Chipped hold - A hold created with a hammer and chisel by a moron incapable of doing the climb as it is.
Chock - Generic reference to the family of passive wired protection devices, also called nuts, stoppers, wires, and rocks.
Chockstone - A stone wedged between a crack, a chimney, etc. Also the aptly named website of the Victorian Climbers Forum. www.chockstone.org
Choss - In Australia, this means poor rock (you can take all the holds home...). In the UK, choss is dirt and vegetation found in cracks (or Munge in the US).
Chute - A very steep gully. The word chute is French for fall and refers to the rock fall that is very common in a chute.
Cirque - A deep and steep-walled basin on a mountain usually forming the blunt end of a valley. From the French word for circus. Also known as corrie.
Clean - Climbing without falling or dogging. In aid-climbing circles it means to aid climb without hammering.
Clean, to - To remove the pro from a route. Usually done by the follower.
Climbing Calls - see bottom of page.
Cliffhanger - Not only the best climbing gym in the world, or a silly film with Wolfgang Güllich and Ron Kauk, but also the name for a small hooking device used to aid climb up small ledges and pockets, made by Black Diamond.
Climbing gym - according to some, the second best thing to real rock.
Climbing shoes - Shoes made of sticky rubber that would have fit you comfortably when you were ten!
Clip, to - The reassuring action of putting the rope through a karabiner (that is attached to a piece of pro on rock or fixed hander in the gym)
Clove hitch - A useful, easily adjustable climbing knot usually used to tie the rope into a karabiner.
Cord - Thin static rope (5, 5.5 or 6 mm) used for making Prussics, Cordelette, etc.
Corner - Inside corner (see dihedral) or outside corner. In the UK, a corner is always an inside one.
Crack - A gap or fissure in the rock varying in width from nail to bodywidth.
Crag - Name for a (small) climbing area. In Australia it used more generally as any climbing site.
Crampons - Very pointy footware use to walk glaciers or climb ice.
Crank - To pull on a hold as hard as you can, and then some.
Crevasse - A crack in the surface of a glacier.
Crimper - A very small hold that accepts only the finger tips. In the UK, this is just called a crimp.
Crux - The hard bit. Also an Australian Climbing Magazine.
Daisy chain - A sling sewn (or tied) with numerous loops, used as an adjustable sling in aid climbing.
Deadpoint - A dynamic move where the next hold is grabbed at the very top of the motion (if you lunge upwards, that is just before you start falling again). By grabbing a hold in its 'deadpoint', you place the smallest possible loads on the holds.
Deck - The usually unfriendly surface that welcomes you at the end of a grounder i.e. "he decked out" means he hit the ground!
Descender - Device used for descending a climbing rope or rappelling. Some belay devices such as an ATC can be used for descending too.
Dihedral - The US term for an inside corner.
Dog (to dog a move) - Climbing, lowering, climbing again till a certain move is made (the usual mode of ascent...).
Double fisherman's knot - Solid knot used to tie two ropes or pieces of webbing together (Aka grapevine knot).
Double rope - Same as a half rope. Also the technique using two half ropes.
Downclimbing - Descending the difficult way! Not permitted in the gym.
Dry tool, to - To ascend a section of rock using ice tools - very common in mixed climbing. Also permissible on artificial walls in some gyms. See our Dry-Tooling section.
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, but can also severely kill you if not done properly.
Dyno - Dynamic movement towards a distant hold. Look for any climbs set in the gym by Matt van der Peet - they usually have at least one in them!
Edging - Foot technique where one uses the edge of the climbing shoe to stand on small footholds. The opposite of smearing.
Epic - The story of a well planned climb that turned into a gruelling adventure that turned out well in the end. As these stories are told over and over again - and they always are - the details get stretched to supernatural proportions for dramatic effect.
Etrier - (Pronounce with a French accent). Webbing ladder used for aid climbing. Also known as 'aider'.
Fall factor - The length of the fall divided by the amount of rope paid out.
Fifi hook - An open hook used to allow easy clipping during aid climbing. Usually found on aiders, daisy chains, etc.
Figure 8 - Metal rappelling/belaying device shaped like an 8. Also a type of knot see Figure of 8.
Figure of eight - Very popular and solid tie-in knot. A very strong knot as all bends have a double diameter of rope. Easy to tie, hard to stuff-up. The preferred attachment knot by most harness manufacturers and climbing gyms.
Fingerlock - Masochistic technique to twist and wedge the fingers into a crack.
Fisherman's knot - Simple knot to tie two ropes together. The double fisherman knot, however, is more popular.
Fixed pro - Bolts, rings, pitons, stuck nuts and cams and other piece of unremovable pro that may be found on a climb. Use at your own risk.
Flake - A thin bit of rock that is detached or semi-detached from the main face. See an example in our bouldering cave.
Flapper - A piece of skin torn off your hand that creates a bloody wound. Usually happens when holding on too hard when gravity is winning. Try ClimbOn! Bar to fix flappers.
Flared - A crack or chimney with sides that are not parallel, but instead form two converging planes of rock.
Flash - To lead a climb with no falls or dogging and with no previous attempts on the climb. Two variations exist: the onsight flash (where the climber has never seen the climb before) and the beta flash (where the climber has studied the climb before or has seen someone do the climb).
Free climbing - Moving up a rock using only hands, feet, and natural holds. Ropes and pro are only used for protection of the climber and not for progression.
Free solo - Free climbing while using no ropes for protection. You fall - you die.
Friend - Wild Country Trade name for the original camming devices.
Grade - A number denoting the seriousness of a route (not to be confused with the rating of climb, which describes the technical difficulty). In Britain, however, the word grade means both grade and rating. In Australia we use the open-ended Ewbank Grading System, with a Grade 1 being really easy and a Grade 36 being at the top end, for the time being.
Grounder - A fall where the kinetic energy is not absorbed by the rope and pro, but rather by mother earth itself. Can hurt badly.
Grigri® - Nifty but somewhat controversial belaying device made by Petzl. We use them as the belay device of choice at Cliffhanger for Top Roping. We don't prefer them that much for leading, as we find people get lazy with them.
Half rope - A rope of 9 or 8.5 mm that has to be used together with a second rope when leading a climb.
Handjam - Slightly masochistic technique where the hand is wedged into a crack. Can be more comfortable when using Hand Jammies - see our online store. Also a brand of climbing had care crème made in Australia - also available on our online store.
Harness - Piece of clothing that identifies you as a climber. The coolness factor can be significantly enhanced by hanging things from the harness that go cling. May also save your life in the vent of a fall.
Haul bag - Large and robust bag used to haul food, water, climbing gear, sleeping bag, television, satellite dish, and other essential equipment that is required, up a big wall. Also know as "the pig".
Headwall - Where the face of a mountain steepens dramatically.
Helmet - Solid plastic device that can sometimes protect the head from falling stones or impact (Aka a brainbucket).
Hex - Short for Hexentrix. A type of nut with an excentric hexagonal shape. Works for wedging (as a nut) but also for camming.
Highball bouldering - climbing boulder problems in excess of 25 feet tall, in which the consequences of falling include broken bones, paralysis or death.
Hueco -A beautifully shaped pocket with a positive lip named after these incredible features found at the Hueco Tanks bouldering area in Texas. We have some examples in our bouldering cave.
Hold - Anything that can be held on to.
Ice axe - Device used for ice climbing, glacier crossing, or scaring away burglars.
Ice screw -A protection device for ice climbing. Looks like a large bolt that can be screwed in hard ice.
Italian hitch - Munter hitch knot or HMS knot
Jam - To wedge body parts in a crack.
Jug - Very large hold (short for jug handle) (Aka "bucket" in the US).
Jugs - Big wall speak for Ascenders
Jug, to - To ascend up a line (big wall lingo).
Jumar - A brand/type of rope ascending device. (Jumar, to - To ascend a rope using ascenders, jumaring).
Karabiner - see bottom of page
Kernmantle rope - Modern climbing rope consisting of bundles of continuous nylon filaments (Kern) surrounded by a braided protective sheath (Mantle).
kN - Kilonewton. An abbreviation usually found on karabiners and other climbing gear. For those of you who are not engineers, one kilonewton is about 101.97 kg. Most climbing gear is rated at 22kN, which is 2,243.37kgs!
Layback - Somewhat clumsy looking climbing technique where hands and feet work in opposition.
Leader - Person who leads a climb.
Lead, to - To ascend a climb from the bottom up, placing protection (or clipping protection) as you go.
Limestone - Type of rock found in abundance in southern France (usually white and full of pockets and holds).
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. Lockoffs on small holds will get you pumped in a hurry.
Manky - Term used to describe a fixed bolt that looks like it was placed before the last ice age. Use these bolts at your own discretion
Mantle - A semi-difficult balancing move useful to get up on ledges, where you press up with both arms, lifting your body until you can then raise one leg to the same ledge.
Mixed climbing - Climbing with a combination of different methods of ascent. e.g mixed free and aid climbing, mixed rock and ice climbing, etc.
Multi pitch climb - Climb that consists of more than a single pitch.
Munter hitch - Knot used for belaying (Aka italian hitch or friction hitch). The Germans love this knot (see HMS).
Nailing - An ancient term used to describe direct-aid climbing with pitons.
Needle - Rock with a characteristic pointed shape. Also known as pinnacle, aiguille, gendarme, etc.
Névé - Consolidated granular snow formed by repeated freeze-and-thaw cycles. Also used to indicate permanent snowfields.
Nut - Metal wedge used for protection in cracks.
Nut key - The piece of metal that Americans call a nut tool.
Nut tool - The piece of metal that can be used to remove stuck nuts or cams. In the Australia/UK: nut key
Off width - A climb too wide to jam, too small to chimney. And then I've heard of people who actually like this kind of climbing - Simon Mentz!!! Try the off-width on wall # 16 at Cliffhanger then you'll see!
On-sight flash - Leading a climb with no falls and no dogging and without any prior attempts, watching someone do it or beta on how to do the moves.
Over-cam - To compress a cam to its absolute minimum size during placement, effectively eliminating the possibility of extraction.
Overhand knot - A simple (but solid) knot in a double rope.
Overhang - Rock/Ice/Indoor wall that is "more than vertical".
Pendulum - A swing on the rope, either intentional to gain a distant anchor on big wall climbs or unintentional when falling during a traverse with not enough pro in place.
Pink point - To red-point a climb where the pro and runners have been pre-placed.
Pitch - A section of climb between two belays and no longer than the length of one rope (this used to mean 45m, nowadays pitches can also be 50 or even 60m long -- check your topo).
Piton - Metal spike hammered into a crack (has come in disuse for all but some special applications) (Aka "peg" in the UK).
Pocket - A hold formed by a (small) depression in the rock.
Portaledge - A hanging tent with built in bed used on big walls (and big trees).
Pro, Protection - Anchors placed during the climb to protect the leader. Beware: even properly placed pro does not prevent pregnancy or the transmission of STDs.
Prussik (Prussic) -The sliding knot or the method to ascend a rope (named after its inventor Dr. Karl Prusik).
Pumped - The feeling of overworked muscles. Most climbers are familiar with the forearm pump: too much finger work causes the forearms to swell and the strength to disappear. With a serious forearm pump, even holding a glass of beer can become a serious challenge.
Pumpy - Describes a climb that will leave you pumped.
Quickdraw - quick short sling with karabiners on either side
Rack - The climbing gear carried during an ascent. (to rack - to sort the rack before engaging on the next climb or pitch.)
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 its first attempt.
Ring - A large (2 inch diameter) ring that is cemented in the rock as a bolt. Rings are very common in Germany and France and are excellent for rappelling and hanging belays.
"Rock" - Scream let out to warn people down below that a piece of rock has been overcome by gravity. The loudness, number of repetitions, and/or panic in voice with which this word is uttered is often an indication of the seriousness of the rock. In the UK, you're more likely to hear "Below", beware!
Roof - Seriously overhanging part in a climb (more or less horizontal).
Runner - A loop of tape or webbing either sewn or tied (Aka sling, especially in the UK). In the UK, a 'runner' is a running belay.
Runout - Distance between two elements of pro. A route is "runout" when the distance between those two elements of pro becomes uncomfortably long.
Second - The climber who follows the leader..
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... Also un-weighting a sewing machine leg will help, weighting it will not!
Sharp end! - The end of the rope to which the leader is attached.
Short roping - Technique where both climbers are tied close together into the middle of the rope. The rest of the rope is then carried over the shoulders in a coil. ALSO a Belaying technique where the belayer keeps the leader under tension in an attempt reduce the length of a fall.
Side pull - A hand hold that needs to be held with a horizontal (sideways) pull.
Sit start - To start a bouldering problem from a sitting position, there are few in our bouldering areas.
Skyhook - A particular type of hook used for aid climbing - made by Petzl or Black Diamond.
Slab - Flat and seemingly featureless, not quite vertical piece of rock.
Sloper - A pathetic downward slanting hold. (Usually look like buckets from below.)
Smearing - Foot technique where a big part of the climbing shoe is used to generate as much friction as possible. The opposite of edging.
Soloing - Climbing alone, though not necessarily without the protection of a rope
Sport climbing - Climbing routes of gymnastic difficulty while protection oneself by clipping copiously numbered and generously spaced preplaced free protection.
Stem, to - Bridging with the feet between two holds
Sticht plate - A belay device consisting of a plate with two slots in it. An original creation by Franz Sticht. Commonly miss-spelt as Stitch Plate in Australia by naive uneducated climbers.
Summit - The top of a mountain or rock. To Summit is to reach the summit or in climbing comps, referred to as holding the last hold on the route for the designated duration.
Talus - Large blocks of rock. A coarse variation of scree. Not really used in Australia.
Tape knot - A rethreaded overhand knot used on tape/webbing. It is the best knot for these materials. Also referred to as a Threaded overhand - a solid but not failproof knot also known as water knot or tape knot (UK), or ring bend when used on webbing.
Thrutchy
Requiring a whole lot of strength (and enthusiasm in a way). Used in Australia - where all the climbing is upside down.
Tick marks -Little smears of chalk used to locate holds when bouldering.
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 safety rope attached to the top of the climb (usually one walks to the top to set up the top-rope belay). Also predominately done in climbing gyms.
Trad - Traditional climbing, characterised by the placing of protection (cams, nuts, etc.) in cracks and pockets. Trad also includes multi-pitch routes often with long runouts.
Trad fall - A fall during a trad climb, sometimes accompanied by the popping sound of protection succumbing to the temptations of gravity. See also 'crater' and 'screamer'.
Traverse - Horizontal climbing
Undercling - A hold that would be a perfect bucket if gravity were upside down. As it is, underclings are usually awkward holds that require lieback type moves.
Un-Zip - A fall where the protection pulls out one after the other as the leader succumbs to gravity. Often ends with a grounder, decking out or a cardiac arrest - it never ends well.
Verglas - Thin water ice on rock.
Webbing (tubular) - Flat and strong strip of nylon, that is hollow in the inside.
Webbing (loop of) - A runner made of webbing.
Weighting - The delicate test of placing weight on a piece of pro after placing it. Usually with aid climbing.
Whipper - A very very long fall.
White ice - Ice with lots of air bubbles that forms from melted-and-frozen snow. Good climbing stuff.
Woodie - A homemade climbing wall.
Yard, to - To pull on a piece of protection. Strictly speaking aid climbing.
Z-Pulley System - Complicated rope setup that allows you to hoist heavy weights with relatively little force. Excellent for rescuing or hauling bags.
Climbing Calls/Dialogue -
"On Belay"
Query to verify if the belayer is ready to secure the climber (Australia/US only).
"Belay on"
When the belayer is ready to belay the climber up, he yells "Belay on". (At least in the US, "belay on" would only confuse the hell out of a Aussie climber who prefers to hear "Climb when ready").
"Climb when ready"
The British equivalent of "Belay on".
"That's me"
Part of the climbing dialogue. Courtesy call to the belayer to indicate that the slack in the rope is all taken up and that further pulling is pointless.
"Climbing"
What the climber shouts after the belayer screams "Belay on".
"Falling"
Yelled when a climber is (about to) fall.
"Got me?"
A wake up call for the belayer, used to warn her that you are about to put some weight on the rope.
"Watch me"
Call to indicate the climber is about to do something stupid -- like fall.
"Take"
American/Australian monosyllable for "Up Rope". Also used by top-ropers and sports-climbers to indicate that they have reached the top and want to be lowered.
"Take in"
The British equivalent of "Up Rope".
"Tension!?"
Yelled out to the belayer to make sure he really takes in the slack. Usually "tension" is used by a climber that is ready to pop off. The progression of severity usually goes "up rope", "tight rope", "tension!".
"Tight rope"
Or just "Tight" is sued in Australia. Urgent request to the belayer to take the slack out of the system. Somewhat stronger than "up rope
"Slack"
Yelled when the climber needs more rope (e.g. to clip into protection), not when the belayer is simply being slack!
"Up Rope"
In the USA, yelled by the leader or the follower when she/he wants a tighter belay. (In UK/Australia: "Take in" or "Tight" or even "Watch me").
"Off Belay"
Yelled when the climber no longer requires a belay (e.g. because she/he has reached a stance). Once the belayer hears "off belay", he/she removes the rope from the belay device and yells "belay off". In UK, Australia and New Zealand: "Safe".
"Safe"
The Australian/British equivalent of "Off Belay".
"Taking in"
Heard often in British crags, meaning the climber is "off belay" and about to pull up the slack between him and the belayer."Rope"
Should be yelled when a rope is about to be thrown to the base of the crag (though most of the time it seems like "rope" is shouted about 1-2 seconds after the rope is thrown). In Australia/UK, shout "Rope below".
There are also some slack sport climbing variations developing in Australia, such as:
"Got Me" - "Gotcha" - "Going" - "Gone"
Karabiners -
A Karabiner in essence is a connector, it can be made from aluminium or steel and can be locking or non-locking. Also referred to as a Carabiner and Karibiner in other countries. The common variations are:
Krab - short for karabiner, common Australian reference for a crab, is a non-locking karabiner. Also referred to as a Crab in some countries.
Bent gate krab - Krab with the gate bent to accept the rope more easily. Not uncontroversial.
Straight Gate Krab - Krab with a non-locking straight gate
Wire Gate Krab - Krab with a wire version of a gate, instead of a solid alloy one. Wire gates are usually straight and should NOT be used on Australian bolted routes as they will come off removable bolt plates.
HMS Karabiner - this refers to a karabiner with one wide side used for belaying with a Munter Hitch. The HMS shape is quite common for larger locking karabiners.
Locking biner - US slang for locking karabiner, or Karabiner that can be locked via some means.
Screwgate - The type of karabiner that can be locked with a screw barrel.
Twistlock - A locking karabiner where the gate is locked with a spring-loaded clip. Basic Twist-locks should be avoided, we recommend only using "triple lock" mechanisms - those requiring 3 independent actions to physically deactivate the locking mechanism/open the gate.