Climbing Jargons

Like any other sport or field of science, climbing and mountaineering is replete with jargons or terminologies that we often use to indicate objects, climbing scenarios etc. It is imperative to understand these terminologies without ambiguity or confusion for you to climb or to read climbing technical books. In my blog I use these terms frequently. Many of you have asked me to put down a climbing lexicon for common usage. Here is the first part. If there are any climbing jargon you have come across or heard and I have not covered in this list (including in part 2) then do leave a comment on that and I will explain it later. Unless you are a regular climber and climb often with people from different nationalities, memorizing these jargons are not necessary though a general understanding will help you to grasp and enjoy the climbing nuances. Here they are alphabetically: -

Abseil: German term (also employed by the British) for rappel; a method for descending a fixed rope by means of sliding and braking mechanisms known as belay devices.

Aid Climbing: Direct use of fixed or placed protection (pitons, spring-loaded cams, bolts, rivets, etc.) to support a climber's weight and assist in upward progress.

Aid Route: A technical rock climb that requires the use of artificial devices such as pitons, spring-loaded cams, bolts, rivets, etc. to support the climber's weight for upward progress.

Alpine Style: An ultra-lightweight method of climbing in which equipment and food rations (i.e., comfort and security) are trimmed to the barest essentials in order to facilitate a swift ascent to the summit.

AMS: Acute Mountain Sickness. A group of symptoms brought on by lower blood levels of oxygen at higher altitudes. Symptoms include headache, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, malaise and disturbed sleep.

Anchor: Point where the rope is secured to the rock with either fixed bolts, rocks, trees or non-fixed gear to provide protection against a fall.

Approach: The route undertaken to reach the technical portions of a climb.

Arête: A sharp ridge of rock or snow and ice found in rugged mountains or when two planes of rock or snow wall jut from a face and intersect.

Ascenders: Mechanical sliding and braking devices used to move up a rope. Sometimes generically referred to as the brand name Jumar.

ATC: Air Traffic Controller. A popular belaying and rappelling device which, when used in conjunction with a locking carabiner, provides a safety brake on the rope.

Bail: To give up on a rock climb or summit attempt for reasons that range from the legitimate (weather, lateness, injury, fatigue) to the suspect (hunger, thirst, discomfort, job obligations, waiting wives, husbands or significant others).

Base Camp: The lowest, largest (and most luxurious) fixed camp on a major ascent.

Bat Hook: A bat hook is a hook filed to a sharp point for tapping into shallow drilled holes for aid climbing.

Belay: Safety technique in which a stationary climber provides protection, by means of ropes, anchors and braking devices, to an ascending partner.

Belay Device: A forged metal device of various configurations through which a climbing rope is threaded and then linked to a carabiner in order to provide friction to brake a fall.

Belay Station: A stance on a rock face of varying degrees of discomfort from which a climber provides roped protection for his or her ascending partner.

Bergschrund: A gap or crevasse which appears between a glacier and the upper snows of a mountain's face.

Beta: Any advance information (weather, rock or snow conditions, terrain features, local lore) which helps in planning or negotiating a climb.

Big Wall Climb: A technical rock climb so long and sustained that an ascent normally requires more than a single day.

Bird Beak: A thin, hooking-type piton used to hook small cracks. Bird beaks are easily removable and used on clean ascents.

Bivouac: A temporary camp — sometimes planned, often not — that provides little or no shelter from the elements. Bivy, or Bivi, for short.

Black Ice: Permanent ice found in shady couloirs or on steep north faces that is usually extremely hard, dense and difficult to climb.

Bolt: Stout metal pin drilled in the rock of steep routes to provide permanent protection for climbers.

Bomber: Has extremely high quality and dependability. Usually refers to a handhold, but can also describe a piece of equipment, a campsite or any generally positive or beneficial item or state of being.

Bong: No, not that. It's an extra-wide-angled piton used primarily in the early days of big wall climbing.

Boulder: To climb short, hard routes on low-lying rocks without protective gear.

Bucket: A handhold large enough to latch the entire hand onto — as with the lip of a bucket.

Buttress: A rock formation that projects out from the line of a face.

Cam: Generic term for mechanical spring-loaded devices of varying sizes and manufacture (Friends, Camalots, TCUs, etc) which can be inserted in cracks to secure a climbing rope.

Campus:Dynamic climbing move executed using the arms only, orignated by Wolfang Gullich.

Carabiner: Forged aluminum or steel devices of various shapes (oval, D-ring, etc.) with a spring-loaded gate through which a climbing rope can be threaded. The most basic all-around tool on a climber's rack, they are used variously for such activities as belaying, rappelling, prusiking and clipping into safety anchors. (Common usage: "Biner").

Chalk: Powdered magnesium carbonate used by climbers to dry sweaty hands.

Chickenhead: A protruding lump found in granite which provides excellent handholds or foot placements.

Chimney: A crack large enough to climb inside of.

Chute: A very steep gully. (Chute is French for "fall," and refers to the rockfall often found in such gullies.)

Cirque:A steep-walled mountain basin which usually forms the blunt end of a valley. (French for "circus.")

Clean: To remove the protective gear placed by the climbing leader while ascending. Usually accomplished by the following climber, or "second." Also can refer to climbing an aid route without a hammer.

Cleaning tool: A narrow metal device with a hooked end used for removing nuts or cams stuck in cracks. Also employed post-climb as a beer bottle opener.

Clipping in: The act of a climber using a carabiner to connect to belays and anchors or to connect ropes to protection.

Col: A dip in a ridge that forms a small, high pass.

Copperhead: A malleable chunk of metal (once made of copper, but now often aluminum), swaged (attached) to a flexible wire loop, that can be hammered into small depressions in the rock for protection in aid climbing.

Cornice: An overhanging mass of wind-sculpted snow projecting beyond the crest of a ridge; generally an extremely dangerous feature of terrain.

Couloir: An open, steep gully, usually containing ice or snow.

Crack Climbing: Free climbing up a rock by wedging one's hands and feet into a crack in the rock and pulling upward.

Crampons: Spiked metal devices which attach to climbing boots to provide purchase on ice and firm snow slopes.

Crank:To pull on a hold with maximum force; to expend total effort in any endeavor.

Crevasse: A crack in a glacier surface of varying width and depth, caused by the movement of the glacier over underlying irregularities in terrain.

Crimper: A negligible hold that accommodates only the fingertips.

Crux: The most difficult section of a climbing route.

Daisy Chain: A nylon sling sewn into loops; also used to provide supplemental security at belay stations.

Deadman: An alloy fluke or plate which is placed into deep snow to provide an anchor.

Dead Hang: To hang from a handhold with arms straight so body weight is supported by the skeleton rather than arm muscles.

Deadpoint: A dynamic climbing technique in which a hold is grabbed at the very apex of upward motion, thereby placing the smallest possible load on the hold.

Dihedral: A point where two walls meet in a right-angled inside corner, ie. an "open book."

Downclimb: To descend a mountain or a rock face without weighting a rope; often accomplished without protection, and hence potentially the most dangerous part of a climb.

Dry-tool: To ascend a section of rock using ice tools, a common technique employed on routes that contain both rock and ice sections.

Dyno: Short for "dynamic," a gymnastic upward leap for a distant hold.

Edging: A climbing technique in which the thin edges of the climbing shoes are used to stand on small footholds.

Etriers: Portable "step ladders" usually made of nylon webbing clipped into protection and used to progress upward on steep, featureless rock in aid climbing.

Exposure: The condition of being on high vertical rock with full consciousness that nothing exists between you and the distant ground but thin air.

Face Climbing: Ascending rock that is predominantly made up of finger pockets and thin edges.

Fall: To retreat in dynamic fashion from a climb.

Fifi Hook: The fifi hook is attached to the climber's harness and serves as an emergency or temporary method of clipping in to a piece of gear.

Figure Eight Knot: The basic climber's knot. When retraced, it is used to attach a climber's harness to the rope.

Fingerlock: A crack climbing technique wherein the fingers are wedged (often painfully) into a crack for purchase on the rock.

Fist Jam: Similar to a finger-lock except that the entire fist is wedged into a crack.

Fixed rope: A rope anchored to a route by the lead climber and left in place for all who follow. May also be left by an unknown climber for an unknown length of time. Used to ascend and descend the route when the climbers want to sleep on the ground or are shuttling gear up.

Flared:A crack or chimney whose sides are not parallel, but form two converging planes of rock to the back.

Flash: To successfully lead a climb you've never previously attempted - with no falls or "dogging," (ie. hanging on the rope), but with prior knowledge (beta) of its features or difficulties.

Follow: To be the second climber up a pitch, belayed by the leader from above.

Free Climb: To ascend steep rock without recourse to artificial aids, using only the hands and feet to propel oneself upward. (Although ropes and anchoring devices are employed for protection, they are not used to bear the weight of the climber or for upward progress.)

Free Solo: To climb with no protective devices whatsoever, relying solely on strength, agility, technique and an ability to accept or ignore the consequences of long falls from high places.

Friend: Trade name for one of the original spring-loaded camming devices.

Front Point: A technique for ascending steep or overhanging ice. The two forward points and two vertical points of the crampons are used for purchase simultaneously with the supporting balance of hand-held tools, such as ice axes.

Glissade: An exhilarating (or terrifying, depending on the circumstances) slide down snow or ice on one's feet or backside.

HACE: High Altitude Cerebral Edema is the most serious form of altitude sickness, involving swelling of brain tissue. Symptoms include loss of memory and coordination, vision disturbances and hallucinations, paralysis and seizures. Immediate evacuation and treatment is imperative.

HAPE: High Altitude Pulmonary Edema, is a dangerous form of altitude sickness involving fluid buildup in the lungs. Symptoms include breathlessness, fatigue, pink sputum and increased heart rate. Going to lower altitude is highly recommended.

Hand Traverse: Climbing laterally on rock where there are no footholds.

Hanging Belay: A generally uncomfortable belay stance on steep rock where there is no place to stand.

Harness: A strong belt made of nylon webbing with leg and/or chest loops used to secure the climber to the rope and to provide a repository for gear.

Haul Bag: Large, heavy, unwieldy bag used to carry food, water and gear on big wall climbs. Also know as a "Haul Pig," or just "Pig."

Headwall: The point where a cliff or mountain's face steepens dramatically.

Hexcentric: A hexagonally shaped nut attached to a flexible looped wire which is inserted into a rock crack as a protective climbing device ("Hex" for short).

Honed: To be in top condition for climbing.

Hooks: Small metal devices used to grip tiny ledges or small holes.

Hypothermia: Abnormally low body temperature caused by exposure to cold and wetness, symptoms of which are sluggishness, reduced mental capacity and apathy.

Ice Fall: A feature of a mountain's terrain in which a glacier falls so steeply that it creates a series of crevasses and ice pinnacles. Usually one of the most dangerous features encountered on a mountain climb.

Ice screw: A threaded piton made of aluminum or some other light metal designed to bore into ice securely enough to act as a protective anchor.

Jamming: A technique for climbing cracks in which the fingers, hands, or feet are wedged inside a rock crack to gain purchase and facilitate upward progress.

Jam Crack: A crack which is wide enough to accomodate a hand, fist, arm, foot, or elbow (or combination thereof).

Jug: To ascend a rope using a mechanical sliding/braking device.

Jug Hold: A handhold so luxuriantly secure that it can be grasped like a jug handle. Also known as a "Bomber."

Layback (Lieback): A technique wherein a climber's hands are positioned to pull on one side of a crack while the feet push in opposition from the other, facilitating a crablike advance up the rock.

Lead: To be the first climber up a pitch, placing protection in the rock along the way while being belayed by a partner from below.

Locking Carabiner: A carabiner whose gate can be screwed or locked tight for increased security.