#27crags

Norway contains some of the best climbing areas in the world, with climbs for both the average beginner up as well as the pros. Because I was busy traveling through various parts of the country visiting friends I hadn’t seen in awhile, I only climbed for one of the 10 days. However, I would love to come back and check out the other areas. After an amazing day hike to Pulpit Rock, one of my rock…

Climbers use a lot of slang and it can be hard for a new climber to keep up with all the terms.  With that in mind we thought it would be a good idea to help with terms and their meanings.  Try and Learn all the words tossed about at your climbing gym or crag so you can say what you mean and mean what you say.

Aid Climbing:  Climbing by pulling or resting on gear that is either placed or fixed into the rock. This is in contrast to Free Climbing. Aid routes are also called “Nail Ups.” A route which requires Aid Climbing is rated Grade 6 (Free Climbing is rated Grade 5, as in 5.10).

Anchor:  The point where a climber’s rope is securely attached to the rock.

Arête:1- A small ridge-like feature or a sharp outward facing corner on a steep rock face.  2- A method of indoor climbing, in which one is able to use such a corner as a hold.  See also dihedral.

Bail:  To retreat of jump off a climb.

Barn-door:  A poor example of balance. If a climber has only two points of contact using either the right or left side of his body, the other half may swing uncontrollably out from the wall like a door on a hinge.

Beta:  Information about a route.  Advice on how to successfully complete (or protect) a particular climbing route, boulder problem, or crux sequence.

Beta-Tubing:  To research video beta online (via 27Crags, youtube or, Vimeo)  before heading out to the crag.

Belay:  Use of a rope to protect a climber against a fall. A climber can be belayed by another person, or be climbing alone, using an advanced technique called a self-belay.

Belay device:  A device used by the belayer which acts as the brake on the rope. Some examples are figure 8’s, ATC’s, and GriGri’s.

Biners:  A climbing slang word for carabiners.

Bivouac:  A camp, or the act of camping. On a big wall, camp can be made on a natural ledge or an artificial one, generally an aluminum and nylon cotlike device called a portaledge that hangs from one or more anchors on the wall. Also, “Bivy”.

Bolt:  A bolt screw drilled into the rock face.

Bomber:  Fail-safe and solid.

Carabiner:  An oval or D-shaped link of lightweight aluminum or alloy that serves as the climber’s all-purpose connector.

Boulder / Bouldering:  A style of climbing which involves climbing only at a height the climber feels comfortable jumping to the ground.

Chimney:  A wide crack that accommodates (most of) the body of the climber.

Choss:  Rotten rock.

Clean:  The act of removing any non-fixed protection from the rock.

Crag:  A climbing area, usually a cliff.

Crank:  To pull on a hold as hard as you possibly can.

Crater:  To fall and hit the ground pretty hard.

Crimp / Crimper:  A very small hold which allows only finger tips.

Crux:  The hardest move, or series of moves, on a climb. The rating of a climb is generally that of the most difficult move.

Deadpoint:  A dynamic move which involves precision movement in order to catch the hold at the peak of the move before momentum waivers and gravity starts taking over.

Dihedral:  An inside corner of rock, with more than a 90-degree angle between the faces.

Dynamic motion:  Any move in which body momentum is used to progress. As opposed to static technique where three-point suspension and slow, controlled movement is the rule.

Dyno:  Short for Dynamic.  Refers to a powerful climbing move in which one jumps for one hold on the wall to a different one that would otherwise be out of reach. Generally both feet will leave the rock face and return again once the target hold is caught. Non-climbers would call it a jump or a leap.

Edging:  Climbing technique when climber places edge of shoe precisely on top of a hold or unconformity on the rock. The opposite of smearing.

Epic:  A climbing slang that means a big adventure.

Figure Eight / Follow-Through knot:  The safety knot which climbers use to rope climb (tie in to a harness).                                                                                                     

Finger board:  Training equipment used to build finger strength.  Finger Boards are use to hang and do pulls ups on.

First Ascent:  A first ascent is when a climber or climbers are the first people to climb a route, whether it is a short sport route, a top-rope route, a big wall, a boulder problem, an ice fall, or a mountain. Climbers who do the first ascents of routes are the ones who give them their identifying names.

Flagging:  Climbing technique where a leg is held in a position to maintain balance, rather than to support weight. Often useful to prevent Barn-dooring.

Flapper:  A bad cut on a finger where the skin hangs off or is flapping.

Flash:  To climb a route / problem on the first try without falling.

Freaked:  To be really scared on a climb.

Free Climbing:  Climbing using only hands and feet to move upwards. Unlike Aid Climbing, free climbing uses the rope and gear only as protection against a fall, not as a ladder for upward movement. This method also stresses the use of gear that is temporarily placed in the rock for protection by the leader, and then removed by the second climber.

Gobies:  Cuts on the hands.

Grade:  A grade in regular terms is a mark indicating a level of accomplishment, an accepted standard.

Griped:  To  be scared on a climb.

Gumby:  A Novice climber.

Handdog:  A climber who hangs from the rope on a route.

Heinous:  Scary and dangerous climb, move, or landing.

High Ball:  A high and scary boulder problem.  A boulder problem that is high enough to inflict injury upon you should you fall.

Honed:  Strong and in great climbing shape.

Indoor:  Public climbing gyms and homegrown climbing walls have been around for about a dozen years now. These artificial environments substitute the bumps, cracks and other irregularities found in natural rock with a vast assortment of cast fiberglass holds. The holds, some as small as silver dollars and others as large as a gallon milk jugs, are bolted to plywood walls in specific sequences. The walls themselves can be sloped in or out and arranged to form inside and outside corners, overhangs, cracks, and other common climbing situations.

Jug:  Big, comfortable handholds (Feels as secure as a rung on a ladder).

Jumar:  An ascender is a mechanical device used for ascending on a rope. One such device is a Jumar, named after the Swiss factory which developed the first tool for sale in 1958. The device’s name also leads to the term Jumaring for the process of using such a device. Other terms for this process include ascending, prusiking and jugging.

Mantel / Topping Out:  A climbing move which looks like a small child climbing up to the kitchen counter. Hand(s) are on ledge, one foot comes up, as you rock over one hand with your elbow locked.

Manky:  Bad gear or rotten rock.

Matching:  Having both hands or both feet on the same hold.

On-Sight:  Similar to Flash which means climbing without any falls. The difference being it is the first time the climber has ever seen the route, and hasn’t been given beta by another climber.

Overhang:  A face or boulder that is less than 90 degrees. Requires technique and strength to even get off the ground.

**Problem:  Boulderers climb problems not routes, implying that the boulderers task requires more thinking, consideration and solving than simple route climbing. This might even be true if you exclude chalk, tick marks and climb V14.

Pumped:  When forearms are flooded with blood and you lose grip strength.

Pumpy:  A route’s strenuous nature.

Quickdraw:  A pair of carabiners connected with a short piece of webbing. A quickdraw is used to quickly connect a climber to a piece of pro or a permanent anchor.

Rack:  Your full set of gear needed to climb a route.

Rappel:  Using a rope to descend from a climb. Modern rappels are generally done with a rappel device, which creates friction on the rope to help control the descent. Also called abseiling.

Redpoint:  When a climber has led a climb from top to bottom without weighting the rope or gear. Also called a “clean ascent”. In the 1980s, German climber Kurt Albert marked climbs which he had done with no falls with a redpoint at their base.

Rope Gun:  A climber which does all the leading.

Sandbag:  To underestimate a route’s difficulties.

Screamer:  A long fall.

**Send:  A successful ascent / climb  of a problem.

Sidepull:  A hand hold which is pulled on from the side instead of downwards like most holds.

Sketched Out:  Feeling insecure.

Smearing:  A climbing technique in which the climber attempts to stand on the rock by getting as much friction as possible between his shoe and the rock. Generally this involves placing the sole or toe of the shoe directly on the rock surface, then pushing and twisting the foot. The opposite of edging.

Soloing:  When a climber ascends without a partner, rope or equipment to protect him from a fall. A “Rope Solo” is when a solo climber uses a rope to self-belay. “Simul-Soloing” is when two climbers solo together without the benefit of a rope.

Sport /Lead Climbing:  Sport climbing is different from traditional in that the climber depends on fixed bolts rather than removable protection. Sport climbing routes often follow seemingly impossible paths, sometimes straight up huge, smooth rock walls, sometimes far out on horizontal overhangs. The emphasis in sport climbing is usually more on technique than topping out. Falls are frequent, though seldom serious, as climbers constantly push the limits of gravity and ability.

Top Roping:  A pre-protected climb from above. The belay for a top roped climb can either be from the top of the pitch or the bottom. Climbs can be led, then top roped or protected by hiking to the top and fixing the anchor.

Thrutch:  To climb without grace.

Trad or Traditional climbing:  Requires a leader to place his own temporary protection, rather than merely clipping into bolts. A climber places protection into the cracks and crevasses at points that may be anywhere from a few feet to several yards apart depending on the difficulty of the route. The term gained popularity in the late 1980s with the development of Sport Climbing routes-climbs that were pre-protected with bolts.

Undercling:  A hand hold which is used by pulling up against it instead of pulling down.

** V-Scale:  The current grading scale used by most of the developed world. The ‘V’ comes from the safety conscious originator of the grading scale, John ‘Volvo’ Sherman. The ‘V’ in the V-scale comes from John Sherman nickname of ‘Vermin’.

Whipper:  A long fall.

Wired:  To know a route’s moves and do them with relative ease.