Version 1.07 April 1, 1996
Aggro: Short for aggressive. Can also be a world view. 'Burning is such an aggro route
Aid: Use of gear (artificial aids) to support all or part of the climber's weight in his attempt to ascend the rock. Aid climbers all diss each other's ratings with comments like, 'You think that's A6? If all the gear pulled, you would land in soft pine needles from 150 feet up, so it's only A5.'
Aliez: (pronounced 'allay') French for 'go.' Has come to be a universal yell of encouragement if a climber starts sketching big-time.
Anorexic: Someone capable of climbing harder than you can, which you attribute to his being in shape. 'The climbers at Smith are a bunch of anorexic weenies.'
A Vue: French for 'on sight.' If a route is climbed with no falls and absolutely no prior information other than the grade, it is considered a true A Vue ascent. Any information about cruxes, clips or moves automatically diminishes the effort to a flash.
Barndoor: By losing your balance, one side of your body will swing wide open into space, just like a barndoor.
Belay Slave: Someone who is motivated to belay for you out of coercion, bribery, 'devotion' or guilt.
Beta: Information about a route, ranging from required gear to movement sequences. 'Quick, dude, give me some beta - I'm about to whip!' A beta flash is not an a vue. 'I beta-flashed To Bolt Or Not To Be, but the guy gave me a bogus sequence, so I basically on sighted it.'
Bi-doight, Bi-dot: Doight is French for finger, so a Bi-doight is a two-finger pocket. Bi-dot is the angle approximation.
Bogus: Not good.
Bumbly: Any climber someone thinks doesn't climb as well as the person using the word. 'I hate going to the Gunks on the weekends. The place is swarming with bumblies.'
Campus board: An aggro training device consisting of rounded sections of wood mounted ladder-like on an overhanging board.
Chiseling: Deliberate alteration of the rock. Viewed by some rads as the future of the sport (Never mind that chipping / chiseling / drilling have been going on since the Anasazis) and an abomination roughly equivalent to Spitting on Jerry Garcia by older trads.
Choss: Loose rocks or any kind of rock a climber isn't used to.
Cleaning: Removal of loose rock, debris, vegetation (including moss or lichen) from rock on a climb. See also 'Comfortizing.'
Cling grip: A hand position midway between a crimp and open-hand, where the fingers are bent at roughly 9O degrees. Very hard on the tendons, but common in shallow letterbox pockets.
Comfortize: A euphemism for altering the rock (removing sharp edges, etc.) to make the route more user-friendly. See also 'chiseling.'
Competition: Competition is unorganized among trads, but seems to consist of convoluted one-upmanship and loud slander sessions. The same is true for sport climbers, but organized climbing competitions take place on artificial walls and follows staggeringly complicated rules.
Cord: Rope.
Crack climbing: To get a feel for this type of climbing, put your hand in a door have a friend slam the door and then hang on your hand. You have just experienced a hand crack. Substitute other parts of your body for finger cracks, etc....
Crank: To pull really hard.
Crater: A fall in which the climber hits the ground so hard he leaves a small crater. Poor form and to be avoided.
Crimper: A hold that requires you to crimp your fingers in order to use it. To crimp a piece of steel is to bend it back on itself.
Cross-through: Put both hands above your head, then reach one across your body so your arm is against your chest. The hardest part of this move is often uncrossing it.
Crozley: A really putrid hold or even entire route. 'That hold is so crozley- yesterday it felt like a handlebar and today it feels like banana peel.'
Crux: A move that feels particularly hard compared to others on the route. 'I hiked the crux on Meat Is Dead, but fell off some jingus grease-fest higher up.'
Dead hang: To hang from straight arms so the weight comes onto the skeleton rather than the arm muscles.
Dead point: At the apex of every dynamic move there is a moment when all motion stops, a dead point in space. It's time to grab your next hold.
Dicey: Dangerously sketchy.
Diss: Verbal disrespect, slander.
Dog: Short for 'hangdog.' Climbing (arguably) a route by hanging on the rope, sometimes spending more time hanging than climbing. 'Cupcake Griffins had to dog his way up Reality Bites last week!'
Dope: It used to mean drugs, but now dope means really good, fresh. 'My new route is so dope.'
Doss: To sleep, live somewhere or scam a place to stay for an indefinite amount of time.
Draw-monkey: A person you can convince to lead a route and clip the quick draws (short slings with a carabiner at each end) onto the bolts for you. 'I need a draw-monkey for Churning-anyone interested?' See also 'rope gun.'
Drop-knee: A position related to an 'Egyptian', but more exaggerated and generally done on steeper terrain - one knee points toward the ground while the other foot points toward the sky, usually pressing off a block or big pocket.
Ducats: Money, jing, d'argent, dinero.
Dyno: Short for 'dynamic move.' Basically a jump for a faraway hold. Unpredictable results.
Eggbeater: A pin wheeling fall that spins you around like one of those old-style eggbeaters.
Egyptian: This move makes you look something like the marching figures in an Egyptian pictograph. To do it, place your right foot outside edge, your left foot in front of it inside edge, take a hold with your left hand and reach laterally with your right. Very effective in some situations.
Elvis syndrome When a climber stands on a small hold for too long and starts looking like Elvis from the waist down. Common on slabs. Also called 'sewing-machine' leg.
Ethics: Climbing ethics are generally an attempt by yesterday's climbing powers to discredit any new style of climbing they are unable, due to lack of skill or motivation, to practice. Arguing ethics is a sure way to stay on the ground posing instead of shutting up and climbing.
Ethics police: People who feel frustrated with life and sublimate a desire to be Nazis by enforcing rules that only they are clear about.
Fest: A large quantity of any form of behavior or item, i.e.. glue - fest, beer-fest, slander-fest, dog-fest, etc. 'That route is a total atrocity of a glue-fest. I saw some addicts getting a high by sniffing the holds last week.'
Figure four: Grab a big hold with your right hand, step over it with your left leg and reach with your left hand. Works best on very steep routes when nothing else will.
Finger lock: A portion of a crack that tapers sufficiently to accommodate a climber's fingers with some or no effort. 'I got to the crux finger lock on Meat Grinder and somebody had left a pinkie in it!'
Fish dance: The struggle to get upright, stop spinning and regain control after a fall is remarkably similar to the gyrations of a just-caught fish.
Fixed pro: Any gear that is left in the rock for future use, including nuts, pitons, bolts and slings.
Flapper: A large piece of detached skin. The skin is often reattached (or at least held in place) with Super Glue or tape, but flappers are totally jingus.
Flash: To climb a route first try without ever physically touching it before. Less of an accomplishment than an a vue, but still good. 'John flashed his first 13a, but had watched video of it for a week and had it totally wired in his head.'
Fly: Fresh, fun and large all rolled into one. 'Dale can't dance to save his life, but some of his climbing moves are totally fly.'
Fresh: New, impressive or entertaining.
Friend: When used with an initial capital, this means a spring-loaded camming device that can be placed to provide natural protection - your best friend when you're on the sharp end (of a trad climb).
Fully: Fully a good word to fully make people think you are fully into the full climbing lifestyle, fully.
Gaper: A non-climber. 'I like climbing at Devils Tower, but there are thousands of gapers all over the place!'
Gaston: Picture yourself attempting to pull open an elevator door with your bare hands. Now pretend you're doing that in order to move up an overhanging wall. Strenuous, isn't it? Can be done with one or both hands. Named after the original European rock star, Gaston Rebuffat.
Ghetto: Unpleasant, foul, weird. 'The campground in Apt is so ghetto when it rains.'
Glue: Used to either describe good conditions for hard climbing or to actually hold many modern routes together.
Gnarly: Anything gross or unpleasant. From surfing slang. 'Sally went out and climbed six or seven gnarly off widths yesterday-I think she needs a 12-step program for Off widths Anonymous.' Almost obsolete.
Gob smacked: Very impressed. British origin. 'I was just gob smacked when he pulled that move with no feet!'
Goby: A flesh wound, generally from crack climbing.
Grades: An attempt to quantify a huge amount of information into one small package that will be wrong for at least half the people who base their expected performance on the grade alone.
Gravity: An annoyance at best, a principle of physics at worst. 'I know Saturday was a high-gravity day-I couldn't even get out of bed, much less climb.'
Greasy: Slippery or slimy, though it usually refers to any route a climber can't do that day, even if the temperature is below freezing and the air virtually freeze-dried.
Gripped: Extremely scared, from white knuckles to glassy - eyed terror.
Hand crack: 'Super crack in Canyon lands is the best hand crack on the planet, except it's a fist crack for my girlfriend.'
Hand traverse: Climbing laterally on rock that lacks footholds.
Hang: To hang one's body weight on the rope, often without even falling.
Hanging belay: A belay stance with no place to stand, which means the belayer has to hang off gear.
Hardman, Hardwoman: Hardmen undergo massive self-inflicted physical and existential agony, poverty and self-deprivation in the quest to climb. 'Ben Dreadlocks lived in a cave for a year before he did Stubble. He is such a hardman.'
Heel hook: Hooking your heel on a protrusion to take weight off your arms. Very useful for pulling over roofs or preventing a barn door.
Heel-toe: An effective technique for climbing off widths, where the heel of the shoe rests against one side of the crack and the toe against the other. 'To climb Lucille, you need brilliant heel-toe technique and super-sticky rubber.'
Heino-bano: Something so awful, so totally foul, that it is way beyond belief.
Homey: A friend or someone who hangs at the same area you do. 'Hey, homey, give me a belay on this rig, would ya?'
Honed: Very amazingly fit. 'Dale Godly is so honed he has striations in his lips!'
Hooking: A type of aid climbing where the climber hangs a small metal hook on a rock edge and then hangs from it - with a prayer it will hold.
Hosed: Screwed.
Hueco: Spanish for 'hollow.' Huecos are pockets that come in all sizes. 'The Hueco on Daydream Nation is huge - I stuck both my feet into it and hung like a vampire for a full-on rest.'
Ice: Useful for cooling drinks. Any other use is a symptom of deep-seated psychological conflict.
Jamming: A technique for climbing cracks where the hands and/or feet (in various combinations) are stuffed inside the crack to facilitate upward progress. See finger lock, hand crack, thumbs up, off width, Leavittation.
Jingus: Anything you don't like is automatically jingus - and probably heinous, too.
K
Killer: Really, really good. 'Lightning Strikes Twice is such a killer route!'
Knackered: British/Canadian for 'fully tired.'
Knee lock: Sometimes it's possible to get a no-hands rest by jamming a knee against (or into) something with counter-pressure against your foot. Knee-pads are recommended.
Lay back: Climbing move where the hands pull on one side of a crack and the feet push against the other. Very useful for climbing corners. In some backwater areas of North America, climbers refer to lay backing as 'lie backing.'
Leavittation: A method of climbing off widths where both hands are stacked against each other and the sides of the crack while the feet are moved, then the feet support the body while the hands move. Developed by Tony Yaniro and Randy Leavitt.
Letter-box: A deep rectangular pocket with a narrow opening.
Lob: A fall.
Lycra: Lycra tights, first popularized by Christian Griffith and Hugh Herr, are now even more passe than painter's pants.
Manky: Almost worthless, as in manky protection.
Mantel: From 'mantelshelf.' To grab a hold above your head and press down on it as you lever your body upward, with minimal assistance from your feet. Powerful.
Match: To grasp the same hold with both hands.
Mega: Really, really good. 'Climbing in Rifle is so mega!'
Mono-doight, Mono-dot: A pocket that only accepts one finger. Common on limestone and chiseled (with a drill) routes.
Natural gear: Non-permanent protection that you place yourself.
Nick: British slang for stealing food (or whatever); a way of life for some itinerant climbers.
Nubbin: A small protrusion, often a crystal of rock or pebble, that may be used as a hold.
Nut: Nuts are small, wedge-shaped metal devices that are temporarily placed in cracks in the rock to provide protection. The original nuts were - surprise - large machine nuts with slings stuffed through the holes. They virtually replaced pitons, which damage the rock.
Offwidth: A crack wider than fist-width but narrower than a squeeze chimney.
Onsight: See a vue.
Open hand: On an open-handed hold, the climber drapes his hand over the hold, attempting to gain as much contact with the rock as possible. Generally a more tendon-friendly method of holding on than crimping or clinging.
Overweight: Anyone who might be approaching a healthy weight.
Paste: To indiscriminately slap a foot wherever it is needed for balance or upward progress.
Pile: An unappealing rock or route.
Pinch: A hold that is grasped with your thumb on one side and fingers on the other.
Pinkpoint: Climbing a route from bottom to top without falling, but with the quickdraws or other gear already in place. 'John didn't redpoint that route, he pink-pointed it. He's a total poser. See also 'redpoint' and 'draw-monkey.'
Plastic: The normal medium for indoor climbing.
Plastic master: Expert climber of artificial walls. Slightly derogatory when used by a trad, a compliment coming from a red.
Pocket: A hole in the rock, ranging from little more than a shallow divot to something you can practically camp inside of. Common on sedimentary rocks such as limestone or sandstone.
Pop: A short, dynamic move or fall. 'I popped for the edge, but popped off when I missed it.'
Poser: French (poseur) for 'an affected person.' People who can climb thousands of feet without their feet ever leaving the ground-and look good doing it.
Pro: Short for 'protection.' Removable or permanent equipment placed in the rock which keeps you from hitting the ground.
Psyched: Happy.
Pumped: If abused long enough, muscles become engorged, or 'pumped up,' with blood. 'Man, Arnold Schwarzenegger has nothing on the pump I got last night while doing laps on Foops!'
Rad routes: are really exceptionally good routes, while a Rad climber generally prefers clipping bolts on perfect rock over groveling with manky gear on obscure crack routes in places like Yosemite. 'Climbing in France is so rad - no trads, all the routes are bolted and the rock is perfect.'
Redpoint: Climbing a route from bottom to top in one push, placing yourown pro or quickdraws, and not being supported by anything other than the rock. Most climbers claim a redpoint even if it was a pinkpoint.
Rig: Route. 'That rig is so hard.'
Ripped: Radical muscle definition achieved through extreme dieting and hard training. 'I got my body fat down to two percent for my last competition. I was so ripped I looked like I'd been skinned.'
Rock-on: It is possible to actually support your weight entirely on one foot, even on gently overhanging walls, by placing it carefullyon a small edge at waist height, then centering your weight over it. May eventually lead to knee surgery....
Rope gun: A partner who is a much better climber than you are and can consequently lead routes you would like to do, but lack the skill or the courage for.
Rosemove: An extreme cross-through; theclimber's body is rotated to the point where he is almost facing out from the rock. Required technique for the famous Buoux route, La Rose et Le Vampire.
Schralp: To climb really well. Surfing origin. 'Ben Franklin is just schralping right now; he sent four 5.13's in an hour at Rifle.'
Screamer: A long fall.
Scree: Small rocks, roughly the size of almonds, which are great fun run down, but hell to trudge up.The saying,'Two steps forward, one step back,' describes climbing scree perfectly.
Scumming: Any tenuous, ill-defined method of gaining purchase on the rock. 'I scummed the laces of my right boot on the stalactite to do Sodom and Glory.'
Scuz: A good scuz involves getting friction from the rock with something other than hands or feet, like your knee, leg or face. 'I do the crux of Burning with a knee-scuz. Works great.'
Send it!: An encouragement to do the route, now!
Sequence: Very hard routes have an exact series of movements that a climber needs to link together in order to succeed. Of course, no sequence is set in stone. 'I go left mono, rightedge, pop right again, match... rock onto the edge. What's your sequence?'
Sewing-machine leg: See 'Elvis syndrome.'
Sharp end: End of the rope used by the leader.
Sika Glue: used to keep holds secured to the climb. Controversial in some climbing cliques, bought at Price Club by others.
Sinker: A very deep pocket or hold. 'That pocket is so sinker I could hang on to it for the rest of my life.'
Sketch, Sketching: The original use of sketching meant that a person's feet were practically drawing pictures on the rock, they were moving around so rapidly. Now it also means any tense, sketchy situation.
Slab: Rock less steep than a cave. 'I never climb at Smith anymore. The whole place is a slab.'
Slap, Slapped: To be rudely repulsed from a route or to desperately reach for a hold and barely graze it. A slap-fest occurs in a competition when many competitors fall off at the same point, slapping at the holds above to attain a high point.
Sloper: A rounded hold, adhered to mainly by skin friction.
Smearing: Low-angle climbing with obscure foot holds where climbers 'smear' the soles of their shoes over as much rock surface as possible to get optimal adhesion.
Snag: To struggle for, and just barely grab, a hold.
Spew: To talk at great length about a route or idea. 'Did you read Rock & Ice last issue? Swill Gagg was fully spewing about chiseling yet again.'
Sport climbing: Sport climbing is predicated on the idea that the actual climbing is the most important part of climbing; therefore the routes are well-protected with bolts. 'Anything other than sport climbing is reductionist engineering.'
Spotter: A spotter attempts to keep a boulderer's head from hitting the ground in the event of a fall. Difficult, but important, to do well.
Spray: 'I totally loved that route! Best route on the planet! Fully the best thing I ever did!' and so on.
'Spro: Espresso, an essential ingredient for high-performance climbing.
Stack: To wedge nuts or pitons against each other for pro, do something often or possess many items.
Stick-clip: To clip an out-of-reach bolt using a stick. Common at sport crags and on aid routes.
Strobe: To do a move so quickly that, like dancing in front of a strobe, one second you are in one position and, a split second later, another.
Take: A code word that tells the belayer to reel in rope and hold the climber. A trad would use the word, 'Tension!'
Talus: The rubble covering the slope at the base of a cliff - there's more where that came from.
Thumb cam: A method of jamming cracks just wider than finger-width ('off-fingers') by tucking the thumb under the fingers to act as a cam.
Thumbs up, Thumbs down: Hand jamming with your thumb pointing up, or down.
Thumb technology, Thumb stack: Advanced technique for holding onto small, pedestal-shaped holds. Put your thumb on a hold then stack all your fingers on top of. Painful, but effective.
Tognar: Pronounced 'toenar.' A combination of totally and gnarly, dude. Retro.
Toss: To dynamically reach for a hold, with a slight overtone of out-of-control climbing.
Trad: A climber who prefers climbing on protection that he places and feels the rest of the world should, too. Frequently at odds with the rads, and lacking a sense of humor.
Trundle: to send rocks down the gravity well before their time.
Tweak, Tweaked, Tweaky: Injury or damage to something, like a rope or tendon. Can also mean angry or irritated.
V-number: An open-ended system for rating boulder problems that currently goes from VO to V12 or so.
Vitamin A: Advil or any ibuprofen product.
Whipper: A long or violent fall where the climber hits the end of a the rope and is snapped like the head on a whip.
Wire: A wired nut.
Wired: Totally figured out. People who have a route wired usually start talking about downgrading it.
Yellow page: A technique where the fingers are shuffled along a small edge to match on it. 'I could only get four fingers on that edge, so I yellow paged it to match.'
Yo-yo: To climb up a route, place or clip gear, get lowered to the ground and then climb to the top. Common when routes were done on natural gear.
Zipper: To rip a string of manky placements.
Zone: Not paying attention. It can also mean an exceptional performance, where a climber is in the perfect mental 'zone' to perform well. 'My belayer zoned and I cratered from seventy feet up!'
(Original by Will Gadd.)