science

Glossary of climbing terms

Glossary of climbing terms is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Glossary of climbing terms rather than just read about it. In short: This is a glossary of climbing terms related to rock climbing (including aid climbing, lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing), mountaineering, and to ice climbing. The terms used can vary between different English-speaking countries; many of the phrases described here are particular to the United States and the United Kingdom.

Key takeaways

Glossary of climbing terms belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Glossary of climbing terms to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Glossary of climbing terms from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is a glossary of climbing terms related to rock climbing (including aid climbing, lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing), mountaineering, and to ice climbing. The terms used can vary between different English-speaking countries; many of the phrases described here are particular to the United States and the United Kingdom.

A-grade Also aid climbing grade. The technical difficulty grading system for aid climbing (both for "original" and an adapted version for "new wave"), which goes: A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5 and up to A6 (for "new wave"). See C-grade.

Abalakov thread

Also V-thread. A type of anchor used in abseiling especially in winter and in ice climbing.

ABD Also assisted braking device. A term used to describe a progress capture device or a self-locking device such as a Petzl GriGri that immediately locks if the rope travels through it quickly in a specific direction. See auto belay.

abseiling Also rappelling. A technique by which a climber descends via a fixed rope that is firmly attached to a fixed anchor point, which is also known as an "abseil station". See tat and cord.

abseil rack See rack.

add-on An indoor climbing game where climbers take turns creating a route, adding two moves at a time.

accessory cord See cord.

active protection Also active camming device or ACD Type of protection that dynamically changes to absorb the shape and strength of a fall; active protection is the opposite of passive protection. See cams and friends.

adze

A thin blade mounted perpendicular to the handle on an ice axe; is used for chopping footholds.

aid climbing Type of rock climbing where artificial devices are used to make upward progress (and not just for protection); opposite of free climbing. See clean aid climbing.

aider See etrier.

alpine climbing A form of mountaineering that includes ice climbing, dry-tooling and rock climbing.

Alpine-grade Also IFAS grade, and UIAA Scale of Difficulty Part of the alpine climbing system for grading the technical difficulty of alpine climbing routes, which goes: F ("facile/easy"), PD ("peu difficile/little difficult"), AD ("assez difficile/fairly hard"), D ("difficile/difficult"), TD ("très difficile/very hard"), and ED ("extrêmement difficile/extremely difficult"); ED then goes ED1, ED2, ED3, .. etc.

alpine knee An awkward climbing technique where the knee is placed on the hold rather than the foot.

alpine start Starting a climb very early in the morning, generally before 5:00 a.m. (and even much earlier); common to alpine climbing to avoid afternoon rockfalls and melting snow on the route, or to get firmer ice on the glacier travel to and from the route.

alpine style Carrying all your own gear (even for multi-day climbs); also called "light-weight" climbing; opposite of expedition style.

American death triangle

A dangerous anchor that is created by connecting a closed loop of webbing between two points of protection.

anchor An arrangement of one or more pieces of fixed protection set up to support the weight of a belay, a top rope, or an abseiling. See also deadman anchor.

ape index A measure of the ratio of a climber's arm span relative to their height.

arête

1. A small ridge-like feature or a sharp outward-facing corner on a steep rock face. 2. A narrow ridge of rock formed by glacial erosion. 3. A method of indoor climbing in which one is able to use such a corner as a hold. See also dihedral.

arm bar A climbing technique where the climber jams their arm into a crack and locks it into place, to aid their ascent.

armchair landing

A technique in deep-water soloing for entering shallower water where the climber needs to avoid deeper hazards in the water; executed properly a 30-foot (9.1 m) fall can be absorbed in just 5 feet (1.5 m) of water.

ascender

A mechanical device used for ascending a fixed rope, very common in aid climbing and big wall climbing. See jumar.

aspect The geographical direction which a particular slope or rock wall faces, e.g. "north aspect".

ATC A belay device from Black Diamond (the "Air Traffic Controller") that became a generic term for any tuber belay device.

Australian rappel Also angel jumping, deepelling and rap jumping. A type of abseiling technique performed face first; used for military purposes.

auto belay A mechanical belay device on indoor climbing walls, which hangs from the top of routes that solo climbers clip into.

B-grade A grading system for bouldering invented by John Gill, now superseded by the V-grading system.

Bachar ladder

A piece of training equipment used to improve campusing and core body and arm strength; invented by John Bachar.

back-clipping A hazardous mistake of clipping the rope into a quickdraw so the leader's end runs underneath the quickdraw as opposed to over the top of it; if the leader falls, the rope may fold directly over the gate, causing it to open and fail.

back-step

Stepping on a hold where the outside edge — little toe side — of the shoe touches the rock.

bail To retreat from a climb.

ball nut A type of protection device consisting of a nut and a movable ball used for very small thin cracks.

barn-door

When all four points of contact are on a straight axis, the body can swing uncontrollably on this axis. See flagging.

bashie See copperhead.

bat hang

Where a climber gains a brief upside-down rest by hanging from their wedged feet. See chest jam and knee bar.

belay To protect a roped lead climber from falling by controlling the rope; usually involves a belay device.

belayer The person belaying the lead climber, also known as a second.

belay device A mechanical device used by belayers to increase braking force when belaying; can be passive like a figure eights or tubers, or a more active assisted braking device like the Petzl GriGri.

belay glasses Glasses that are worn by the belayer to help them avoid having to look upward, which can cause neck strain.

belay gloves

Gloves that are worn by the belayer to protect their skin in the event of sudden rope movement and to aid grip.

belay loop The strongest point on a climbing harness, and the loop to which a belay device is physically attached.

belay off A climbing command from a belayer to confirm that the friction of belaying has been removed from a climbing rope. It is a standard response to a climber's "off belay" request.

belay on A climbing command from a belayer to confirm that the friction of belaying has been (re)applied to a climbing rope. It is a standard response to a climber's "on belay" request.

belay station

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Glossary of climbing terms: Diagram of American death triangle — Diagram of American death triangle

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Glossary of climbing terms

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Glossary of climbing terms claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Glossary of climbing terms before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Glossary of climbing terms ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Glossary of climbing terms

In research: Glossary of climbing terms appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Glossary of climbing terms in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Glossary of climbing terms is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Climbing, Climbing and mountaineering-related lists, Climbing techniques, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Glossary of climbing terms outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Glossary of climbing terms in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Glossary of climbing terms means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Glossary of climbing terms out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Glossary of climbing terms in simple terms?

Why does Glossary of climbing terms matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Glossary of climbing terms?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Glossary of climbing terms.