Climbing Holds

  • Jug- the holds that feel like HEAVEN and are very easy to grip
  • Crimps/Crimping- small, narrow holds that require the use of your fingertips; they are like holding on to a door frame or thin edge
  • Sloper- an open-hand hold that requires the friction of your skin against the rock; round holds that put your hand in a similar position like when you try to hold onto a soccer ball with one hand 
  • Undercling- a hold that is pulled from above. most holds turned upside down will become underclings. Some holds turned upside down become hellish unusable holds.
  • Sidepull- a hold that is pulled from the side.
  • Pinch- a hold that is gripped by pinching it with your fingers on one side and your thumb on another
  • Pocket- A hold that does not use all of your fingers when grabbing it.

Climbing Moves

  • Dyno- a climbing move that requires a jump to the next hold(s)
  • Smearing- climbing technique when a climber uses his/her/their climbing shoe against the flat wall/rock to provide friction to ascend (stepping on the nothingness of the wall in a super sketchy feeling way that makes you feel really vulnerable but you just have to trust your feet and the rubber the climbing shoe company put on your shoes)
  • Flagging- a climbing technique where a climber puts his/her/their leg to some position when making a move to balance the body
  • Heel Hook- a climbing technique where a climber places his/her/their heel on a hold, weights it, and uses it as leverage to make the next move
  • Toe Hook- a climbing technique where a climber places his/her/their toe on the wall/a hold, weights it, and uses it as leverage to make the next move
  • Flash- finishing a route/boulder from top to bottom without falling in one try
  • Knee Bar- the act of wedging your knee in between two holds to allow you to make the next move
  • Dynamic Moves- climbing moves that require power; opposite of static
  • Static Moves- climbing moves that require strength, balance, flexibility, and patience; opposite of dynamic
  • Crux- the hardest move in a boulder/route
  • Mantling- the same kind of motion of getting out of a pool on the edge
  • Gaston- a movement where the hold is positioned that you are pulling away from the center line of your body instead of towards the center line.

Features of a Rock (Kinda)

  • Route- the path up a specific rope climb
  • Arete- an outward facing corner of a rock (if you were to climb the edge of the spine of a book when it’s on propped up)
  • Crag- the term for a climbing area 
  • Pitch- the height of a climb that one rope can reach

common climbing conversational terms

  • Flapper- a big flap of torn skin on your hand or finger caused from climbing
  • Getting “Pumped”- the tight, burning sensation that occurs in your forearms as they develop fatigue during a climb.
  • Dab/Dabbing- accidentally touching the ground, crashpad, spotter, or an incorrect hold on the wall
  • “Send it!”- the phrase said when you want someone to finish/crush a boulder or route
  • Beta- A specific way to climb a route or boulder. Beta can be different for different body types or different people. If someone is asking for beta they are asking for a way that someone has seen or done a move or climb.

Climbing Gear

  • Crash Pads- portable cushions used when bouldering so we don’t get boo boos
  • Carabiner- metal loop used to connect climbing gear
  • Harness- a belt with a leg-loop system that climbers wear to rope climb
  • Grigri- a belay device that has an auto-lock
  • ATC- a belay device that does not have an auto-lock
  • Quickdraws- a piece of gear that connects a climber to the wall’s bolts when lead climbing
  • Bolts- metal loops on the wall used for “clipping-in” to the wall with a quickdraw when rope climbing

Climbing Techniques

  • Spotting- the technique of making sure a climber does not fall in a harmful way off a boulder. The main part of spotting is preventing the climber’s head from being endangered during the fall.
  • Belaying/Giving a Catch- the process of helping a climber from falling to the ground when rope climbing, specifically through friction on a rope; the process includes the rope, anchors, a belay device, and the belayer
  • Lowering- when a belayer lowers his/her/their climber to the ground
  • Slack- the looseness of a rope when climbing. If a climber says slack, they want the rope to be looser.
  • “Take!”- a word that is yelled when a rope climber is requesting all the slack from the rope to be removed; this prevents the climber from falling the length of the slack of the rope
  • Daisy Chain- a method that is used to tie a rope (the looped pattern you see the ropes constantly in at the SRC)

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