| z-pulley | Also z-system. a particular configuration of rope, anchors, and pulleys typically used to extricate a climber after falling into a crevasse. |
| plunge step | An aggressive step pattern for descending on hard or steep angle snow. |
| klemheist knot | An alternative to the prusik knot, useful when the climber is short of cord but has plenty of webbing. |
| snow fluke | An angled aluminium plate attached to a metal cable. the fluke is buried into snow, typically used as a deadman anchor. |
| no-hand rest | An entirely leg-supported resting position during climbing that does not require hands on the rock. |
| deadman anchor | An object buried into snow to serve as an anchor for an attached rope. one common type of such an anchor is the snow fluke. |
| yabo | Another name for a sit start, a `yabo start` was named after john `yabo` yablonski[1]. |
| 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. |
| climbing wall | Artificial rock, typically in a climbing gym. |
| beta flash | Ascent of a climb on the first attempt with some knowledge beta of that climb, with no falls or hangdogging. also see on-sight. on-sight; |
| thrutching | Bad technique or `body climbing` specifically at mount arapiles |
| hanging belay | Belaying at a point such that the belayer is suspended. |
| gym climbing | Climbing indoors, on artificial climbing walls. this is typically for training but many people consider this a worthwhile activity in its own right. climbing gym; |
| technical climbing | Climbing involving a rope and some means of protection, as opposed to scrambling or glacier travel. |
| multi-pitch climbing | Climbing on routes that are too long for a single belay rope. |
| free solo | Climbing without aid or protection. this typically means climbing without a rope. |
| free climbing | Climbing without unnatural aids, other than used for protection. |
| piton catcher | Clip-on string fastened to piton when inserting or removing, so as to avoid loss. |
| z-clipping | Clipping into an anchor with the segment of rope from beneath the previous anchor, resulting in an unsafe configuration of the belay rope. |
| objective danger | Danger in a climbing situation which comes from hazards inherent in the location of the climb, not depending on the climber`s skill level. most often these involve falling rock or ice, or avalanch... |
| rest step | Energy-saving technique where unweighted (uphill) leg is rested between each forward step, sometimes by "locking" knee of rear leg. |
| climbing shoe | Footwear designed specifically for climbing. usually well fitting, with a rubber sole. |
| double rope technique (drt) | For alpine and rock climbers this term implies the use of two separate ropes. for tree climbers this term is ambiguous but is usually interpreted as a synonym for doubled rope technique. |
| pressure breathing | Forcefully exhaling to facilitate o2/co2 exchange at altitude. also called the "whittaker wheeze". |
| sirdar | Head sherpa mountain guide. |
| hace | High altitude cerebral edema - a severe, and often fatal, form of altitude sickness. |
| hape | High altitude pulmonary edema - a serious form of altitude sickness. |
| rope jumping | Jumping from objects using rock climbing equipment. |
| ice piton | Long, wide, serrated piton once used for weak protection on ice. |
| choss | Loose or "rotten" rock. |
| crampons | Metal framework with spikes attached to boots to increase safety on snow and ice. |
| carabiner | Metal rings with spring-loaded gates, used as connectors. also known as crab or biner (pronounced beaner). |
| moving together | Method of climbing – used on easy alpine ground – in which two or more climbers climb at the same time with running belays between them and fixed belays not being used. |
| fourteener | Mountain that tops 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in the contiguous united states. |
| lieback | Or layback. a climbing move that involves pulling on the hands while pushing on the feet. |
| climbing technique | Particular techniques, or moves, commonly applied in climbing. fist jam; |
| névê | Permanent granular ice formed by repeated freeze-thaw cycles. |
| gripped | Scared. also over gripping the rock. |
| biner | Carabiner. |
| head point | See top rope. the practice of top-roping a hard trad route before leading it cleanly. top rope; |
| solo climbing | Setting and cleaning ones own protection on an ascent; climbing by oneself. |
| belay slave | Someone that volunteers for, or is tricked into, repeated belaying duties without partaking in any of the actual climbing. |
| climbing gym | Specialized indoor climbing centres. see gym climbing. (usually just called a climbing wall in britain). gym climbing; |
| sit start | Starting a climb from a position in which the climber is sitting on the floor. this is common in climbing gyms in order to fit an extra move into the climb. noted as sds in some topo guides. |
| barn-dooring | Swinging out from the wall like a door on a hinge. |
| dynamic belay | Technique of stopping a long fall using smooth braking to reduce stress on the protection points and avoid unnecessary trauma from an abrupt stop. |
| self-arrest | The act of planting the pick of your ice axe into the snow to arrest a fall in the event of a slip. also a method of stopping in a controlled glissade. |
| retro-bolting | The addition of bolts to an existing climb. |
| ablation zone | The area of a glacier where yearly melting meets or exceeds the annual snow fall. |
| buildering | The art of climbing on buildings, which is often illegal. |
| bolt chopping | The deliberate and destructive removal of one or more bolts. |
| sharp end | The end of the belay rope that is attached to the lead climber. |
| first ascent | The first successful completion of a route. |
| sewing machine leg | The involuntary vibration of one or both legs resulting from fatigue or panic. also known as "scissor leg", "elvis presley syndrome", or "disco knee". can often be remedied by bringing the heel of... |
| bouldering | The practice of climbing on large boulders. typically this is close to the ground, so protection takes the form of crash pads and spotting instead of belay ropes. |
| abseil | The process by which a climber can descend a fixed rope. also known as rappel. |
| rappel | The process by which a climber may descend on a fixed rope using a friction device. also known as abseil or roping down.. |
| clipping in | The process of attaching to belay lines or anchors for protection. |
| rebolting | The replacement of bolts on an existing climb. |
| single rope technique (srt) | The use of a single rope where one or both ends of the rope are attached to fixed anchor points. |
| pinch hold | This is a hold where you must pinch it to hold on. they come in various sizes. |
| face climbing | To ascend a vertical rock face using finger holds, edges and smears, i.e. not crack climbing. |
| crack climbing | To ascend on a rock face by wedging body parts into cracks, i.e. not face climbing. see jamming and chimney. jamming and chimney; |
| honed | To be in peak mental and physical fitness for climbing. |
| top rope | To belay from a fixed anchor point above the climb. head point; |
| pseudo leading | To climb a wall toprope with having another rope connected to the climber, for practice of lead climbing clipping. the other rope is normally not connected to any belayer below and is only there t... |
| grovel | To climb with obviously poor style or technique. |
| pinkpoint | To complete a lead climb without falling or resting on the rope (hangdogging), but with pre-placed protection and carabiners. also see clean and redpoint. clean and redpoint; |
| red point | To complete a lead climb without falling or resting on the rope (hangdogging). also see clean and pinkpoint. clean and pinkpoint; |
| downclimb | To descend by climbing downward, typically after completing a climb. |
| dead hang | To hang limp, such that weight is held by ligament tension rather than muscles. |
| dialled | To have complete understanding of a particular climbing move or route. wired; |
| pumped | To have such an accumulation of lactic acid in the flexor digitalis (forearm), that forming even a basic grip becomes impossible. often easy activities such as holding a camera become difficult or... |
| alpine start | To make an efficient start on a long climb by packing all your gear the previous evening and starting early in the morning, usually well before sunrise. |
| peak-bagging | To systematically attain designated summits under prescribed conditions. |
| smearing | To use friction on the sole of the climbing shoe, in the absence of any useful footholds. размазывание; |
| gorp | Trail mix for periodic nibbling to keep high energy level between meals on long climbs or hikes. an backronym for `good ol` raisins & peanuts` |
