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The present Climbing Terms Glossary is a list of definitions of terms, jargon and lingo related to all styles of rock climbing covered on theCrag.
As for the content on theCrag, this glossary relies on the input of you, the users of theCrag for updates, corrections and more precise definitions. If you want to have a new term added - funny or serious - or think a definition requires correction or more details please add a comment in the Climbing Terms Glossary forum on theCrag.
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39 terms found in glossary
Climbing termsBack to contents
ABack to contents
A device for ascending a rope.
A fast method for setting up a two-point anchor in sport climbing, using the climbing rope to attach to the anchor points.
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A piece of training equipment (similar to a rope ladder) used to improve campusing and core strength. Named after the climber John Bachar.
A type of aid protection consisting of a nut and a movable ball.
An aid climbing tool that was hammered into shallow nailed out cracks much like Copperheads to offer protection. Originally made out of a wire and a wedge of aluminum they were used for many major aid ascents in Yosemite in the early 1970’s.
A mechanical device used to create friction when belaying by putting bends in the rope. Many different types of belay devices exist, including ATCs, grigris, Reversos, Sticht plates, eights, and tubers. Some belay devices may also be used as a descender. A Munter hitch can sometimes be used instead of a belay device.
A point of protection permanently installed in a hole drilled into the rock, to which a metal hanger is attached, with a hole for a carabiner or ring.
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A spring-loaded device used as protection in traditional climbing, see also friend or SLCD.
A series of horizontal rungs attached to an overhanging surface that may be climbed up and down without the aid of the feet as a training device. When used properly, campus boards can improve finger strength and so-called 'contact strength'.
Aluminum snap link used for myriad tasks, the primary one being to connect the rope to the anchor.
The carrot is a hex-headed machine bolt without a fixed hangar. It is filed down at one end to form a tapered point (hence the name) and is then hammered into an undersized drill hole. The bolt is pounded into the rock until a small portion of the shaft remains exposed. While ascending, the climber puts a bolt plate over the head of a carrot in order and then clips a quickdraw to it. Legend has it that the carrot was invented in the 1960s by the Australian climber Bryden Allen.
Magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) powder applied to hands to keep them dry and improve grip.
A hand-sized holder for climbing chalk that is usually carried on a chalkbelt or clipped to a harness for easy access during a climb. In bouldering the size of chalk bags is typically substantially bigger as they are posed on the floor next to the boulder.
Literally a ball of chalk. Typically a cotton fabric that holds chalk and that is designed to create as little dust as possible.
A small diameter rope used for slings or auxiliary tasks.
A mat used in bouldering to dampen falls.
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A standard climbing rope with some stretch to absorb falls, as opposed to static ropes.
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A bolt that is composed of the bolt, a hanger and a nut. The bolt is placed in a pre-drilled hole. The hanger and the bolt is held in place by tightening a nut on the outside part which expands the inside of the bolt against the rock face.
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A spring-loaded camming device used as protection equipment in traditional climbing, also called cam. It consists of two, three, or four cams mounted on a common axle or two adjacent axles, so that pulling on the axle forces the cams to spread farther apart.
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The part of an expansion bolt that is used to clip in the quickdraw.
A haul bag refers to a large, tough, and often unwieldy bag into which supplies and climbing equipment can be thrown. In big wall climbing they are used to haul equipment and supplies up the wall. Haul bags are often affectionately known as 'pigs' due to their unwieldy nature.
Equipment used in aid climbing.
A climbing technique involving hooking a heel or toe against a hold in order to balance or to provide additional support.
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A lightweight ice axe with a hammer and pick head on a short handle and no spike.
A long, wide, serrated piton once used for weak protection on ice.
A screw used to protect a climb over steep ice or for setting up a crevasse rescue system. The strongest and most reliable is the modern tubular ice screw which ranges in length from 10 to 23 centimetres.
A specialized elaboration of the modern ice axe (and often described broadly as an ice axe or technical axe), used in ice climbing, mostly for the more difficult configurations.
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Liquid climbing chalk is standard climbing chalk mixed with a liquid – normally a form of alcohol – that evaporates when exposed to air. It might also contain additional additives. You pour it onto your hands, rub it in, then leave it for 20-60 seconds to dry. It creates less dust and some climbers prefer it over regular chalk.
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A metal wedge with a wire loop for insertion into cracks in rock used for protection in traditional climbing. See also hex or wire.
A metal tool for easier removal of pieces of traditional protection (nuts, cams).
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A flat or angled metal blade of steel which incorporates a clipping hole for a carabiner or a ring in its body. Pitons are typically used in aid climbing, where an appropriate size and shape is hammered into a thin crack in the rock and preferably removed by the last team member. Also called peg or pin.
A prusik rope, also called Reepschnur (German), is a low elongation rope with small diameter (typically 4 to 8 mm) used to prusik but also to e.g. build anchors.
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Two carabiners linked by a textile webbing. Used to attach a freely running rope to anchors or protection points.
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The 'Realised Ultimate Reality Piton' (RURP) is a piece of protection used in aid climbing. No bigger than a large postage stamp, a RURP can be hammered into tiny hairline cracks. Although some free climbers have utilised these wacky pegs for protection they are mainly used for direct aid.
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Static ropes are ropes with very low-elongation, typically less than 5%. They are typically used for work where rope stretching is a disadvantage like rescue work, caving, climbing fixed lines with ascenders and hauling loads.
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As the name says twin ropes are two ropes (typically of lesser diameter) that are used just like a single rope. Meaning the climber ties in to both ropes and clips both ropes on the same protection points. Often used in multi-pitch climbing as it allows for longer rappels. See also half and single rope.
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Another term for nut, used as protection device for traditional climbing. See also hex or nut.
A homemade climbing wall. Often specifically a hybrid between a climbing wall and a fingerboard. Specifically called such because of the wooden panels (usually left unpainted) used to attach the climbing holds.
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A Z-shaped piton or peg with supposedly higher holding power. Also called Leeper-peg after Ed Leeper.
A particular configuration of rope, anchors, and pulleys typically used to extricate a climber after falling into a crevasse.
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We thank our partner GoToClimb for the initial contribution of climbing terms.