Abseil, to Descending by sliding down a rope. Americans usually call this rappelling.
(d) Abseilen, (f) Descendre en rappel, (nl) Afdalen/abseilen, (i) Doppia, fare una doppia, (e) Rapelar / descenso en rappel, (s) fira, (pl) Zjazd na linie
Adze, The flat cutting end of the ice axe head. (pl) Lpatka czekana
(d) Technisch klettern, (f) Escalade artificielle, (nl) Artificieel klimmen, (i) Arrampicata artificiale, (e) Escalada artificial, (s) Teknisk klättring / Artificiell klättring, (pl) Hakowka
Aider, Webbing ladder used for aid climbing. The word was probably coined by someone who couldn't spell the french word étrier.
Aid route, Route that can only be ascended using aid climbing techniques
Alcove, A belay ledge that is surrounded by vertical rock on all sides.
Alpine, butterfly Butterfly knot.
(pl) Ostra choroba gorska
Anchor, Point where the rope is fixed to the rock.
Arete, A narrow (more or less - but often more less than more - horizontal) ridge.
Ascenders, Devices (e.g. Jumars) to ascend a rope.
ATC, 'Air Traffic Controller', belaying device made by Black Diamond.
(d) Lawine, (f) Avalanche, (nl) Lawine, (i) Valanga, (e) Avalancha, (s) Lavin, (pl) Lawina
B
Bail, to To give up on a rock climb or a summit attempt because of bad weather coming in.
Barn door, to To lose the foot and hand holds on one side of the body. Usually causes the climber to swing like a barn door.
Base camp, The lowest and largest fixed camp on a major ascent (or multiple ascents in the same area).
Beer, Liquid consumed in large quantities after climbing.
Belay, to To secure a climber.
(d) Sichern, (f) Assurer , (nl) Zekeren, (i) Assicurare, (e) Asegurar / Dar seguridad, (s) Säkra, (pl) Ubezpieczac
Belay Betty and Belay Bob, The girl or boyfriend of an addictive rock climber.
Belay station, A safe stance consisting of an anchor, a rope, and a belayer (aka "the belay")
Belayer, The person at the belay station securing the climber.
"Belay on", When the belayer is ready to belay the climber up, he yells "Belay on". (At least in the US, "belay on" would only confuse the hell out of a British climber who prefers to hear "Climb when ready").
"Below", Used in Britain to warn for impending impact with objects coming from above (e.g. falling rock). "Rock" in the US.
Bent gate karibiner, Karibiner with the gate bent to accept the rope more easily. Not uncontroversial.
(d) "Berg Heil !"
A German greeting at the summit.
Bergschrund, Or just 'schrund'. The top crevasse in a glacier or snowfield that is formed when the glacier/snowfield tears away from the remaining patch of snow that is stable on the mountainside.
Beta, Insider information about a climb. Running or auto beta is someone telling you how to do the moves as you go (as in "can you please shut up with that running beta, I want to find out myself").
Beta flash, Leading a climb with no falling or dogging, but with a piece of previous knowledge hints on how to do those crux moves. Even seeing someone do the climb already classifies as 'previous knowledge'.
Big wall, Rock climb that is so long and sustained that a normal ascent lasts several days.
Biner, Short for Karabiner
Birdbeak, A tiny hooked piton manufactured by A5. It is similar to the old Chouinard "Crack'n up", except that it only has a single side and that it is intended to be hammered in if necessary.
Bivouac, Or short, bivi. An uncomfortable sleeping place in the middle of a route.
Black ice, Old ice that was exposed to extremely cold temperatures, scree, and snowfall. Usually found deep in shady couloirs, or on steep north faces. Very hard and dense ice that is difficult to climb.
Blast, to, To begin a big wall, after the line fixing is done. "We're gonna blast on Tuesday morning after we get the first three pitches fixed".
Someone who frequents 'Bleau (or Fontainebleau, the site of some excellent bouldering near Paris).
Blue ice, Very dense ice with a watery hue and few air bubbles.
Bolt, expansion
(d) Bohrhaken, (f) Cheville à expansion, (nl) Boorhaak, (i) Caviglie da espansione, (e) Piton de expansion, parabolt, (s) Borrbult
Bomber, Used to indicate that something is exceptionally solid, e.g. an anchor, a hold. See also bombproof.
Bombproof, The illusion that an anchor is infallible
Bonehead, A (novice) climber with more braves than brains. Knows just enough about climbing to get himself and others badly hurt.
(f) "Bonne Grimpe !"
A greeting to climbers when they start the climb.
(e) "¡Buena suerte!"
Bootie, Gear (nuts, cams, etc.) that was left behind on a climb by the previous party.
(d) Bouldern (f) Faire du bloc, (nl) Boulderen, (i) Arrampicare su masso, (e) Boulder / Cascarear
Bounce, to, To crater from an extreme height. Usually lethal.
Bowline, Sailing knot (not to be used for climbing, unless backed up with a second knot)
Brain bucket, Aka helmet. That all important hard shelled thing that covers our (second?) most valuable asset.
Bucket, A large hold (Aka "jug", esp. in UK)
Buildering, To climb buildings
Bust a move, to, To successfully execute a hard crux move.
(f-c) Noeud papillon / les oreilles du Micky ??, (e) Nudo de mariposa, (pl) Motylek
Buttress, The part of the mountain or rock that stands in front of the main mountainface.
C
Cam, Generic reference to the family of spring loaded camming devices (SLCD) such as friends, camalots, aliens, TCUs, etc. Also referred to as springs
(d) Friends, (f) Friends, (e) Levas, (pl) Krzywka
Campus, A dyno executed using the arms only. Comes from the campus board where the people who do this move get the muscle to do it.
Campus board, A wooden training board with finger ledges that is used for training dynos and finger power.
Carabiner, The alternative American spelling of the word Karabiner. Also spelled Caribiner.
Chalk, Magic powder that makes the hands stick to even the smoothest rock.
Chausey, Poor rock conditions. Also spelled chossy.
Cheese grater, to, To slide down a slab while scraping the knees, hands, and face.
Chest harness, Bra-like looking harness (to be used with waist harness)
Chickenhead, Sometimes phallic shaped, protruding lumps that make excellent hand or footholds on granite, etc.
Chimed, Exhausted. "This climb has got me chimed."
Chimney, A wide crack that accommodates (most of) the body of the climber.
Chimney, to, A climbing technique used to conquer chimneys. Usually requires the use of the back and feet, arms, head and other body parts.
Chipped hold, A hold created with a hammer and chisel by a moron incapable of doing the climb as it is.
(d) Geschlagener Griff, (f) Prise taillée, (i) Presa scavata, (s) Chippade grepp, (pl) Chwyt 'rzezbiony' dlutem
Chock, Generic reference to the family of passive wired protection devices, also called nuts, stoppers, wires, and rocks.
Chockstone, A stone wedged between a crack, a chimney, etc.
Choss, In Australia, this means poor rock (you can take all the holds home...). In the UK, choss is dirt and vegetation found in cracks (or Munge in the US).
Chute, A very steep gully. The word chute is French for fall and refers to the rockfall that is very common in a chute.
Cirque, A deep and steep-walled basin on a mountain usually forming the blunt end of a valley. From the French word for circus. Also known as corrie.
Class, A number designating the overall technical level of a route. The first number in the YDS designates the class of the climb. Here's the different classes...
Clean, Climbing without falling or dogging.
Clean, Aid climbing without hammering.
Clean, to, To remove the pro from a route. Usually done by the follower.
Cliff, A vertical piece of rock good for climbing (see also Crag).
Cliffhanger, Not just a silly film with Wolfgang Güllich and Ron Kauk, but also the name for a small hooking device used to aid climb up small ledges and pockets.
Climb, to, (d) Klettern, (f) Grimper, (nl) Klimmen, (i) Arrampicare/scalare, (e) Escalar, (s) Klättra, (pl) Wspinac sie
Climb, a, (d) Kletterei, (f) Escalade, (nl) Klim, (i) Arrampicata , (e) Escalada, (s) Led/Tur
(d) "Komme", (f) "Départ", (nl) "Ik kom", (i) "parto"/"vengo", (e) "Voy", (s) "Jag klättrar", (pl) "Ide"
Climbing gym, The second best thing to real rock (Aka "wall" in the UK).
Climbing shoes, Shoes made of sticky rubber that would have fit you comfortably when you were ten.
Climbing wall, The British word for a climbing gym.
(f) “Quand tu veux”, (e) "Cuando estés listo", (e-argentina) "veni", (pl) "Mozesz isc"
Clip, to, The reassuring action of putting the rope through a karabiner (that is attached to a piece of pro).
Clove hitch, A useful, easily adjustable climbing knot usually used to tie the rope into a karibiner.
Col, A steep, high mountain pass.
(f) Col, (pl) Siodlo
Coombe, Welsh word for corrie or cirque. Also spelled cwm.
Cord, Thin static rope (5, 5.5 or 6 mm)
Corner, Inside corner (see dihedral) or outside corner. In the UK, a corner is always an inside one.
Corn snow, Unconsolidated granular snow that has gone through a short freeze-and-thaw process. This type of snow is prevalent throughout the High Sierra in April and May.
Corrie, Other word for cirque. Spelled coire in Scotland and coombe or cwm in Wales.
Couloir, A steep gully which may have snow or ice.
Crab, Short for Karabiner.
Crack, in rock, A gap or fissure in the rock varying in width from nail to bodywidth.
Crag, Name for a (small) climbing area.
Crampons, Very pointy footware use to walk glaciers or climb ice.
Crank, to, To pull on a hold as hard as you can, and then some.
Crater, to, To fall and hit the ground, as in "I almost cratered".
Crest, The very top of a ridge or arete.
Crevasse, A crack in the surface of a glacier.
Crimper, A very small hold that accepts only the finger tips. In the UK, this is just called a crimp.
Cruxm, The hard bit.
Cwm, The Welsh spelling for coombe or cirque.
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