Glossary
Abseil - British equivalent of rappel. Rappel is a French word meaning, "to retrieve", which you would do to your rope after you slide down it - if you want to use it again. Abseil is from the German and means, "to rope down."
Aid climbing - Climbing in which the climber ascends or rests by making use of the rope or gear to support his/her weight.
Alpine style - An approach to climbing peaks in which the ascent is made in one push, usually by travelling as light as possible.
Anchor - Any tree, block, nut, bolt, Friend, Camalot or other protection device that holds a climber or team to a wall, slope or cliff with rope, slings and karabiners.
Ascender - A piece of gear (e.g. Jumar) that enables a climber to ascend a rope. Attached to the rope, it will grip in one direction (down), slide in the other (up).
Back-clip - Improper method of clipping rope into a karabiner such that the rope could more easily unclip itself.
Barn-dooring - When a climber swings out (like a door) as a result of being off-balance; as from a lieback position.
Belay - An old sailing term, meaning to secure. The use of a rope to stop a climber's potential fall.
Big wall - Extremely long, multi-pitch routes which usually cannot be climbed in a single day.
Bight - A bend in a rope.
Biner - Short for "karabiner".
Bivi - To bivouac. Camping with little protection from the elements. Climbers often bivouac on summit days, when it is impractical to carry full camping gear.
Bomber - an anchor system or placement that is very solid and can be trusted 100%.
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.
Burly - Powerful or strenuous.
Butterfly or backpack coil - Quick method of coiling a rope, in two sets of bights of doubled rope, so that it may be easily transported, tied to the back like a pack.
Chalk - Made from magnesium carbonate. Gymnasts, weight lifters and climbers have used chalk for decades to counteract sweaty hands and improve grip. Nevertheless, white chalk marks are often unsightly and don't wash off the rock unless exposed to frequent precipitation.
Chickenwing - A grim technique used in ascending off-width cracks, in which the climber jams an arm bent at the elbow and outstretched like a chicken's wing into the crack.
Chock - An artificial chockstone wedged into a crack for protection by hand without the use of a hammer.
Choss - Loose, rotten or otherwise crappy rock.