Climbing Terminology
A glossary of climbing terms used in Chalky.
Send Types
Flash
Completing a route on your first attempt with prior knowledge of the moves (beta). You may have watched someone climb it, read about it, or received verbal instructions.
Onsight
Completing a route on your first attempt with no prior knowledge. This is considered the purest style of ascent: you see the route for the first time and send it without any information about the moves.
Redpoint
Completing a route cleanly after previous attempts. Most climbers' hardest sends are redpoints. You work the moves, refine your beta and eventually link it all together.
Second Go
Sending a route on your second attempt. This sits between a flash and a redpoint in terms of style.
Project
A route you're actively working on but haven't sent yet. Projects are typically at or near your limit.
Climbing Styles
Boulder / Bouldering
Climbing short, powerful routes (problems) without a rope, using crash pads for protection. Typically under 5 metres tall.
Sport Climbing
Rope climbing where protection is pre-placed (bolts) in the rock. The climber clips quickdraws to the bolts as they ascend.
Trad (Traditional) Climbing
Rope climbing where the climber places removable protection (cams, nuts) in natural features of the rock. Requires additional skills and gear.
Top Rope
Climbing with the rope already anchored at the top of the route. Common in gyms and for beginners outdoors.
Beta
Information about how to climb a route. Beta can include:
- Sequence — The order of moves
- Foot placement — Where to step
- Body position — How to orient yourself
- Rest positions — Where to recover
"Spraying beta" means giving unsolicited advice about how to climb a route.
Common Terms
Attempt
Any serious try at a route. An attempt begins when you leave the ground and ends when you either send or fall/give up.
Crux
The hardest section of a route. A route may have multiple cruxes.
Send
Successfully completing a route. "I sent that V5" means you climbed it without falling.
Tick
Recording a send in your logbook. "Ticking routes" means logging your ascents.
Top Out
Climbing to the very top of a boulder problem, standing on top. Some problems finish with a controlled jump down instead.
Dab
Accidentally touching the ground, a spotter, or another surface mid-climb. A dab typically invalidates a send attempt.
Barn Door
When your body swings out uncontrollably to the side, like a door opening on a hinge. Usually happens when you lack a counter-balancing foothold.
Dyno
A dynamic move where both hands (and often feet) leave the rock simultaneously. Short for "dynamic."
Static
Controlled, precise movement using balance and reach. The opposite of dynamic climbing.
Pump / Pumped
The feeling of forearm fatigue from sustained climbing. Being "pumped" means your grip strength is depleted.
Campus
Climbing using only hands — no feet on the wall. Campus boards are training tools for this style.
Angles
How steep the wall is. Chalky records one angle per climb, taken at the hardest move rather than averaged over the pitch.
Slab
A wall angled back from vertical, so you stand on your feet more than you pull. Relies on balance and footwork rather than strength.
Vertical
Straight up and down, leaning neither way.
Overhang
A wall that tilts outward past vertical, so your weight hangs off your arms. More physically demanding.
Roof
A horizontal ceiling. You climb out sideways, and pulling over the lip is usually the hard part.
Formations
The shape of the climb. A climb can be several of these at once — a corner crack is both.
Crack
A split in the rock, climbed by jamming fingers, hands or feet inside it.
Offwidth
A crack too wide to hand jam and too narrow to fit your body. Famously awkward, and a discipline of its own.
Corner
An inside corner where two walls meet, climbed by pressing between them. American guidebooks call this a dihedral.
Arête
The outside edge where two walls meet, climbed around the corner.
Chimney
A gap wide enough to fit your whole body, climbed by bracing against both sides.
Flake
A slab of rock part-detached from the wall, usually laybacked.
Face
Open rock climbed on edges and pockets rather than a crack. On trad it also means gear where you find it, rather than jamming.
Traverse
Moving sideways across the wall rather than up it.
Volume
A large shaped panel bolted to a gym wall, changing its shape or angle. Holds get screwed on top of it.
Hold Types
Crimp
A small hold that requires a crimped grip (fingers bent at the first knuckle). Can be "half crimp" or "full crimp." Small edge gripped with bent fingers and thumb over the top.
Jug
A large, positive hold that's easy to grip. Short for "jug hold."
Sloper
A hold without a defined edge, requiring an open-handed grip and body tension. Smooth, rounded hold relying on friction.
Pinch
A hold that requires squeezing with thumb and fingers.
Edge
A thin, flat hold requiring precise finger placement.
A hold with one or more finger holes.
In-cut
A handhold that has a lip or feature that allows fingers to hook behind it.
Mono
A pocket that takes a single finger.
Sidepull
A vertical edge pulled sideways towards you.
Gaston
A sidepull pushed away from you instead, elbow out — like prising open a lift door.
Undercling
A hold used from below, pulling upward with palms facing up.
Techniques
Flagging
Extending a leg to counterbalance and prevent swinging (barn-dooring).
Match
Placing both hands or feet on the same hold.
Smear
Pressing shoe rubber directly against the wall for friction, without using a defined foothold.
Toe Hook
Using the top of your toes to pull against a hold.
Heel Hook
Using your heel to pull or stabilise on a hold.
Deadpoint
A controlled, dynamic move where you catch the next hold at the apex of your movement — the still point at the top of the lunge.
Kneebar
Jamming a knee between two holds to take weight off your arms. A good one is a no-hands rest.
Compression
Squeezing the wall or a feature from both sides to stay on, rather than pulling down on holds.
Drop Knee
Twisting your knee inward to lower your centre of gravity and reach further.
Cross Through
Reaching one hand across your body to the next hold.
Mantle
Pressing down on a ledge to push your body up and over, like getting out of a pool.
Layback
Pulling on an edge while pushing feet against the wall for leverage.
Stemming
Pressing between two walls or features for stability, common in corners and chimneys.
Straight Arms
Keeping arms extended to conserve energy. Bent arms fatigue faster.
Climb with Your Feet
Using your legs to push upward instead of pulling with arms. A fundamental technique for efficiency.
Session Terms
Session Volume
The total amount of climbing in a session, often measured in routes or moves.
Density
How much climbing you pack into a session's duration. High density = lots of climbing, low rest.
Warming Up
Easy climbing to prepare muscles and tendons for harder efforts.
Cooling Down
Easy climbing after hard efforts to aid recovery.
Rest Day
A day without climbing, allowing recovery and adaptation.
Resting
Using easier stances mid-climb to shake out and recover before continuing.
Locations
Crag
An outdoor climbing area, typically a cliff or collection of boulders.
Gym
An indoor climbing facility with artificial walls and holds.
Project Wall / Board
A training wall with pre-set problems, often overhanging.
Spray Wall
A training wall covered in holds with no set routes — you create your own problems.