Alpine: Concerning high mountains, originally, concerning the Alps.
Alpine Start: An early morning start in order to ascend before the snow becomes soft from the sun or in order to return before nightfall.
Alpine Style: Lightweight climbing that emphasizes the role of speed in safety to take advantage of good conditions that might prevail only a short time.
AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness): Symptoms of low blood oxygen level due to high altitude: headache, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, malaise and disturbed sleep. Hypoxia is a related debilitating lack of oxygen.
Anchor: Point where the rope is secured to the snow, ice or rock with either fixed bolts, rocks, trees or non-fixed gear to provide protection against a fall. An equalized anchor (equalized anchor system) places equal weight on multiple devices to reduce the chance of failure. Any individual anchor point, whether created with one piece of protection or with multiple pieces in an equalized anchor, must be able to hold a fall. The condition of the rock, snow or ice determines whether an individual anchor device will provide adequate security or whether an equalized anchor is required.
Approach: The section of the climb leading up to the technical section of the climb.
Ascender (Jumar, Clog) : A mechanical braking device used for belaying oneself from a vertical fixed rope. By comparison, carabiners on slings are often used to connect to a fixed line on a traverse.
Avalanche: The movement down the mountain of previously stationary snow, rock, or both. Snow avalanche conditions for open slopes can often be predicted by monitoring the weather.
Bachmann (bachman) Knot: A friction knot similar in design and purpose to a prusik knot with the difference that the Bachmann can be set up in a self-regulating configuration. When used in a z-pulley, for example, the Bachmann slides without intervention along the main rope when tension is released by upward movement of the pulley and is pulled tight by tension to prevent downward motion of the pulley. Bachmann knot video.
Belay: Safety technique where a stationary climber provides protection by means of ropes, anchors and braking devices or techniques, to an ascending or descending partner. A static belay is when a fall is held fast. A dynamic belay is when a fall is brought to a gradual stop by allowing the rope to slide somewhat to not overload the anchor with the force of the fall. Sitting-hip belay video.
Belay Device (ATC, Figure Eight): A metal device through which a climbing rope is threaded to create friction to brake a fall. Many belay devices can double as a rappel device.
Belay Station: An anchored stance from where a climber provides roped protection for a partner in motion.
Bergschrund (Schrund): A gap or crevasse that appears near the head of a glacier where the neve field portion of the glacier joins the valley portion of the glacier. A moat is a gap between the top edge of a glacier and the upper portions of the mountain face. Schrunds and moats can create obstacles.
Bivouac (Bivy, Bivi): A high camp, not always a planned overnight stop.
Bollard: An anchor in snow or ice created by cutting or shaping the surface so a rope or sling can securely encircle the feature.
Bolt: A substantial metal pin drilled in the rock to provide permanent protection. A type of anchor rejected by Trads.
Boot-Ax Belay: A belay technique used on snow where the climbing rope is wound around both a firmly planted ice ax shaft and the belayer's boot. Boot-ax belay often requires an anchor in addition to the ax.
Boulder: To climb a difficult, but short, rock pitch where a potential fall will be of minimal consequence (shy of a crater).
Cairn: A pile of rock, wood or both used to mark a route or route junction.
Cam: A mechanical spring-loaded device that can be inserted in rock cracks through which a climbing rope can be threaded for protection.
Carabiner (Biner): Forged aluminum devices of various shapes (oval, D, etc.) with a spring-loaded gate through which a climbing rope can be threaded. Used to connect to protection or to provide connections in an anchor. The gate of a locking carabiner can be screwed or locked tight for increased security.
Chimney: A rock route large enough for the climber to fit inside.
Clean: To remove protection (cams, pickets, etc.); usually the responsibility of the last climber in a rope team.
Clipping In: Using a carabiner to connect to belays and anchors or to connect ropes to protection.
Cornice: Wind-sculpted snow overhanging a ridge; a hazard to avoid by not walking on or in the fall line below it.
Couloir: A gully, sometimes a potential route. A chute or bowling alley is steep enough for rock or ice fall to be a concern.
Crampons: Spiked metal devices that attach firmly to climbing boots to provide reliable footing on ice and firm snow slopes.
Crevasse: A crack in a glacier surface. Crevasses vary in width and depth and are often concealed by surface snow. Concealed crevasses are a hazard for climbers on glaciers.
Deadman: Any device (picket, shovel, bag of snow) buried in deep snow that provides an anchor.
Dial In (Dialed, Wired): Knowing a route well from having climbed the same pitch or mountain repeatedly. A similar concept is hanging on a rope in the same place to practice moves over and over, a practice known as hangdog or dog. A legitimate question to ask a climb organizer is, "Do you have the route dialed in?" Experienced climbers often go exploring together. New climbers should consider limiting themselves to climbs dialed in by one or more climb participants. Snow routes, however, often change frequently enough to evade getting dialed in.
Downclimb: Descending a pitch in a manner that often requires more skill than climbing up and therefore provides good practice for the climber and, often, the belayer. Statistically safer than rappelling.
Double Fisherman's Knot: A knot used to tie lengths of small rope together or into slings.
Dry-tool: To ascend a section of rock using ice tools, a technique often used for short sections of rock on alpine climbs.
Edging: A rock climbing technique where the edges of the climbing shoes are used to stand on small footholds. By comparison smearing applies as much of the sole of the climbing shoe as possible to a rock slab to achieve maximum friction.
Exposure: The distance from the climber to where the climber would likely stop in the event of an unprotected fall.
Fall: To involuntarily lose one's position or, from Carl Ockier's Climbing Dictionary, "a dynamic retreat from a climb." Short falls onto protected rope tend to be silent since there is insufficient time to call out. A screamer is long enough to provide the luxury of vocal panic. A whipper is similar to a screamer but pulls the vocal routine back to normal as the rope catches the fall. A crater ends when the climber hits the ground.
Fall! (Falling!): What climbers in the vicinity yell to protect their team and others when someone is in a fall.
Fall Line: The direction a fall would take. The belay position and belay anchors should be in line with the fall line to prevent a pendulum effect.
Figure-Eight Knot: The basic climber's knot, when retraced, used to attach a climber's harness to the rope and for many other purposes. Not to be confused with a figure-eight belay and rappel device. Figure-eight knot video.
Fisherman's Knot: A knot used to make small-diameter rope, like prusik, into slings (use a figure-eight knot for large diameter rope). Fisherman's knot video.
Fixed Rope: A rope anchored to a route by the lead climber and left in place for others who follow; a mechanical ascender or, on a traverse, clipped-in carabiners sliding along the rope can be used for extra climbing assistance and protection. Fixed-line traverse video.
Flat Footing (French Technique): Keeping all the crampon points in the ice by walking sideways with angled ankles or by walking backwards.
Fluke: A dynamic snow anchor that dives deeper as it moves. For use in soft snow where pickets will pull out. Because a fluke slows a fall rather than stops a fall, flukes should only be used on pitches where slowing a fall is adequate protection.
Free Climb: To climb using only one's hands and feet without artificial aids. A belay rope may be employed. As opposed to aid climb.
Free Solo: To free climb without even a belay rope and to accept a crater as the potential consequence of a long fall.
Front Pointing: A technique for ascending steep or overhanging ice where the extended front points of the crampons provide grip or bite into the ice.
Gendarme: A mass of rock protruding from a ridge that forces the route from the top of the ridge to its side. From the French word for constable or police.
Girth Hitch: A knot made by looping the end of a sling over itself. Mostly used to attach to anchors.
Glissade: Descending moderate snow slopes under control by sliding on one's feet or rump. Glissading inappropriately steep or icy slopes is the cause of a surprising number of mountaineering accidents.
Gym Rat: One of many usually colorful terms for persons who believe they know climbing because they climb in gyms but neither know nor trust anchors and protection outside of a gri-gri.
HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema): Swelling of the brain due to cell death and fluid increase; the most serious form of altitude sickness.
HADE (High Altitude Dumb): Temporary intelligence loss due to reduced oxygen in the blood supplying the brain. Unlike HACE and HAPE, HADE often occurs at modest altitudes and can be artificially induced even at sea level by drinking too much beer.
HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema): Fluid build up in the lungs. Can lead to HACE if descent is not immediate.
Harness: A strong belt with leg loops made of nylon webbing used to secure the climber to the rope, often with loops to hold climbing hardware. A chest harness is sometimes worn in addition to a waist harness to prevent an inverted fall, for example, when crossing a glacier with a heavy pack.
Headwall: The upper section of a mountain where the terrain is set off from that below by being more steep.
Hexcentric (Hex): A hexagon-shaped nut attached to a flexible looped wire for insertion into a rock crack for protection.
Hypothermia: Low body temperature caused by cold ambient temperature; the most common cause of death in the wilderness.
Ice Ax (Axe): A mountaineering tool, pointed at the base of the shaft and with a head consisting of a pick and an adze. A standard ax shaft may be 60 to 75 cm in length while technical axes are typically 50 cm long. Second or third tools may be shorter yet, 38-45 cm.
Ice Hammer: A variant of the ice ax where the head consists of a pick and a hammer, usually used in combination with an ice ax. The hammer is used to pound in protection.
Ice Screw: A threaded piton designed to bore into ice securely enough to serve as an anchor.
Jam: To wedge or jam body parts - fingers, a hand, a foot, etc. - into cracks and apply torque to adhere to the rock. Both strenuous and remote from ordinary experience, jamming is difficult to learn and requires real rock to do so. Gyms do not replicate cracks well. Once mastered, jamming often becomes the hold of choice by crackmasters.
Lead (Sharp End of the Rope): To be the first climber up a pitch and to place protection along the way while being belayed by a partner from below.
Lieback (Layback): A technique where the climber's hands pull one way and the feet push the opposite way.
Mixed Climbing: Ascending a route involving a combination of snow, rock or ice.
Moraine: A random accumulation of boulders, rocks, scree and sand carried down the mountain and deposited by a glacier. Crossing a moraine is slow going and is only done when alternative routes would take even more time.
Multi-Pitch Climb: A technical climb that is longer than a single rope length, thus requiring multiple anchor and belay stations.
Nut (Stopper): A metal wedge with a wire loop that is inserted in cracks in rock for protection.
Picket: A "T" shaped length of aluminum 2' to 3' long pounded or buried in the snow for protection.
Pitch: A section of climbing between two belay points, no longer than the length of a climbing rope.
Piton: A metal spike that can be hammered into rock cracks for protection. A type of anchor rejected by Trads.
Plan B: The consequences of a fall. A good Plan B generally involves being caught by a protected rope. A bad Plan B involves probable injury. When conditions do not allow for any good Plan B, for example, snow too soft to hold protection, the safe course is to turn around. Loop routes are inherently more hazardous than ascending and descending the same route because climbers forfeit the opportunity to assess a Plan B for the descent route. For example, ascending by a route that can only hold protection before the sun warms it, then descending by another route does not allow the climbers to observe the condition of the descent route before having no choice but to use the route.
Protection (Pro, Fixation Device): Any anchor - a nut, camming device, ice screw, picket or fluke - used during a climb to minimize the consequences of a fall. Intermediate protection is the pro used between two belay points. To maintain adequate speed equalized anchors are generally not used in intermediate protection.
Prusik (prussik, prussick, prussic): A sliding friction knot used to anchor a small diameter rope to a large diameter rope; also, to ascend a rope with prusik slings. Prusik knot video. Prusik self-rescue video (practiced where it's warm).
Rack: The collection of pro carried by a climber on waist harness loops and shoulder slings. A climber wearing a colorful rack bears a striking resemblance to a fanned peacock, which is one reason to trust only climbers with gray or black racks, although black with white accents is always in good taste.
Rappel (Rap, Abseil): To descend a fixed rope, usually by means of a braking device. Statistically the most dangerous climbing activity probably because too many climbers rappel without a good Plan B, that is, without a belay. For the last person down a pitch there is no way to belay a rappel. For that reason the last person often rappels without a belay. An alternative for the last person is to downclimb the pitch while being top roped. Rappelling video.
Required Turn-Around Time: The time of day at which climbers must turn back in order to descend safely. Unanticipated slow-going can cause climbers to reach the required turn-around time before reaching the summit.
Rime: A thin layer of ice and hard snow over rock. By comparison verglas is a thin layer of ice over rock, a hazardous condition to be avoided.
Rock!: What climbers in the vicinity yell to protect their team and others when nature or a climber sends a rock flying down the mountain. Often used to alert climbers of any falling object, ice, water bottles, etc.
Runnel: In common usage a rivulet or brook. In mountaineering, a groove in snow created by a falling cornice. Crossing runnels is slow going. A series of runnels often ends an ascent.
Running Belay: A similar technique to a fixed line except the rope moves with the climbers.
Runout: The distance between two points of protection; the distance between a lead climber and the last piece of protection; the fall distance allowed by the distance from the last piece of protection.
Saddle (Col, Low Point): The lowest point of elevation between two peaks. A col more often refers to a low point between two lesser points, for example, a low point in a ridge. Saddles and cols are common waypoints in routes because routes often follow the low ground.
Scramble: Easy unprotected climbing.
Scree: Small loose rocks. Difficult to ascend, like climbing a slope of loose sand, scree slopes are often used for descents, a practice discouraged by Trads.
Second (Follow): The climber who follows a lead up a pitch and belays from below while the lead advances, then ascends to the end of the pitch while often removing the intermediate protection.
Self-Belay: A technique for self-protection on snow and ice where one or more ice axes are secured before the feet move; also, using an ascender or carabiners to attach oneself to a fixed line.
Sew Up: To place protection close together along a route with the implication being that the protection being placed is excessive when compared to common practice. Sewing a route on good rock or snow adds to safety by reducing the potential fall distance and the potential fall force reaching an anchor. In poor rock or soft snow the safer technique is to use the same amount of protection (or more) to create fewer anchor points but to make each anchor point an equalized anchor system.
Sling (Runner): A length of nylon webbing or cord either sewn or tied into a loop. Used in conjunction with the rope and anchors to provide protection. A daisy chain is a sling sewn into loops so its length can be adjusted easily. A quickdraw is a sewn sling with a carabiner at each end.
Spindrift: Loose, powdery snow incapable of holding protection.
Sport Climbing: Climbing a bolted rock route (sport route), a type of climbing with some of its own terminology. Pinkpoint and redpoint refer to the degree the route has already been set up.
Spur: A rock or snow rib on a mountain; a lateral ridge.
Stem: To bridge the distance between two holds with one's feet; to push against adjacent or opposing walls with the feet as one might do in a chimney.
Talus: An accumulation of rock larger than scree that has fallen to its location. The presence and amount of talus should be considered when crossing a slope or climbing the pitch above it.
Top Rope: A climbing rope anchored above both the climber and the belayer; to belay someone from below using a rope that loops up through a high anchor and then back down to the climber.
Trad: A person who adheres to the principles of traditional climbing: to place and remove the protection used on a climb; to use no device or technique that will scar the rock or mountain.
Traverse: Moving laterally across terrain instead of ascending or descending.
Undercling: A hand hold on rock that depends on upward pressure on a downward hold.
Unzip (Zipper Fall, Zip Out): A fall where one piece of protection after another is pulled out by the force of the fall. Often refers to the failure of intermediate protection in rock climbing but also a threat for fixed lines and running belays in alpine climbing.
Water Knot: A knot used to tie lengths of webbing together or into slings.
Webbing: Flat nylon tape or tubing used for slings.
Yosemite/Tahquitz Decimal System: An evolving system to define route difficulty numerically with fine definitions within Class 5. The system bears the names of where it developed in the 1950s.
Mountain Climbing School Manual (free PDF download)
An illustrated introduction to mountaineering technique from the Santiam Alpine Club.