Mountaineering Lingo

If you truly want to understand the sport of mountaineering, you must first learn some basic lingo. The following terms are typically used in connection with mountaineering:

Altitude sickness: A medical condition that generally hits at high altitudes.

Anchor: A rigid article on the climbing terrain that maintains the weight of a climber when falling or descending in order to arrest a climber’s fall. An anchor can be anything between bolts drilled into a rock to natural substances such as trees or boulders.

 

Approach: The path to the beginning of a technical climb.

 

Belay: Techniques a roped climber uses when making his descent in order to maintain control and stability. These methods usually demand another person to be present in order to establish drag on the rope.

 

Bolt: An anchor-point permanently penetrated into a rock.

Carabiner: A metal ring used as a connector in order to fasten the rope to an anchor or sling.

Crampons: Metal boot attachments with numerous spikes that offer traction on slippery snow and ice.

Flash: To effectively complete a climbing route on the first attempt.

Rappel: The process by which a climber engages on a controlled descent down a steep terrain by an anchored rope.

Sling: A loop that is formed by tying together the ends of nylon tubular webbing in order to fasten to anchors. The climber’s rope is strung through the loop to avoid abrasion of the rope.

Top rope: To belay from a rigid anchor point on top of the climb.