Whether Dab, Egyptians, Dülfer or Clip Stick. In today's article you will find the most important terms in climbing and bouldering. Of course, the list is not exhaustive. Additions are welcome, you can enter them in the comment field at the end of the article. For an optimal view of the table you have to hold the smartphone across.
A lexicon for climbing and bouldering
| Concept | synonym | Description |
| slimmed | glassy | A smoother rock surface caused by sweat and mechanical stress, which makes gripping and pedaling difficult. |
| drain | Lower a climber hanging on a rope to the ground or to a stand. | |
| rappelling | Route with solid fixed points for abseiling in a higher rock face. | |
| descents | The terrain under a boulder. | |
| Descent | The route from the end of a route back to the starting point. | |
| figure eight knot | Widely used knot for roping up. | |
| ape index | Term for a number that is calculated from arm span and body height. | |
| Egyptian | Dropknee, Lolotte | Term for a specific climbing leg position with a knee turned inwards, which is visually reminiscent of walking Egyptians on historical paintings. |
| rope up | Establishing a non-positive connection between climber and rope. | |
| belay loop | Part of the climbing harness that connects hip and leg loops. Loop to which a rope, a belay device or a self-belaying sling is attached. | |
| compete | The placing and straining of the foot on a kick. | |
| Aper | snow-free (no snow from rock faces, ice walls and glaciers). | |
| artificiel | French for artificial; Synonymous with technical climbing. | |
| ATC | The brand name of the tubes sold by the manufacturer Black Diamond. | |
| Raised fingers | Full Crimp | Finger position when holding grips with fingers that are relatively strongly bent and a closed hand position in which the thumb can support the index finger by applying pressure. This posture makes it easier to hold small groins, but puts a lot of strain on the finger joints. |
| trailer | Sloper | Round, sloping handle. |
| Ausbouldern | check-Out | Finding out the movement sequences of a climbing route. |
| compensation anchoring | The connection of two or more fixed points with a loop, which is then used to secure self and external security at the central one. | |
| Ausklettern | Easy climbing at the end of a climbing training with the aim of positively influencing the recovery. | |
| Base Climb | Short sport climbing route at the beginning of a high rock face. | |
| committing style | The way in which a climbing route is climbed. | |
| Beta | Advance information about a climbing route. | |
| Big Wall | High rock face with many pitches that often takes several days to climb. | |
| Bolt | bolts | English synonym for bolt. |
| Boulder block | Boulder | A few meters high boulder that is suitable for bouldering. |
| bouldering | Climbing discipline in which a boulder is climbed up to the jump height without belay devices. | |
| brake hand | The hand of the belayer that holds and handles the brake cable. | |
| brake cable | That section of the rope that runs from the belay device in the direction of the belayer and on which a fall of the climber is slowed down. | |
| Camalot | The product name of a special two-axis and widely used clamping device from Black Diamond. | |
| Chalk | Magnesium | Basic magnesium carbonate in powder form for drying the hands from hand perspiration before and during climbing. |
| Chalkbag | magnesium Beutel | Small, sealable carrying bag filled with magnesia, into which a hand can be inserted to dry. |
| chip | Striking or drilling handles on natural rocks. This is an absolute taboo! | |
| Clip stick | Cheater stick | Telescope-like device, which is used to hang an exe with an attached rope in a higher-lying bolt that cannot be reached by hand. |
| clipping | Hang the rope in a snap hook. | |
| Crashpad | Portable soft landing mat for bouldering. | |
| Crux | Also key point, the most difficult single point on a climbing route. | |
| Dab | Lightly touching the crash pad or other structure during a bouldering move. | |
| Dead Point | Dynamic grasping in the deadlock, where gravity is not noticeable for a short moment after a swinging movement. | |
| Deep Water Soloing | Short form DWS, Psicobloc | Free solo climbing over deep water. |
| Direttissima | In as straight line as possible walk on a rock wall. | |
| Double-Dynamo | Double Dyno | With both hands simultaneous, quick gripping or starting a handle. |
| Drytooling | Climbing with ice ax and crampons on rock and artificial walls without ice. | |
| Dülfern | Laybacking | Climbing in stepless passages with side grips (often in the form of a cracked edge) using counter-pressure technology. |
| Dynamo | Dyno | Climbing technique in which a grip is achieved by jumping off or by quickly gripping from an unstable body position. |
| Entry | Start of a climbing route. | |
| first ascent | First Ascent (FA) | First ascent of a route or boulder. |
| Exe | Express | Two snap carabiners connected with a sling, which are used to secure climbing routes. |
| exposed | exposed | Exposure to a route that could result in a large fall in the event of an unsecured fall. |
| quickdraw | The noose that connects the two snap carabiners of an express set. | |
| Figure of Four | Climbing position when climbing, in which the climber hangs one leg over an arm to compensate for a missing step. | |
| fingerboard | Fingerboard, fingerboard | Beam or board made of wood or plastic with different handles for training. |
| fixed point | Reliable attachment point for securing when climbing or mountaineering. | |
| fixed rope | Firmly anchored rope. | |
| Flash | Conquering a climbing route that is still unknown to the climber, whereby information about the route is known (beta) or is called out during the climb. | |
| Fontainebleauskala | Difficulty scale for the evaluation of bouldering problems which is abbreviated with Fb for Fontainebleau (example Fb 7b). | |
| Free Solo | Free climbing without rope and without any security. | |
| Free climbing | Climbing only with the help of natural grips and steps. Rope and hook are only used to prevent falls. | |
| Friend | Definite and historically first clamping device ever (producer: Wild Country); After the introduction of similar products from other manufacturers, it was also used as a generic name for clamping devices with a similar functional principle. | |
| Gaston | Term for a side grip, which is held against the climber's body in the direction of pull and from which the body is pushed or fixed away from the shoulder upwards or to the side. | |
| Greenpoint | Greenpoint climbing is a clean ascent (placing mobile backups in the lead) of a route that can also be secured with Bolts. | |
| grigri | Special semi-automatic belay device from Petzl. | |
| grounder | Crash on the ground or on a tape. | |
| Semi-automatic belay device | semi-automatic | Generic name for a class of belay devices that block the rope in the device in the event of a fall without or with little use of the brake handset, provided the device functions and is used correctly. For safety reasons, the braking hand principle must always be observed with these devices when securing and lowering. |
| Munter hitch | HMS | Backup node. |
| half rope | Rope that can only be used in two strands in the lead. It is mostly used in multi-pitch climbing. | |
| shimmy | Climbing without feet, only with your hands. | |
| Hanging fingers | Certain grip finger position with relatively stretched fingers and an open hand position (see also full crimp and crimp). | |
| Haul bag | Material sack that is pulled from stand to stand when climbing big walls. | |
| heel hook | Use the heel under tension or pressure to move or achieve a stable body position. | |
| Henkel | Term for a large, good grip for all fingers. | |
| Highball | High boulder problem with possible dangerous falls. | |
| Hook | (1) Short form for toe and heel hooks. (2) Device that is attached to rock structures during technical climbing and serves as a fixed point. | |
| IFSC | International Federation of Sport Climbing, international umbrella organization for competitive climbing. | |
| Jümaren | The technique of climbing on a fixed rope with the help of two ascenders, named after the ascender Jümar. | |
| Carbine | carabiner | Hook with spring-loaded snap lock. |
| clamping wedge | wedge | Wedge-shaped metal block, which is clamped in cracks as a fixed point. |
| knee Klemmer | The jamming of the lower leg between two contact points on the rock by creating pressure between the foot and knee or thigh. | |
| rosin | pof | A resin that is wrapped in a permeable ball of cloth and used as a substitute or supplement for magnesia when bouldering in sandstone. |
| crusade | Climbing movement in which the reaching hand crosses the plumb line of the holding hand. | |
| strip | Crimp | On the one hand, crimp / bar denotes a straight and usually rather small handle shape. On the other hand, crimp is also used to designate the finger position. (half-raised finger position). |
| Mantle | Support up on a handle. Often necessary at the exit of a boulder. | |
| Multi-pitch route | Route with several pitches. | |
| Iceclimbing | Climbing routes with ice and rock passages, which are usually mastered with ice axes and crampons. | |
| Mobile security | Devices that are used to temporarily set up fixed points, such as B. Wedges and slings. | |
| sewing machine | Colloquial term for strong muscle tremors while climbing. | |
| No-Hand-rest | Rest point at which the hands are not needed to hold the rock structure. | |
| Open door | The climbing problem of turning the climber sideways out of the wall (like a door that opens). | |
| Offwidth crack | Crack too wide to pinch your fist but narrower than a chimney. | |
| onsight | Red dot ascent of a climbing route in the first attempt without having received information about movements and holds in the route before or during the ascent. | |
| partner check | Four-eyes principle | Mutual control of the climbing partners to ensure that all safety measures have been completed correctly. |
| Pink Point | Historical: Red point inspection, where the intermediate safeguards were already attached before the inspection. Is no longer differentiated from red point today. | |
| Placement | Suitable place for placing a mobile belay device. | |
| Plaisir climbing | Synonym for enjoyment climbing. | |
| portaledge | Light platform for sleeping on big wall climbs. | |
| Problem | Synonymous with bouldering, a short route that is taken at jump height without a climbing rope. | |
| Prusik | A terminal node that contracts under load. | |
| Pump | With continuous exertion of the fingers, hard, thickened and less powerful muscles in the forearm (pumped arms) due to acidification with lactate | |
| points | Colloquially for red point climbing. | |
| Red circle | Free ascent of a route in the lead without resting at the safety points; several attempts, with the last save point reached remaining attached. | |
| Rotpunkt | Conquering a climbing route in lead without straining the safety chain. | |
| route Read | The mental play through of the movement sequences of a route before the actual attempt. | |
| resting place | Place in a climbing route where the climber can relax without straining the safety chain. | |
| runout | Unusually large distance between two intermediate fuses. | |
| hourglass | Hole open on both sides, where a cord or tape loop can be inserted as an intermediate safety device. | |
| renovate | The replacement and supplementation of old safety material in climbing routes with new material. | |
| key length | The hardest pitch within a multi-pitch route. | |
| Seilschaft | The climbing partners on a rope. | |
| Serac | Glacier break-off zone in steep terrain. | |
| assurance partner | Name for the person who secures a climber. | |
| Sika | Two-component adhesive for stone, which is used for fixing loose stones and the controversial creation of new handles or steps. | |
| sinter | Longer organ-pillared vertical rock structures. | |
| speed ascent | As quick as possible to climb a climbing route, usually a multi-pitch route or a big wall. | |
| speed climbing | A form of competition in which two climbers compete against one another on two standardized climbing routes on an artificial climbing wall and climb them as quickly as possible. | |
| Sport climbing | Climbing with sportive objective. | |
| scoff | Safety technology when bouldering. The person standing on the ground ensures that the climber falls on his feet in the event of a fall. | |
| fall factor | Number that quantifies the "hardness" of a fall into the rope (fall height divided by the length of the rope issued = fall factor). | |
| Tape | Adhesive tape to support the tapes or to protect the skin. | |
| Technical climbing | Form of climbing in which technical aids such as hooks are used not only for securing but also for locomotion (synonyms: artificial climbing, artif climbing). | |
| Toehook | Use the top of the toe on tension to move or achieve a stable body position. | |
| Best | The official end of a route that is normally reached by attaching the diversion. | |
| Top rope or red cross | Climbing style in which the rope runs through the stand so that no safety devices have to be attached during climbing. | |
| Top | Sketch of a climbing route or a climbing garden. | |
| Tradklettern | Inspection style, in which all security points (mobile security devices) are attached themselves and removed after the inspection. | |
| Traverse | Quergang | Climbing route section or boulder in which you traverse horizontally. |
| diverter | Particularly secure anchor point (often also two bolts connected with a chain) at the end of a climbing route, via which the climber is lowered again. | |
| undercling | Roughly horizontal handle that can only be held by pulling upwards. | |
| Urban Climbing | City Bouldering, Building | Climbing on buildings and other urban structures. |
| intersection | Two rock faces, slabs or packages of rocks that meet - like an open book - on an inner edge. | |
| lead climbing | Inspection style, in which the rope has to be hooked into the securing points while climbing. | |
| water groove | Usually easy to grip vertical erosion in limestone. | |
| boarding | The distance from the starting point to the route. |
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Credits: Cover picture, terms Wikipedia
- Pliers or pliers handle
- oldschool or newschool (-climbing)
- adhesive hook
- Overhang, plate, roof
- Volume
- Hole