Every term here means something specific. Not approximately specific — precisely specific. Climbers use language the way they use holds: with intention, because the wrong one gets you nowhere.
Forty-one terms. Five categories. No padding.
Sends & Completions
Redpoint
verb
To complete a route or boulder problem cleanly — no falls, no rests on gear — after prior attempts. The attempt that counts. Everything before it is practice.
If you have to ask whether it was a redpoint, it wasn't.
Flash
verb
To complete a route or problem on the first attempt, having watched others or received beta beforehand. Better than a redpoint in terms of efficiency. Worse than an onsight in terms of bragging rights.
You saw someone else do it first. That counts for something.
Onsight
verb
To complete a route or problem on the first attempt with no prior information — no beta, no watching others, no knowledge of the moves. The cleanest possible ascent.
No one told you. You figured it out. That one's yours.
Send
verb
To complete a route or boulder problem successfully. A redpoint is a send. A flash is a send. An onsight is a send. Context determines the weight.
Used correctly: "she sent it." Used incorrectly: most other contexts.
Top Out
verb
To reach and climb over the top of a boulder, rather than jumping or lowering off. Some boulders require a full top-out to count as a completion. Others don't. The debate is ongoing.
Getting up is the problem. Getting down is a different one.
First Ascent (FA)
noun
The first completion of a route or boulder problem by anyone. The person who established it. FAs are documented, disputed, and occasionally claimed by people who weren't first.
Someone had to do it first. Sometimes that someone tells you about it.
Repeat
noun / verb
A subsequent ascent of a route after the first ascent. Repeating a famous route confirms the grade, confirms it goes. Less celebrated than the FA. Still counts.
The route existed before you got there. You went anyway.
Moves & Techniques
Dyno
noun / verb
A dynamic move in which both feet leave the wall simultaneously — a full jump to a hold out of reach by static movement. The most photogenic move in climbing. Also the most likely to result in a controlled fall.
Both feet off. Commitment required.
Deadpoint
verb
A controlled dynamic movement in which momentum carries the body to a hold at the precise moment of stillness — the dead point — between upward and downward motion. Not a full dyno. Harder to explain than to feel.
The moment between up and down. That's where the hold is.
Mantle
verb
To press down on a hold and push the body up over it, converting a pull into a push — like climbing out of a swimming pool. Required on many top-outs. Never comfortable.
Arms locked. Body over. Hope for the best.
Figure Four
noun / verb
A technique in which one leg is hooked over the opposite arm to gain height on a steep or overhanging section — the body position mirrors the shape of the number 4. Unconventional. Effective. Painful on the arm.
The move no one teaches you. Someone figured it out anyway.
Heel Hook
noun / verb
Placing the heel on a hold to generate upward force or maintain body position on an overhang. The heel does the work the hands usually do.
Trust the heel.
Toe Hook
noun / verb
Using the top of the foot to hook a hold, edge, or volume — pulling the body in rather than pushing it up. Often used on roofs and steep overhangs to keep the feet on.
The foot that pulls instead of pushes.
Smear
verb / noun
Pressing the sole of the shoe flat against a smooth or featureless surface to generate friction. No hold — just rubber and commitment.
There is no hold. There is only the smear.
Gaston
noun / verb
Gripping a hold with the elbow pointing outward and the thumb pointing down — the opposite of a side pull. Named after Gaston Rébuffat. Awkward to describe, occasionally necessary in practice.
Trying to pry open a pair of elevator doors. Or a sliding lift.
Undercling / Undercut
noun / verb
Gripping a hold from below, palm facing up. Usually paired with high feet and a low body position. The hold that faces the wrong way.
Palm up. Feet high. Trust the position.
Layback
noun / verb
A technique using opposing forces — pulling on a vertical edge while pushing with the feet against the wall. Strenuous on the arms. Often the only way through a crack or arête sequence.
Arms pulling. Feet pushing. Neither is winning.
Campus
verb
To climb without using the feet — moving hand to hand up the wall. Either a deliberate training method or what happens when your feet cut on a powerful move.
Feet optional. Forearms not.
Backstep
noun / verb
Placing the outside edge of the foot on a hold rather than the inside, rotating the hip into the wall. Improves reach. Reduces the angle. Takes tension off the arms.
Turn the hip. The reach is there.
Drop Knee
noun / verb
A technique in which one knee is dropped toward the ground while the foot stays on a hold — rotating the hip in to gain reach or stability on an overhang.
Hip in. Knee down. The move opens up.
Flag
noun / verb
Extending one leg out to the side or behind to counterbalance the body and prevent swinging off a hold. The leg that isn't on anything. The leg doing all the work.
The leg that isn't on a hold. That's the one doing the work.
Bicycle
noun / verb
A foot technique in which one foot pushes down on a hold while the other toe-hooks from the opposite side — opposing forces that lock the feet in place. Push with one, pull with the other.
Both feet. Opposite directions. It works.
Knee Bar
noun / verb
A technique in which the knee is pressed against the wall or a feature while the foot pushes in the opposite direction, creating a locking, camming action that takes weight off the arms. When the geometry allows it, both hands come off. The best rest on a hard route is usually a knee bar.
Both hands off the wall. Find it. Use it.
Holds
Crimp
noun / verb
A small edge gripped with the fingertips bent at the first joint. The most common hold type in climbing. Also the one most likely to cause a pulley injury.
The hold is there. Whether your fingers are ready is a different question.
Sloper
noun
A rounded hold with no positive edge — gripped by pressing the palm against it and relying on friction and body position. Feels like nothing. Works until it doesn't.
There is no edge. There is only pressure.
Pinch
noun / verb
A hold gripped by squeezing it between the thumb and fingers. The thumb does more work than expected.
Squeeze. Don't let go.
Jug
noun
A large, deep, positive hold that can be fully gripped — like a bucket handle. The hold climbers recover on. The one that makes everything feel easier, briefly.
The good one.
Edge
noun
A horizontal hold with a defined lip — smaller than a jug, larger than a crimp. The baseline hold. The one that just about fits the fingers.
A ledge for your fingers. Size varies.
noun
A hole in the rock or wall that accepts one or more fingers. A mono pocket takes a single finger. Two- and three-finger pockets are more forgiving.
Fingers in. Don't think about it too much.
Volume
noun
A large geometric shape bolted to a climbing wall — not a hold in itself, but a surface on which holds can be placed, or which can be used as a feature in its own right.
Not a hold. Still in the problem.
Sidepull
noun
A hold orientated vertically — gripped from the side rather than from above. Requires body position and opposition from the feet to be effective.
Sideways. Use your feet.
Grades & Systems
Font Scale
noun
The French grading system for boulder problems, named after Fontainebleau forest in France. Mostly starts at 3, with no fixed upper limit — grades extend beyond 9A as the sport progresses. Used across Europe and increasingly everywhere else.
3 is a walk. What's above 9A is still being confirmed.
V-Grade
noun
The American grading system for boulder problems, developed by John Sherman at Hueco Tanks, Texas. Runs from VB to V17. VB is below V0.
V for Verm. That's what they called Sherman.
French Sport Grade
noun
The grading system for roped sport routes. Runs from 1 to 9a and beyond — the upper end moves as the sport does. Letters (a, b, c) and plus signs refine the grade within each number. 6a is accessible. 9a and beyond is not.
The number tells you how hard. The letter tells you how much harder.
Sandbag
verb / adjective
To assign a grade lower than it deserves, making a route appear easier than it is. Accidental (the setter was strong) or deliberate (the setter was something else).
The number is lower than the climb deserves. Accidentally or otherwise.
Culture & Process
Beta
noun
Information about a route — sequence, foot positions, holds, moves. Can be given or received. Usually unsolicited.
The climbing equivalent of someone telling you how a film ends before you've watched it.
Beta Spray
noun
Unsolicited beta, delivered enthusiastically by someone who watched you fall off once.
Universally offered. Rarely requested.
Crux
noun
The hardest move or section of a route or boulder problem. Every route has one. Getting through it is the point.
Everything before it is approach. Everything after it is relief.
Project
noun / verb
A route or problem that has not yet been completed after multiple attempts. Can take sessions, months, or years.
Still there. Still not done.
Pump
noun
The build-up of lactic acid in the forearms during sustained climbing — a burning, swelling sensation that precedes failure. Managed with rest. Unavoidable at a certain intensity.
The forearms tighten. The holds get smaller. Cause and effect.
Tick Mark
noun
A chalk mark placed on or near a hold to identify it during an attempt. Considered helpful. Considered annoying by others.
Found it. Marked it. Still working on what to do with it.
Chalk Up
verb
To apply chalk to the hands before climbing. Reduces moisture, increases friction. Ritual as much as function.
The last thing before the first move.
Runout
noun
A section of a route where there is significant distance between the climber and the last piece of protection. The longer the runout, the longer the potential fall.
The gear is there. It's just not close.
Whipper
noun
A long, dynamic fall on a rope — typically from above the last piece of protection. More common on sport routes. Occasionally intentional.
You fell. It was significant. You're fine.
Rest
noun / verb
A position or hold where the climber can recover — shaking out, waiting for the pump to ease. A good rest changes the outcome.
The wall gave you a moment. Use it.
Shake Out
verb
To release pump from the forearms at a rest position — shaking one arm loose while hanging on the other, or freeing both at once if a knee bar provides the support. Done wherever the wall gives you a moment. Essential on longer routes.
Arms off. However the rest allows it. Breathe.