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Glossary of mountaineering terms

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Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills
by the Mountaineers Club

This article describes common terms and jargon used in mountaineering.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Ablation zone

The area of a glacier where yearly melting meets or exceeds the annual snow fall.

Abseil

The process by which a climber may descend on a fixed rope. Also known as Rappel.

Aid climbing

A form of rock climbing that requires artificial assistance, i.e. ropes, to ascend.

Alpine start

To make an efficient start on a long climb by packing all your gear the previous evening and starting early in the morning, usually before sunrise.

Altitude sickness

A medical condition that is often observed at high altitudes. Also known as Acute mountain sickness, or AMS.

Anchor

A fail-safe attachment point for protection.

Approach

The path or route to the start of a technical climb. Although this is generally a walk or, at most, a scramble it is occasionally as hazardous as the climb itself.

Arete

The outside corner of rock. See also dihedral.

Ascender

A device for ascending on a rope. A mechanical ascender is called a jumar.

ATC

A proprietary type of belay device. ATC stands for Air traffic controller.

B

Belay

Protecting a climber from falling using a rope.

Belay device

A mechanical device used when belaying. Many types of belay device exist, including ATC, grigri, Reverso, Sticht plate, eight, tuber, and the Munter hitch. Some belay devices may also be used as descenders.

Bergschrund

A crevasse that forms on the upper portion of a glacier where the moving section pulls away from the ice cap.

Beta

Advice and/or instructions on how to successfully complete a particular climbing route.

Bolt

An anchor-point permanently drilled into the rock.

Bomb-proof anchor

A totally secure anchor, or set of anchors. Also known as a bomber. Sadly, anchors are often misclassified as such.

Buttress

A prominent feature that juts out from a rock or mountain.

C

Cam

A spring-loaded device used to place protection. See Spring loaded camming device.

Carabiner

Metal rings with spring-loaded gates, used as connectors. Also known as crab or biner.

Chock

A mechanical device, or a wedge, used to attach anchors into cracks.

Col

A small pass between two peaks.

Couloir

A steep gully or gorge frequently filled with snow or ice.

Cornice

An overhanging edge of snow on a ridge.

Crag

A small area with climbing routes, often just a small cliff face or a few boulders.

Crampons

Metal framework with spikes attached to boots to increase safety on snow and ice.

D

Daisy chain

A type of sling with multiple sewn, or tied, loops. In many situations this can be more versatile than a normal sling.

Deadman anchor

An object buried into snow to serve as an anchor for an attached rope. One common type of such an anchor is the snow fluke.

Descender

A device for controlled descent on a rope. Many belay devices may be used as descenders, including ATCs, eights, or even carabiners.

Diamox

A drug used to inhibit the onset of altitude sickness. Otherwise known as Acetazolamide.

Dihedral

The inside corner of rock. See also arête.

Dynamic rope

A slightly elastic rope that softens falls to some extent. Also tend to be damaged less severely by heavy loads. Compare with static rope.

E

Edge

A thin ledge on the rock.

Eight

A belay device or descender. Named from its appearance as the digit "8".

Eight-thousander

A mountain that tops 8,000 metres.

Exposure

State of openness with relation to the distance of a fall.

F

First ascent

The first successful completion of a route.

Fixed rope

A rope which has a fixed attachment point. Commonly used for abseiling or aid climbing.

Flake

A thin slab of rock detached from the main face.

Follow

What the second does.

Fourteener

Mountain that tops 14,000 feet in the contiguous United States.

Free climbing

Climbing without unnatural aids, other than used for protection.

G

Gendarme

A pinnacle or isolated rock tower frequently encountered along a ridge.

Glissade

A usually voluntary act of sliding down a steep slope of snow.

GriGri

A belay device designed to be easy to use and safe for beginners because it is self-locking under load. Invented and manufactured by Petzl.

H

HACE

High Altitude Cerebral Edema - a severe form of altitude sickness.

Hand Traverse

Traversing without any footholds.

Hanging Belay

Belaying at a point such that the belayer is suspended.

HAPE

High Altitude Pulmonary Edema - a serious form of altitude sickness.

Harness

Climbing equipment used for attaching a rope to a person.

Headwall

The region of a cliff or rock face that steepens dramatically.

Helmet

Also known as a brain bucket. It can save your life, but only while worn.

Hook

1. Equipment used in aid climbing.
2. A climbing technique.

I

Ice axe

A handy tool for safety and balance.

Ice screw

A screw used to protect climber on steep ice or for setting up a crevasse rescue system. The strongest and most reliable is the modern tubular ice screw which ranges in length from 18 to 23 cm.

J

Jamming

Wedging a body part into a crack.

Jumar

A mechanical ascender.

K

Klemheist knot

An alternative to the prussik knot, useful when the climber is short of cord but has plenty of webbing.

Knots

Climbers rely on many different knots for anchoring oneself to a mountain, joining two ropes together, slings for climbing up the rope, etc.

L

Lead climbing

A form of climbing in which the climber places anchors and attaches the belay rope as they climb.

Locking carabiner

A carabiner with a locking gate, to prevent accidental release of the rope.

M

Moat

A crevasse that forms where the glacier pulls away from a rock formation.

Mountain rescue

A friendly team of people that will come and rescue you after an injury or accident. Also see coroner.

Multi-pitch climbing

Climbing on routes that are too long for a single belay rope.

Munter hitch

A simple hitch that is often used for belaying without a mechanical belay device. Otherwise known as an Italian hitch or a Friction hitch.

N

Neve

Permanent granular ice formed by repeated freeze-thaw cycles.

Nunatak

A mountain or rock that protrudes through an ice field.

O

Overhang

A section of rock or ice that is angled beyond vertical. See roof.

P

Pitch

The portion of a climb between two belay points.

Piton

A metal spike that may be hammered into ice or flaws in rock.

Plunge step

An aggressive step pattern for descending on hard or steep angle snow.

Protection

1. Process of setting equipment or anchors for safety.
2. Equipment or anchors used for preventing falls. Commonly known as Pro.

Prusik

1. A knot used for ascending a rope.
2. To use a prusik knot for ascending a rope.

Q

Quickdraw

Used to attach a freely running rope to anchors or chocks. Sometimes called quickies.

R

Rappel

The process by which a climber may descend on a fixed rope. Also known as Abseil.

Roof

Horizontal overhang.

Rope

An essential item of climbing equipment.

Route

The path of a particular climb, or a predefined set of moves.

Runner

Another term for sling.

Runout

1. The span between two points of protection.
2. A long portion of a route without adequate protection.

S

Saddle

A high pass between two peaks, larger than a col.

Scrambling

Non-technical climbing.

Scree

Loose, broken rock that climbers can never avoid.

Second

A climber who follows the lead, or first, climber.

Serac

A large ice tower.

Sharp end

The end of the belay rope that is attached to the lead climber.

Sirdar

Head Sherpa mountain guide.

Slab

A relatively flat and featureless block of rock.

SLCD

Abbreviation for spring loaded camming device, a type of protection device. These are better known by the term cam.

Sling

Webbing sewn, or tied, into a loop.

Snow fluke

An angled aluminum plate attached to a metal cable. The fluke is buried into snow, typically used as a deadman anchor.

Sport climbing

A form of climbing where grace and technical (or gymnastic) ability are considered more important than danger, exhilaration or brute strength. Sport climbing routes tend to be well protected with pre-placed bolt-anchors.

Static rope

A non-elastic rope. Compare with dynamic rope.

Sticht plate

A belay device consisting of a flat plate with a pair of slots. Named after the inventor Franz Sticht.

Stopper

1. A wedge-shaped nut.
2. A knot used to prevent the rope running through a piece of equipment.

Summit

  1. The high point of a mountain or peak.
  2. Used as a verb to indicate that a person reached the top. e.g. I summitted Mt. Athabasca.

T

Top rope

To belay from a fixed anchor point above the climb.

Tuber

A belay device.

Traverse

  1. To climb in a horizontal direction.
  2. A feature of a rock that allows, relatively, easy progress in a horizontal direction.

U

V

Verglas

A thin coating of ice that forms over rocks when rainfall or melting snow freezes on rock. Hard to climb on as crampons have insufficient depth for reliable penetration.

W

Wand

A bamboo stick with a small flag on top used to mark paths over glaciers and snow fields.

Webbing

Hollow and flat rope, mainly used to make runners and slings.

X

Y

Yosemite Decimal System

A numerical system for rating the difficulty of walks, hikes, and climbs in the United States. The rock climbing (5.x) portion of the scale is the most common climb grading system used in the USA.

Z

Zipper fall

A fall in which each piece of protection fails in turn.