# The Climbing Handbook

## Glossary
Here are some common terms used by climbers:
- **Anchor**: Device to attach a rope to a climbing surface, usually it is associated with the end of the route, and has supports for setting up a top rope.
- **Belay**: technique of creating friction with a climbing protection system on a climbing rope to catch a falling climber. The person responsible for belaying is called the **belayer**.
- **Beta**: Information about a climb, could be information about the holds, how to progress on a certain part, etc
- **Bolts**: Metal expansion bolts drilled into the rock for use as protection on sport or aid climbs.
- **Crux**: The toughest move or sequence of moves on a climb.
- **Figure 8**: Climbing knot woven in the shape of the number 8, typically used for tying the climbing rope to the climber's harness. Also, the name of a belay/rappel device with the same shape.
- **Flash**: A red point ascent (first try on lead) utilizing prior inspection, information or beta from others.
- **Multi-pitch**: A climb longer than one rope length.
- **On sight**: To lead a climb on the first attempt without prior knowledge of the route or moves.
- **Pitch**: The length of a climb that can be protected by 1 rope length. A pitch is led by the lead climber and cleaned by the second (or follower).
- **Pumped**: To be weakened or in pain (usually in the forearms) from a strenuous move or climb.
- **Red point**: Red point—To lead a climb without falling or putting weight on the rope, regardless of number of attempts.

## Types of Rock Climbing Displicines


### Aid Climbing
Uses various tools to allow the climber to make upward progress, such as nylon ladders.


### Free Climbing
Type of climbing that relies only on the climbers strength and limbs to make progress, the rope is only used in the event of a fall.


### Free Soloing
Free solo consists of climbing routes without using the rope as a safety feature. Made famous by Alex Honnold, it's an extremely high risk activity.


### Bouldering
Bouldering is a climbing activity that involves making progress over paths called 'problems', each problem is tipically much shorter than a common roped routed, generally staying less than 6 meters. Boulderers use thick foldable mats as a security feature, called crash pads, to make landing areas softer and flatter.


### Top Rope
A great, lower-risk option for those new to climbing, top-rope climbing can be done indoors or out. As the name implies, the rope is set up above the climber in advance. The rope runs from the climber, up through an anchor at the top of the cliff, and back down to the belayer. When a top-rope climber falls, they simply sink onto the rope, which the belayer is keeping taut. The rope may stretch as the climber weights it, but the climber isn’t going to experience free fall; they’ll more or less end up in the same spot on the wall that they let go.

Top-rope climbing requires access to the top of the cliff to set up the rope and anchor system, unless it’s already set up for you (like in the gym). In many places, climbers can simply hike to the top, but sometimes, that’s just not possible.

### Lead Climbing
A lead climber attaches the rope to pieces of protection on their way up the route. If they fall, the piece below them will stop them from hitting the ground, but lead falls are longer and more serious than top-rope falls.

When a lead climber falls, they fall twice the distance between them and the last protection they clipped. So if the climber has moved 1 meter above their last piece, they’re at risk of a 2 meters fall. On a sheer or overhanging wall, these falls can be no big deal, but many routes have ledges, loose rock, or other features that make lead falls higher consequence, and a lead climber must always take into account the quality and security of the protection they’re relying on.


### Sport Climbing vs Trad Climbing

In **sport climbing**, the protection is permanently fixed to the rock. Bolts and hangers are spaced intermittently on the route, so the climber simply clips the rope to those as they pass by. They’ll typically do this using a length of webbing with a carabiner on either end (called a quickdraw), one end for the rope, the other for the bolt/hanger.

In **trad climbing**, there is no fixed protection, so a climber must place removable pieces of gear into features of the rock to clip the rope to as they pass. While there are numerous types of protection used by trad climbers, they fit into two broad categories: passive gear and active gear. Passive gear has no moving parts and functions based on its shape and size. It’s often placed into particular features in the rock to act as a stopper, unable to fall through. Active gear has moving parts made to allow the item to contract (to fit into a crack or pod) and then expand against the rock feature it’s placed in.


## Types of Climbing Holds

### Crimps
These are the smallest type of hold and require you to use the tips of your fingers. Crimps require a lot of precisiong and strength. Depending on the complexity of the climb and how large your fingers are, you may be able to fit one or two fingers onto this hold.


### Pockets
Pockets are small, recessed holds that can be found in various shapes and sizes. They're usually big enough to fit one or two fingers into, but some may require your full hand.


### Pinches
Pinches are typically vertical holds. They have characteristics comparable to slopers and other grips, but they are narrow enough to accomodate the whole hand. Pinches are usually slightly more positive, allowing you to press your thumb against one side and the rest of your fingers against the other.


### Slopers
Slopers are unique: they have a rounded form with no clear positive edge. These type of holds have a highly abrasive surface that provides your hand with more traction to compensate for the lack of gripping. Slopers are typically larger than other holds, and they're frequently utilized in more advanced climbing routes.


### Jugs
Jugs are the simplest type of hold to use. They have a big hollow region at the top of the hold, which you can slide one or more hand into with ease. Any good or simple hold on a rock face can be called a jug.


### Edges
Edges are one of the most prevalent holds, they vary in size but are typically small and sharp.


### Sidepulls
Sidepulls assist you in moving sideways to extend yourself and gain access to different foot and handholds. This is a good grip for getting to hard-to-reach handholds or around obstacles in rock cimbling.


### Undercling
Underclings are holds that you grab from beneath, with your fingers on the bottom and thumb on top (like a pinch). In the midway position, you're in a hanging-style lockdown. This lock is usually around mid-torso and might be tough to master since it requires considerable muscle strength to climb out of this position.


## Grading System
In North America, the difficulty of a route is described using the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS), while for bouldering, it is measured using the V Scale.

Following picture shows the different grades and the conversion to the Font Scale, used in Europe.


## Type of Rock Faces

### Slabs
Slabs are rock faces that are angled at less than 90 degrees or less than vertical. Climbing a slab requires a good sense of your feet and how to use them as well as balance and rock shoes with lots of friction. When you climb a slab, the general rule is that you keep your weight on your feet. This foot technique is called smearing and the holds you use are usually called friction holds or smears. You usually smear your feet on tiny holds on the rock or simply rely on the shoe rubber to hold against a smooth rock. Typically, your hands and arms are used for balance rather than pulling because it’s your feet that keep you on the rock and moving upward.


### Vertical Faces
Vertical faces are exactly that—rock faces angled at 90 degrees, which is more or less straight up. Usually, climbers will consider faces that are slightly less than 90 degrees to be vertical since they are climbed by the same techniques. Like climbing slabs, footwork is very important when you climb vertical cliffs. You keep your weight over your feet as much as possible, which avoids taxing your arms too much and getting pumped and falling off. Foot techniques include inside edging, outside edging, and smearing. You also need to find your center of gravity and sense of equilibrium, keep an upright body position, and use your hands and arms for pulling.


### Overhanging Faces
Overhanging faces are those rock faces that are overhung or angled more than 90 degrees. Climbing overhanging faces requires, of course, lots of upper body strength, an apelike attitude, and excellent climbing technique. If you don’t have a combination of these three factors, you might get off the ground but you’re not going to climb too high. Surprisingly, climbing overhanging faces also requires exacting footwork where the climber uses his feet in specialized techniques like heel hooks and toe cams, which help take the climber’s weight off his arms. Another important skill for overhanging climbing is being able to find and use rests.


## Gear (Sport Climbing)

### Rope
Modern climbing ropes are 50–80 metres (160–260 ft) in length (the longer versions are for multi-pitch climbing), and have a kernmantle construction consisting of a core (kern) of twisted nylon fibers and an outer sheath (mantle) of woven colored coarse nylon fibers. They are either dynamic ropes, which can stretch to absorb the energy of a falling climber, or are the less expensive but more hard-wearing static ropes, which are only for use in constant-load situations such as descending (e.g. abseiling) and ascending (also called fixed-roping).


### Quickdraw
Quickdraws are used by climbers to connect ropes to fixed items such as bolted anchors in sport climbing, or protection devices in traditional climbing. The quickdraw consists of two non-locking carabiners connected together by a short, pre-sewn loop of webbing. They are used to reduce the friction and drag between the rope of the fixed item (i.e. instead of just clipping into a carabiner clipped into the bolt).


### Harness
Climbing harnesses are used for connecting the rope to the climber (via a "belay loop" on the harness). Harnesses are made of strong materials to specific strength guidelines that can withstand the load of a major fall.


### Belay Device

Belay devices are mechanical friction-brake devices used to control the climbing rope(s) when belaying a climber. Their main purpose is to allow the rope to be locked-off/fully-braked with minimal effort when arresting a climber's fall. There are many kinds of belay devices, such as the original passive braking devices like "sticht plates" and the later "tubers/tubulars" (e.g. the original Black Diamond **ATC**).


Modern belay devices include assisted-braking devices (ABDs) that will self-lock with sudden rope movements (e.g. the Petzl **GriGri**).


### Shoes
Climbing shoes are designed to increase the friction and thus grip of the foot with the climbing surface by using a sole of vulcanized rubber. Stiffer shoes are used for "edging", and softer soles for "smearing".


### Chalk
Climbing chalk is used by all rock climbers to absorb moisture on their hands; the chalk is kept in a "chalk bag" that is hung around the waist area.


## Climbing Techniques

### Edging
Edging is exactly what it sounds like: You step on a hold with the rubber on the edge of your shoe. You can use the inside edge, where your big toe offers stability on smaller holds, or you can use the outside edge. Your choice depends on the direction you need to move in order to get on or off the hold.


### Smearing
Smearing happens when you don't have an actual foothold, so you rely on your shoe's rubber for friction against the rock. Smearing is useful in slab climbing, when you're on low-angle rock without many defined footholds.


### Back Step
A back step is the opposite of a normal step. Instead of stepping on a hold with your big toe and your hips squared to the wall, you turn your hip to the side and step with the outside edge (little-toe side) of your shoe.

Back stepping helps get your hip close to wall, making it easier to straighten your arms and take a rest. It can also provide enough extension to reach an elusive hold. Back steps are especially useful for saving energy on steep and overhanging routes.


### Drop Knee
A drop knee is a more extreme back step. It works best when you have a foothold near hip level. Step onto it with the tip of your toe; then roll your knee in until the outside of your shoe rests on the hold and your knee actually points down.

Just like a back step, a drop knee gets your hip close to the wall. It's great for a rest, but it's especially great when you need extra reach on a steep or overhanging wall.


### Flagging
Flagging is counter balancing by using a limb to shift your weight. The goal is to keep from swinging away from the rock.

Flagging is advantageous any time you're using holds that are all on the same side of your body. Because that also stacks all your weight to one side, you simply swing that leg out to the other side of your body to keep yourself in balance.


### Mantle
A mantle is when you push down on a hold and bring feet up to meet hands. A classic example of mantling is at the top of a climb when you need to pull yourself onto the ledge.

To mantle, push down on a hold to get your weight above it, then move your foot up to take the place of your hand.

Mantles are necessary when you top out, but are also useful mid-climb when you have a big handhold and you need to get your feet high.


### Gaston
A gaston is the inverse of side pull. In a side pull, the hold is oriented so that you pull in, toward yourself. A gaston is also oriented for a sideways force, but instead of a pull in, it requires a push out.

The position is kind of like if you were trying to open an elevator door; your elbow is bent and pointing out to the side with your fingers pointing in toward you.

Gastons may feel unstable because all the force comes from your shoulder. But adding this move to your repertoire really opens up the wall.


### Heel Hook

The heel hook is one of the most popular and most used climbing techniques. A heel hook is when you place the heel of your foot directly on the foothold, your toes can be pointing up, or your foot could be parallel to the ground. Often you are using your heel to lever yourself over your hip. This vital position can be used to get yourself up the wall.


### Toe Hook
A method of using the top of the toes or foot as the point of friction between the shoe and a climbing surface in order to balance or pull.


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