Belay (to belay , belayer) : this refers to the person attached to the other end of the rope when someone is climbing. Should the climber fall or want to rest/come down, the belayer with their belay device catches the climber’s fall or lowers them down or simply uses the belay device to hold the climber where they want to rest. The belay device typically assists the belayer in holding the rope by blocking the rope so that the belayer doesn’t have to hold the climber up with just their arms. See dead rope.
Bolt: piece of protection that is “bolted” to the wall, drilled and fixed with sika usually, that we attach our protection to to.
Chains: typically at the top of the route. The last piece of protection. Marks the end of the route. If you fall at the chains whilst sending you almost sent the route.
Chalk: magnesium carbonate or chalk is what we use to dry out our hands to climb to improve friction. Also comes in liquid form that then dries out leaving fuller coverage on your hands.
Crag: area or wall of rock where there are climbs. See sector.
Dead rope: this is the end of the rope that comes out of the other side of the belay device (the other end out of the other side is attached to the climber). YOU MUST ALWAYS HAVE ONE HAND ON THE DEAD ROPE. This is called the dead rope for a reason, failure to do so can cause the belay device to not brake the rope, letting the rope slip through and causing the climber to fall long distances or even fall to the ground. Most belay devices only assist brake and need you to be holding the dead rope to work properly. Too many people, especially with grigris (a common belay device), forget to keep a hand on the dead rope. It makes me very nervous and if you see anyone at the crag doing it please kindly remind them that the climber’s life is in their hands.
Quickdraw or clip: two carabiners linked with a sling that we use as protection.
Flash: when some flashes a route it means that climbed it on their first go but woth previous knowledge of the route. Either someone flashes them the route , gives instructions as they are climbing, or they have seen someone else climb the route, or maybe they have even seen a video. All boulders first go are considered a flash because you can typically see all the holds and sometimes even touch them from the ground.
Orientation: this refers to the direction the wall or crag faces and can give you an indication as to how much or how little sun the wall will get. North facing is typically shade all day and south facing sun all day.
Sector: this refers to a particular crag within a climbing area. The area could be Sella and the sector Wildside. Like an aisle in a supermarket. The supermarket is the climbing area and the different aisles are sectors.
Send (to send a route): successfully climb a route bottom to top without falling or pulling on gear. We can also say clipping the chains of a route meaning that you’ve passed your rope through the last piece of protection (the chains). If someone is sending it means they are climbing from the ground and haven’t yet fallen or rested on gear.
Tick mark: we use these to mark holds. We use our chalk to leave dots or lines to highlight hard to see or remember holds. *Please clean these marks by brushing them off after you have finished climbing !
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