terminology

If you’ve just started climbing and want to get to grips with the basic terminology or if you’re heading to the French Alps and want to know how to ask for slack, you may find this list helpful. On the other hand, if you’re an experienced climber and want to improve of add a new climbing term to the list, go ahead and drop as a mail.

Image	English	Spanish	French	Definition
	"Off Belay"	"Estoy seguro"	"Vaché! / Relai!"	Climber --> Belayer. The climber is in a safe position (tied on with the lifeline). The belayer can rest.
	Onsight / Beta Flash	A vista	À vue	Clean ascent of a route without having previously practiced it or received any other type of information about it (watch someone else climb it, advice from other climbers etc).
	"Watch me!"	"Al loro! / Voy"	"Attention! / Fais gaffe!"	Climber --> Belayer. Warning that the climber is about to try a difficult and / or potentially dangerous move.
	Alpine Climbing	Alpinismo	Alpinisme	Form of climbing which consists in the ascent of high mountains in a self-sufficient manner.
	Sandstone	Arenisca	Grès	Sedimentary rock consisting of sand or quartz grains cemented together, typically red, yellow, or brown in colour. Two well-known sandstone crags in Madrid are El Vellón and the Cañon de Uceda.
	Arete	Arista	Arête	The vertical corner of a wall. If you imagine a book standing open on a table, the angle on the outside of the book would be the arete and the angle on the inside a dihedral.
	Spits / Parabolts	Spits / Parabolts	Goujon / spits	Different anchors fixed to the wall on sports routes which are used to hang quickdraws in order to secure the climbers ascent.
	Multi-pitch climb	Ascension de varios largos	Grande voie	Succession of vertical routes where the beginning of one route is the end of the previous one. The second climber is belayed by the first from the belay station above. La Pedriza and La Cabrera have some excellent multi-pitch climbs.
	To belay	Asegurar	Assurer	To protect the climber from a fall by means of a belaying device such as an 8, Gri-gri or other belay device.
	Bouldering	Búlder	Bloc	A form of climbing on large boulders without ropes or harnesses. Routes are usually relatively short and a crash pad or bouldering matt is used to cushion a potential fall.
	Limestone	Caliza	Calcaire	Sedimentary rock composed mainly of calcium carbonate. Climbing on limestone is characterised by vertical or overhanging routes with solid rock and features like jugs, holes and tufas. The best-known limestone crag in Madrid is Patones.
	Jug	Cazo	Bac	Very large hold.
	Quickdraw	Cinta Expréss	Dégaine	Piece of climbing equipment formed by two carabiners connected by a sewn loop of webbing. On a lead climb, the climber clips one of the carabiners to an anchor and passes the rope through the other to secure their ascent.
	Crashpad	Colchoneta	Crashpad	Thick mattress used to cushion the landing in case of a fall. Mostly used for bouldering.
	Rope	Cuerda	Corde	Climbing equipment used to connect climber and belayer.
	"Rope!"	"Cuerda!"	"Corde !"	Warning to the people at the base of a sports route that they are about to pull the rope.
	"give / slack!"	"Dame cuerda!"	"Mou! / Donner du mou"	Climber --> Belayer. To ask for extra slack in the rope, usually when clipping a quickdraw.
	Downclimb	Desescalar / Destrepar	Désescalader	To climb downwards either to reach the beginning of a route, to search for a more comfortable position to rest before attempting a hard move or for training purposes.
	Overhang	Desplome	Dévers	Section of a route with a greater than vertical inclination.
	Dihedral	Diedro	Dièdre	The angle formed by two plane rockfaces. If you imagine a book standing open on a table, the angle on the outside of the book would be the arete and the angle on the inside a dihedral.
	Dyno	Dinamico	Dynamique/jeté	A move in which the climber uses his entire body to leap to a hold which would otherwise be unreachable.
	belay Device	Dispositivo de freno	Systeme d'assurage	The device is either connected to the belayer's harness or the belay station. The friction caused as the rope passes through it allows the belayer to catch a fall and safely lower the climber after an ascent.
	Chocks	Empotradores	Coinceurs	Collection of climbing gear that is placed into cracks and features on the wall to protect a fall. Different types include nuts, stoppers, friends, camalots and any type of gear that can act as an anchor.
	Sport Climbing	Escalada deportiva	Escalade sportive / faire des couennes	Type of climbing that uses pre-placed anchors (parabolts) to secure the ascent. The level of risk is signifcantly lower in sports climbs when compared with trad climbing or alpine climbing.
	Free solo	Solo integral	Solo intégral	Climbing without ropes, harness or any other safety equipment. This is the highest risk form of climbing; unlike sport climbing, falling is not an option.
	Traditional Climbing (Trad)	Escalada Clásica	Terrain d'aventure	Type of climbing which uses the placement of non-fixed equipment (nuts, friends, knots etc.) placed in cracks and holes in the rock to secure the ascent. The second climber recovers the equipment.
	Slab Climbing	Adherencia	Adherence	Type of climbing on flat slabs with few or no hand holds. Requires good balance, friction and a lot of patience. La Pedriza in Madrid is a mecca for slab climbing.
	First Ascent	First Ascent	Une première	The first successful ascent of a route.
	Nuts	Fisureros	Coinceurs	A metal wedge connected to a looped wire which is jammed into cracks in the rock and acts as an anchor to protect the climber in case of a fall.
	Flash	Flash	Flash	Clean ascent of a route on first attempt after having received some kind of tips or information about the route or having seen another climber attempt it.
	Friend	Friend	Friend	Piece of trad kit that is placed into cracks where the placement of nuts would be difficult or ineffective. Once placed and tested, a quickdraw is clipped to the friend and the rope passed the quickdraw. Unlike nuts, friends are expandable by levers which allows them to adjust to different sized cracks.
	Granite	Granito	Granite	A plutonic rock consisting of quartz, feldspar and mica which is produced when magma solidifies slowly at very high pressure. Granite climbing crags in Madrid include La Pedriza, La Cabrera and El Pantano de San Juan.
	Crack / Fissure	Grieta	Fissure	Long, thin separation in the rock which can be used to place anchors (friends, nuts) or parts of the body to aid an ascent.
	Hangdog	Hangdog	Se reposer	Hanging from the rope to rest while attempting a lead climb.
	Undercling	Invertido	Inversée	An inverted hold which becomes good when pulling up instead of down.
	Lead climbing	Ir de primero	Grimper en tête	Ascending a route from the ground and passing the rope through the quickdraws as you ascend. The alternative is to top-rope of second a climb with the rope securing you from above.
	Top-rope climbing	Ir de segundo / Ir en polea	Moulinette	Climbing a route when secured by a rope from above. In this way, there is no risk of injury from a fall as long as the belayer remains alert.
	"On Belay"	"Listo / te tengo"	"Prêt"	Belayer --> Climber. The climber is secured with the rope and can start climbing when ready.
	Chalk	Magnesio	Magnesie	Powdered chalk used on hands to improve grip on the rock.
	Sloper	Romo	Aplat	Relatively flat, downward sloping hold.
	Climbing Shoes	Pies de Gato	Chaussons d'escalade	Light, flexible and high-grip footwear used for rock-climbing.
	"Take"	"Pilla! / Recoge cuerda"	"Prends moi / sec"	Climber --> Belayer. Request to tense the rope between climber and belayer.
	Pinch	Pinza	Pince	Type of hold which uses the thumb on one side and one or various fingers on the other to pinch.
	Slab	Placa	Dalle	Wall or part of a wall that is relatively flat and without features to hold on to where hand and foot friction is used to ascend.
	Deep-water soloing	Psicobloc	Deep-water soloing	Type of climbing practiced on sea cliffs which are sufficiently overhanging to avoid contact with the rock in case of a fall.
	To Abseil	Rapelar	Rappeler	To descend a rope using a belay device.
	Redpoint	redpoint	Enchaîner	A clean ascent of a sports route without falling or resting on the rope, after a number of previous attempts.
	Crimp	Regleta	Reglette	Very small hold big enough for the tips of your fingers.
	Traverse	Travesía	Traversée	Climbing horizontally either for training or during an ascent.
	Harness	Arnés	Baudrier	Item of climbing equipment worn around the waist and used to secure the climber to a rope or anchor point.
	Carabiner	Mosquetón	Mousqueton	A link with a safety closure used to join the rope to the anchor points.
	Belay Station	Reunión	Relais	Collection of items in the security system which a climber uses to secure themselves at the end of a pitch by means of ropes, slings and anchors. In single pitch routes, the climber will use the belay station to descend. In multi-pitch routes, the belay station it is the point at which climbers regroup after each pitch.