An Illustrated Guide to the 47 Climbing Terms You Should Know

Field magazine

In recent years rock climbing gyms and public climbing walls have been popping up in cities across the world. As such, it’s time we face how popular climbing has become. It’s an Olympic sport these days even! And it’s not just mountain towns getting in on the action. Practically every major city in North America has a indoor climbing gym (or five) these days, and in major cities like New York and Boston, the climbing culture is exploding. (Check out our New York City climbing guide to see my hometown gets down). And while the growth is great for the industry, it means an influx of enthusiastic and often clueless climbers.

The very uniqueness of the culture that draws people to the sport can itself be a daunting barrier to overcome as a beginner—a whole new language has to be learned in order to seamlessly communicate within the climbing community. In short, for newbies, deciphering what the hell anyone is talking about at the crag or the gym can be a real challenge.

Once you’ve got your climbing shoes and a chalk bag or bucket, learning the lingo, language, slang, etc is the next step any prospective rock climber should take. To help you newcomers avoid sounding like a total kook—and you trad dads brush up on the latest lingo—I’ve gone ahead and outlined 47 essential climbing terms you need to know before you get in too deep.