Glossary

Common Climbing Terms

Belay/ Belaying

Originally a nautical term, 'belay' means to secure a rope.

When a climber falls, the belayer's task is to lock-off the rope the climber is tied to, arresting their fall. The belayer then controls the descent of the climber back to the ground. In practice, the belayer must carefully manage the rope at all times to ensure it does not become tangled, is neither too slack nor too tight, and is ready at any time to be secured.

The belayer uses equipment — a belay device and karabiner — to control when the rope is secured and when it is able to run through.

Bouldering

Is named after the practice of climbing on large boulders, typically fairly close to the ground (up to 5m), using crash mats instead of belay ropes for protection.

Grade

An approximate measure of the technical difficulty of a climb. The lower the grade, the eaiser the climb.

At The Reach we use French numerical grades for roped climbs (e.g. in ascending order of difficulty: 3, 4, 4+, 5, 5+, 5a, 5a+, 5b, etc.); and we use the V scale (or Hueco scale) for bouldering problems (e.g. in ascending order of difficulty: VB, V0-, V0, V0+, V1, etc.).

All routes at The Reach are marked with a grade tag. A climber will have a rough idea of the range of grades they are comfortable climbing at, so can easily find routes around the facility which are suitable for their level of ability.

Lead climbing

A type of roped climbing suitable for more experienced climbers. The climber takes the rope up with them, clipping it through metal gates at intervals as they go (cf. Top-rope climbing).

Lower off

To come down from a route after reaching the top or not being able to climb anymore.

Overhang

A section of climbing wall steeper than vertical, overhanging the climber (cf. Slab).

Routes/ Route setting

The majority of indoor climbing makes use of coloured, bolted-on climbing 'holds'. These are arranged in routes (called 'problems' in bouldering) using holds of a single colour going up a wall. On any given section of wall there will be a number of routes. Climbers can use holds of all colours to ascend (called 'rainbowing'), or they can restrict themselves to a single colour route. Routes (and problems) are graded according to their difficulty (see 'Grade' above).

In order to keep presenting fresh climbing challenges, holds on any given wall are periodically unbolted and reapplied in different configurations. This is done by professional route setters who lay out routes to mimic a variety of rock climbing moves.

Slab

The opposite of an overhang. A section of climbing wall sloping away from the climber (shallower than vertical).

Top-rope climbing

The simplest form of roped climbing. A rope runs between the climber and the belayer, passing through a loop at the top of the wall.