Climbing Dictionary 'C'

Cam
Short for camming device, removable, portable protection that helps arrest a climbers fall.




Campus
1)to work out on a campus board.
2) to climb with feet dangling as if using a campus board.

Campus board
a runged ladderlike training device used to train for climbing. Originated by the Late Wolfgang Guillich, this simple device has been largely responsible for advances in climbing difficulty around the world.

Carabiner
A metal ring with a spring-loaded gate used to attach the rope to protection, and many other things.




Cave
A roof enclosed on two sides.

Chalk
white drying agent used to keep a climbers hands dry. Sometimes called "white courage" 2. (vb.) to apply chalk to hands.

Chalk Bag
A small bag with a stiff rim worn clipped to the harness or around the waist on a belt and used to hold chalk. Allows the climber to access chalk while climbing.





Chalk Up
Putting chalk on the hands before or while on a climb.

Chicken Wing
A type of arm bar useful in off widths and tight chimneys. Bend arm at elbow so that hand touches shoulder. Insert in crack and push against opposite sides. Works especially well vertically in squeeze chimneys, with elbow pointing up and pressing against one side of chimney, and heel of hand against the other side. 2.(v.) To Chicken Wing: bad climbing form on a face climb where the climber's elbows point out and back at an awkward angle.

Chickenhead
A knobby feature (resembling a chicken's head) which provides excellent holds for hands or feet.

Chimney 
1)A parallel sided constriction wider than body width.
2) To climb a chimney.

Chipping 
The act of altering the rock by breaking it. Almost universally shunned by climbers, but still performed by those whose bodies and egos are too weak to meet the challenge of a climb.

Chock
A generic term for all passive protection that can be wedged into a crack or slot in the rock, i.e., wired nuts, slung nuts, hexes, stoppers, wedges, etc. . .

Choss
loose, bad quality rock.

Class 1 
Denotes walking where no special footwear is required. One of six classes describing travel in the mountains.

Class 2
Denotes trail walking where it is advisable to have boots or other sturdy footwear. One of six classes describing travel in the mountains.

Class 3
Denotes scrambling involving the use of the hands as well as the feet, but where a rope is not needed. More commonly used to describe climbing without a rope, especially when the climbers have a rope.

Class 4
requiring use of hands as well as feet, sometimes referred to as scrambling, but where a rope is advisable because a fall would likely result in serious injury or death. Class 4 is a step below technical rock climbing (Class 5), which involves more difficult climbing and requires the use of protection devices. For a rock climber to describe something as fourth class usually means that it is easy.

Class 5 
Technical rock climbing requiring the use of rope and protection, and where only one climber moves at a time while belayed by another climber. This is why the Yosemite Decimal System starts at 5.0.

Class 6
Direct aid. When the Yosemite Decimal System was first devised, free climbs were rated from 5.0 to 5.9, and the next rating up was 6.0, the point at which you had to hang on the rope. The decimal system never caught on for aid. (See aid ratings.)

Clean
1) To remove protection devices (gear). On a multipitch climb, the climber who seconds (follows the leader), takes out all of the removable gear placed by the leader.
2) A clean climb, or a climb that “goes clean” is one that can be done without using a hammer to pound in pitons or mashies. This method is called clean because it does not damage the rock.
3) adj. To complete a climb or project without hang-dogging or falling, especially on top-rope.

Cleaning Tool
A metal tool used in the extraction of protection that has become stuck in the rock.

Clipping
The act of putting a carabiner onto a bold, the rope, or a piece of protection. 'Clipping!' is a common call to indicate to the belayer that you are about to pull up rope to make a clip.

Clipstick
Stick Clip




Clove Hitch
Knot often used to tie a rope to a carabiner.

Cold shut
A type of fixed anchor composed of bent bar stock. Cold shuts, or "shuts," may be open (simply a bent hook that cradles the rope) or closed (welded into a complete loop of metal). Open shuts may be gated to keep the rope from popping out or not. While some types of shuts are still often installed atop (mostly) single-pitch climbs, they have fallen somewhat out favor. Reasons for this include a perceived strength weakness and their short lifespan relative to other types of anchors.


Commitment
A term used to define how hard a climb is.

Copperhead 
Aid device made of a malleable copper alloy and slung on swaged wire cable, used to hammer into shallow grooves and slots in the rock. When pounded with a hammer and chisel, they deform to fit the shape of the rock. These are typically left fixed because they are difficult to remove without damaging the rock.

Cow's Tail 
A sling girth-hitched onto the harness attachment point.

Crack
An inwards split or break in a rock face.

Crack climbing
the act of climbing continuous cracks in the rock often requiring specific techniques and protection methods.

Crampons 
Meal spikes which attach onto climbing boots to allow a firm grip on snow or ice.

Crank
Slang for pulling on a hold at your maximum power.

Crash pad 
See bouldering pad.




Crater
to fall off a climb to the ground.

Crimp
to grip in a way such that fingertips contact the hold with knuckles raised slightly.

Crimper
a small edged hold which is conducive to crimping.

Cross Threaded
When the thread on a carabiner's locking mechanism's is not twisting freely, usually due to it being tightened up whilst loaded. This can be very hard to unscrew.

Cross through 
a reach with hand or foot that crosses the line of the other appendage.


Crucifix move
A strenuous stemming move using the arms instead of the legs; the upper body is locked by applying outward pressure on the hands at anything up to shoulder level, allowing the feet to be brought over a bulge or blank section. Often used in conjunction with standard stemming to tackle wide chimneys.

Crux
the most crucial, difficult part of the climb.

Cruxy
A climb is said to be cruxy if it has several hard sections interspersed with rather easy sections.