Sport climbing words, in the order you need them
Start with the beginner words and you can follow a match. Each level builds on the one before.
Already know some? Search all 70 words and 29 rules
Words
- Route
- Hold
- Wall
- Harness
- Belay
- Chalk
- Speed climbing
- Bouldering
- Lead climbing
- Combined format
- Field of play
- Personal equipment
- Isolation zone
- Observation period
- Combined ranking
- Jury president
- Technical incident
- Caution and disqualification
- Invalid result mark
- Starting order
- Appeal
- Out of bounds
- Boulder
- Zone
- Top
- Attempt
- Starting position
- Control
- Establishing and advancing movements
- Quickdraw
- Fall
- Route reading
- Lead result
- Safety hold and last safe position
- Clipping rules
- Standard route
- False start
- Bracket
- Reaction time
- Starting signal (speed)
- Onsight
- Flash
- Redpoint
- Beta
- Crux
- After-work
- Climbing time
- Boulder score
- Small final and big final
- Boulder event format
- Boulder tie-break
- Rotation
- Lead event format
- Qualification points
- Lead tie-break
- Count-back
- Speed event format
- Speed 2 and Speed 4
- Official time
- Quota
- Starting group
- Seeding
- Series ranking
- National team ranking
- Dyno
- Heel hook
- Mantling
- Flagging
- Crimp
- Sloper
Rules
- How does a bouldering competition work?
- How must a climber start a boulder problem in competition?
- What is a zone in bouldering?
- What counts as finishing a boulder in competition?
- How is bouldering scored?
- What happens if two boulderers finish on the same points?
- Why are climbers kept in isolation before they climb?
- What happens if a hold breaks or spins during a climb?
- What equipment can a competition climber use?
- What do yellow and red cards mean in climbing, and how is a result appealed?
- How does a lead climbing competition work?
- What do the numbers and the plus sign mean in lead climbing results?
- What are the clipping rules in lead climbing?
- How does a climber finish a lead route?
- How is a lead qualification round ranked across two routes?
- What happens if two lead climbers reach the same hold?
- Why are climbers kept in isolation before they climb?
- What happens if a hold breaks or the rope goes tight during a climb?
- What equipment can a competition climber use?
- What do yellow and red cards mean in climbing, and how is a result appealed?
- How does speed climbing work?
- What is a false start in speed climbing?
- How does a speed climb end, and what counts as a fall?
- How are speed climbing times measured?
- How does the speed climbing final work?
- How are speed climbers ranked in qualification, and how are ties broken?
- What happens if a hold breaks or the timing fails during a climb?
- What equipment can a competition climber use?
- What do yellow and red cards mean in climbing, and how is a result appealed?