Bouldering is hard enough as it is, but understanding bouldering terms and lingo is a challenge in itself! When I first started climbing, I remember getting confused between the names of different holds and body movements that I couldn’t follow along in every conversation. I felt like I was listening to a different language!
I eventually kept chatting with other climbers and learned this complete list of bouldering terms, but it took me a long time.
To save you the trouble of learning everything independently, I’ve compiled an alphabetic list of bouldering terms and lingo you need to know. From a drop knee to a dyno, a bicycle to a gaston, or even a match to a smear, you’ll chat it up with the boulder bros in no time.
A
Antagonistic – Antagonistic refers to the opposing muscles of pulling. Strengthening your antagonistic muscles will help keep your body balanced.
Antihydral – A cream that dries your skin and helps build strong and thick calluses.
Ape Index – The difference between your arm span and height. So if you have a positive ape index if your arm span is longer than your height. If it is shorter, then you have a negative ape index. Check out our detailed article on this here.
Approach – This is used when talking about the hike to the boulders: “What’s the approach like?” I.e., what is the hike to get there like?
Approach Shoes – Approach shoes are hiking shoes made with climbing rubber so they can be worn more easily on boulders.
Arch – The arched middle part of the foot’s sole between the toes and the ankle. Or a steeply overhanging arete.
Arete – An arete is the part of the wall where two sides meet.
Arm Bar – Not often found on a boulder, but it can! This is a crack climbing technique where you use your arm to wedge yourself into place. It works by sticking your arm deep into a crack and pressing your palm against one side while pressing the tricep/shoulder against the other.
B
Back Flag – A flagging technique where you stab your free foot behind your other foot to maintain balance. (See Flagging and Inside Flag)
Back and Foot – A chimney climbing method when the back is pressed against one side while the feet push against the other.
Backstep – A technique in which one foot is on the inside edge while the other foot is on the outside. It is used when trying to get your feet into the best position.
Barndoor – An uncontrolled rotation away from the boulder. Named because your body swings open like a barn door.
Beta – Simply, “beta” is known as the “how to” in rock climbing. Imagine you just sent a boulder, and somebody hanging out asks, “Hey, what beta did you use?” They want to know how you moved your body to send the climb.
Betasprayer – A “betasprayer” is somebody who gives unsolicited advice to other climbers. Before I offer advice to a fellow climber, I ask, “Hey, do you want any beta?” Part of the reason climbing is fun is that it must be figured out. That’s why they’re called boulder “problems.”
Boss – A rounded lump protruding from the rock that can be used as a hold.
Bloc – This is another name for a boulder problem
Body Tension – The ability to keep your feet on the wall when climbing a steep boulder. Great body tension relies on incredible core strength and technique.
Body Position – The position of your body relative to the hands and foothold when climbing.
Bomber – This refers to any idea about climbing where something is good. “The next hold is bomber!”
Bouldering Pad – A rectangular mat made of multiple foam layers covered in a heavy-duty material. The pad is placed under a climber when they’re bouldering outside and moved to follow them in case they fall. (AKA a “crashpad”)
Bicycle – When you press one foot into a hold while consecutively toe-hooking that, or a close hold, with the other foot. This technique is mostly used when climbing roofs to keep your body tension.
Break – A horizontal, and often rounded, crack.
Bucket – A large incut hold. (AKA Jug)
Buildering – Bouldering outside but on buildings or other artificial structures.
Bulge – A rounded roof or overhang. A bulge can be anywhere on the wall.
Bump – Making two consecutive hand moves with the same hand. (AKA “going again”)
Burly – A climb involving big powerful moves that require a lot of strength.
Buttress – A prominent rock bulging out from a crag. (See “Crag”)
C
Callouses – Areas on your skin, typically on your fingers or palms near the knuckle of rougher skin.
Campus Board – An overhanging training device consisting of wooden rungs at regular intervals. It is meant to be campused and used to develop finger and arm strength. (See Campusing)
Campusing – Climbing without using the feet.
Centre of Gravity – The theoretical point where your body’s mass is concentrated.
Chalk – Magnesium Carbonate (MgCO₃) is a white powder used to absorb sweat from climbers’ hands.
Chalk Bag – A small pouch for holding chalk hung on a belt tied around the waist.
Chalk Bucket – Similar to a chalk bag, but larger and designed to be left on the ground.
Chalk Ball – A small round mesh bag filled with chalk used inside a chalk bag or bucket.
Chalking Up – The act of coating the hands with chalk.
Chicken Head – A protruding lump of rock, most common on granite. They’re be bomber if you can force yourself to trust them!
Chicken Wing – Jamming your bent arm into a crack elbow first with the palm pressed against one wall while the tricep/shoulder presses against the other. Similar to an arm bar, your elbow is inserted first with this technique.
Chipping – Chipping away at rock to create a better hold. If you ever do this, be prepared to receive terrible backlash. If you can’t climb a boulder because the holds are too small, don’t make them bigger; just get stronger.
Chimney – A wide crack large enough to fit your body.
Choss – Loose, dirty, or sketchy-looking rock and a “choss pile” is a derogatory name for an area with bad rock.
Circuit – 1. A grouping of problems of similar difficulty (most common in Fontainebleau, France). 2. A long problem boulder problem, often a loop, climbed on an indoor wall to train endurance.
Climbing Shoes – Shoes designed to climb! They have rubber soles to grip boulders more easily.
Cobble – An embedded stone that is used as a hand or foothold. They’re usually rounded and smooth.
Conditions – Simply, the weather conditions outside, but with an added layer. Instead of just “Sunny and 72°,” It takes into account the humidity, wind, exposure, etc. for climbing.
Conglomerate – A sedimentary rock type mainly composed of embedded round stones. It often looks like choss but is bullet-hard.
Compression – A climbing technique used when you squeeze the holds with your hands and/or feet in opposite directions toward each other.
Core – Muscles of the stomach, lower back, and legs. A strong core is incredibly helpful when climbing.
Corner – A feature formed where two walls meet at roughly right angles. The opposite of an arete. (See Dihedral)
Crag – This is a generic term used for a climbing or bouldering area. It may also refer specifically to an outcrop of rock. “Look at that crag over there, I wonder if it’s good!”
Crimp – A crimp is a hold just big enough for parts of your fingers to use. They can fit all the way to your knuckle or be as small as a dime edge. (See Half Crimp, Full Crimp, and Open Hand Crimp)
Cross Through – A traversing move in when one hand reaches past (over or under) the other to reach the next hold. (If reaching under, also called a “Rose Move”)
Crux – The hardest sequence of a climb. A boulder problem is graded by the crux of a climb.
Crystal – A small piece of quartz that can be used as a hold, common on some types of granite. Usually used for footholds.
Cut-loose – When climber’s feet come away from the wall on an overhang and they’re just hanging on with just their hands.
D
Dab – When you accidentally touch the ground or the wrong hold with your foot.
Deadhang – To hang with straight arms without engaging your shoulders.
Deadpoint – A dynamic move when a climber reaches for a hold at the end of their range of motion where at least one foot remains on the wall.
Deep Water Soloing – Free soloing above a body of water.
Double Dyno – A dyno in which you grab the next hold(s) with both hands.
Disco-Knee – When your leg(s) start shaking uncontrollably while standing on a hold.
Dihedral – Two planes of a wall that intersect. An inside corner where a climber can use counter-pressure on each side to climb it.
Drop-Knee – A climbing technique in which you rotate one leg toward the wall, dropping the knee, to maintain balance.
Downclimb – To climb down from the top of a problem using any holds.
Dry-Fire – When your hand slips off a hold, usually a crimp, and takes all the chalk (and often some skin) with it.
Dynamic – A climbing move used instead of reaching the next hold but lunging for it. Dynamic movement can help save energy when you’re trying to climb quickly, but it can be a lower-percentage move.
Dyno – A Dyno is any time you must leave the feet you’re standing on, and the holds you’re using to get to the next hold. So essentially, a dyno is jumping from one hold to the next. Therefore if you’re working on dynos, remember that your legs generate your power!
E
Eliminate – Typically used in outdoor bouldering to prevent the use of certain holds in order to make a climb harder. A great way to warm up without having to find different problems. It’s also used as a game indoors where some holds in a problem are eliminated to make it more difficult.
Edging – Edging is when you place just below your big toe toward either side of your foot on a hold. This skill is great for helping you stay close to the wall and stand on smaller holds. (See Inside Edge and Outside Edge)
Extreme – An advanced outdoor climbing grade used in the UK, starting at E1.
F
Face – The smoothest section of a rock is called the “face.”
Featured Wall – An indoor wall that is designed to resemble real rock.
Fingerboard – A small wooden or resin board covered in holds to train finger strength. (AKA Hangboard)
Finger Jam – This jam involves using fingers wedged into a crack to hold yourself on the wall. Different techniques exist for finger jamming.
Finger Tape – Athletic tape used to provide support for injured fingers.
First Ascent – The absolute first time a boulder problem is climbed (AKA FA)
Figure Four – Most commonly used in ice climbing, figure four is a technique for making a long static reach from a positive hold. This involves hooking a leg over the holding arm and using that to maintain your balance.
Fist Bump – How you congratulate someone for sending their project!
Fist Jam – Crack climbing technique where you jam a fist into a crack.
Flagging – A technique when you stick your free foot out to the side and press it into the wall to maintain balance. (See Back Flag and Inside Flag)
Flake – A thin, partially detached slice of rock. Only found in nature and not on a manufactured board. Be careful using flakes as they can either be brittle or bomber.
Flapper – When a large chunk of skin on your hand or finger rips off. It usually happens during a dynamic move.
Flared – This describes a crack with nonparallel sides. Essentially, it’s a crack whose sides diverge outward or inward.
Flash – Flashing a problem is when you climb something on the first try! Not to be confused with onsighting, which we’ll get to further down the list.
Fontainebleau – The famous bouldering area just south of Paris, France (AKA Font or Bleau). Also a system for grading boulder problems, See Font Grade).
Footwork – The art of using the feet while climbing.
Foot Cam – A technique in which the foot is rotated around the heel until it wedges. These work well in horizontal cracks or breaks.
Foot Jam – When you jam your foot into a crack.
Foot Swap – Switching your feet on the same hold.
Font Scale – An open-ended scaling system used widely in Europe that starts at 1A and goes all the way to 9A (at the moment).
Free Solo – A style of climbing with no ropes where falling is almost certain death or serious injury. Although not a bouldering term, it is closely related to “Highball.”
Friction – Friction climbing is a style where you rely on the friction of your hands and feet to stay on the wall, usually with small holds. (See Slab)
Frogging – When the hips are parallel and as close as possible to the wall with the knees pointing out to the sides.
Front Pointing – Standing on a hold with the tip of the big toe.
Full-body Stem – Climbing a very wide crack with the hands on one wall and feet on the other.
Full Crimp – This is a crimping technique that involves bringing the thumb over the pointer finger to close the palm and exert more energy. This can be dangerous to perform if the fingers are not strengthened or are tired.
G
Gabbro – A rough and coarse-grained igneous rock.
Gassed – Refers to how tired you are. Usually, when you’re out of energy. (See Pumped)
Gaston – A gaston is pulling onto a hold with your elbow outward. It requires immense shoulder strength. Think of opening elevator doors—that’s a gaston!
Golfer’s Elbow – Aches and pains in the inside of the elbows caused by an imbalance of the pushing and pulling muscles.
Grades – The level of difficulty a climb is agreed on.
Granite – Granite is a hard and colorful rock made of quartz, feldspar, and other minerals.
Gritstone – A hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone (AKA “grit”).
Groove – A shallow corner.
Guidebook – A book containing information about a bouldering area (or areas), including details of the problems, directions, maps, and photos. These guidebooks often gives the history of an area and includes information about access, where to camp/stay, and the best time of year for climbing.
Guppy – When a climber cups their hand sideways over the hold with their pinky finger next to the wall, rather than with their palm facing the wall.
H
Half Crimp – Used on a small edge when the fingers are partially bent. It’s a compromise between open hand crimping and full crimping and is particularly useful on flat holds.
Hand-Foot Match – Sharing a hold with your hand and foot. (See Matching)
Hand Jam – When crack climbing, this is a jam in which an open hand is inserted into a crack and pressed against the sides, with the knuckles against one side and fingertips and palm against the other.
Hand Stacking – An advanced technique for hand jamming in offwidth cracks. In this technique, you push the hands together inside while the outside uses friction against the wall.
Headpointing – Climbing a route or problem after first rehearsing the moves on a top rope.
Heel Hook – Placing the heel of the foot on a hold and using it to maintain balance or help you push up the wall.
Heel–toe cam – This is a jam used in wide cracks, where you use counterpressure with your foot to keep you in place.
Highball – You’ll only find these outside, but a highball is a boulder problem that is so tall it could be a sport climbing route.
Holds – Any grip you can use. These can be a hand or foot hold.
Hueco – A large, rounded pocket created by water depressions found in rock. It looks like a big hole.
I
Inverted – When you’re climbing inverted: upside down! You’ll mostly find this type of climbing on crack climbs, but some setters are introducing inverted boulder problems at their gyms.
Inside Edge – The straight edge running along the inside of the big toe of a climbing shoe.
Intermediate – A small hold is used briefly to reach a further hold. (See Bump)
J
Jamming – Wedging a body part into a crack.
Jug – A large incut hold (AKA bucket).
Jump – A dynamic movement in which one hand stays on while both feet leave the wall.
Jump Start – Jumping from the ground to the starting holds of a problem (AKA French start).
K
Kipping – Mostly seen in CrossFit, kicking the legs to generate momentum when hanging from the arms.
Knacky – A problem that has a particular ‘knack’ to it. One that requires an unusual move or lots of coordination.
Kneebar – A creative way to rest your arms when you’re climbing. This is when you push your foot against a hold and lock it into place by fixing your knee in front of a higher hold. The pressure of pushing your foot down will help keep a kneebar locked into place.
L
Lace Ups – Climbing shoes that are fastened with laces.
Landing – The landing zone beneath a boulder problem.
Launch Pad – A small bouldering pad designed to protect the start of a problem or supplement other larger pads.
Layback – A technique for climbing continuous vertical features such as cracks, flakes, or aretes that rely on opposition created by pulling with the hands and pushing with the feet (AKA liebacking).
Link Up – Combining sections or whole problems together to create a different boulder problem.
Linking – Practising sections of a problem to prepare for the complete ascent from start to finish.
Limestone – A sedimentary rock that forms from calcium carbonate accumulation, mostly from shells and skeletons of marine organisms.
Liquid Chalk – A mix of alcohol and chalk rubbed into the hands to coat them with chalk.
Lock Off – A static reach done with the holding arm bent sharply.
Lowball – A super low or short boulder problem.
M
Mantel – A method of getting on top of a boulder or ledge from under it (short for mantelshelf). Also a verb, “mantel the ledge.”
Matching – Placing both hands on the same hold (AKA Sharing).
Mono – A small pocket that can only fit one finger.
Monzonite – An igneous rock type
Morpho – Commonly used in Europe, this term defines a move or problem that is highly dependent on the climber’s body shape or size.
N
Nails – Used when defining a tough problem. “That move is hard as nails!”
No Hands Rest – A resting position that doesn’t require hands. It can be when jamming or simply standing on positive holds that don’t require holding on.
O
Offwidth – A crack that is too wide to jam but too narrow to climb inside.
Onsight – Climbing a boulder problem on the first try without any outside beta.
Open Hand Crimp – Crimping with only the first digit of the fingers bent.
Opposition – Creating tension by pulling a pair of holds that face away from each other or pushing on a pair of holds that face each other.
Outside Edge – The curved section of a climbing shoe between the tip of the big toe and the side of the little toe.
Over Gripping – Holding onto a hold harder than necessary to stay on the wall.
Overhang – A wall that is steeper than vertical.
Overlap – A small roof.
P
Palming – Pressing the palm of the hand onto the rock.
Patioing – Improving a landing by shifting rocks to create a flatter, more secure crash base for bouldering pads.
Pebbles – Tiny stones protruding from the rock’s surface, most common on gritstone.
Pinch – A hand hold that is squeezed between the fingers and thumb.
Pocket – A hole in the rock that can be used as a hand or foot hold. Sometimes referred to the amount of fingers that can fit inside. (“3-Finger Pocket, 2-Finger Pocket”).
Pogo – A climbing move made when you swing your free foot to create momentum. (AKA Moon Kick)
Power Endurance – The strength used to do hard moves in a row.
Powerspot – When the spotter takes some of the climber’s weight by holding them up so they can get the feel of a move.
Pof – Dried pine resin wrapped in a cloth and slapped onto hand and foot holds to create more friction. Used by a minority of climbers in Fontainebleau but most consider it very damaging to the rock (AKA resin).
Problem – A bouldering route.
Project – A boulder problem that you are working on but haven’t quite figured out. It can also refer to unclimbed boulder problems that nobody has sent.
Prow – A narrow overhanging arete.
Psyched – To be excited about climbing or a particular climb (Or anything really!)
Pumped – When the forearms become filled with lactic acid after a bout of hard or sustained climbing. They’ll feel like they’re pumped up with air, making them stiff.
R
Reading – Analysing how to climb a problem from the ground.
Red Herrings – Holds that aren’t essential to the sequence and only serve to distract and confuse a climber.
Rockover – Placing a foot on a high hold and standing up on it using a combination of pulling with the arms and pushing with the legs.
Roof – An approximately horizontal piece of rock.
Rubber – The sticky compound used on the soles of climbing shoes.
Run and Jump – A dynamic technique that involves running at the rock, kicking off one or more foot holds, and jumping for the hand holds. It is most commonly found in competition or gym climbing.
S
Sandbag – A problem that is given a significantly lower grade than it deserves. It is also used as a verb to underplay the difficulty of a problem.
Sandstone – A sedimentary rock made of sand grains cemented together by minerals, organic matter, or clay.
Screw On – A very small artificial hold that is screwed rather than bolted to the surface of a climbing wall.
Seam – A narrow or closed crack.
Send – To successfully climb a problem!
Sequence – The details of how a problem is climbed (AKA Beta).
Sidepull – A vertical hold that faces away from the body, used from the side.
Sit Start – To start a problem from a sitting position, sometimes abbreviated as SS or SDS (sit-down start).
Slab – A less-than-vertical piece of rock. When a problem leans away from you.
Slap – A quick reach or lunge for a hold.
Slippers – Soft climbing shoes.
Sloper – A rounded or sloping hold.
Slot – A narrow horizontal pocket. Sometimes called “mail slot.”
Smear – A sloping foothold. Used as a verb, it means to place a foot flat against the wall.
Splitter – A long, parallel-sided crack.
Spotting – Guiding a falling climber safely to the ground when bouldering.
Sprag – A grip in which the thumb pushes the rock above the fingers to create more downward force.
Stalactites – A limestone tooth that hangs from the ceiling of a roof.
Stamina – Refers to how much volume you can climb. Therefore good stamina means you can climb more and vice versa.
Static – To move slowly and in total control.
Stemming – Pressing the legs away from each other to create an opposition force that holds the body in place. Usually done in corners or grooves but can be done between two protruding holds (AKA Bridging).
Stepping Through – Standing (usually with the outside edge) on the next foothold with the foot furthest from it.
Stepped Overhang – Similarly looking to the underside of a staircase. An overhang with occasional steps.
Syenite – A coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock with a general composition similar to granite but deficient in quartz.
Systems Board – A steep board on which the various hold types—pinch, crimp, sloper, pocket, undercut, and sidepull—are laid out in a repeating, symmetrical pattern used for training.
T
Taco – A type of bouldering pad that consists of one continuous section of foam that bends in the middle for transporting.
Technical – A problem that demands a high standard of technique and movement skills. Therefore this can relate to a climb or describe a climber’s ability, “They have good technique.”
Tennis Elbow – Aches and pains in the outside of the elbows caused by a lack of balance between the pushing and pulling muscles.
Thumbcatch – Improving a hold by pinching the underside of it with the thumb.
Tickmark – A small chalk mark that indicates the location of a hard-to-see hold. Often used when bouldering outside.
Toe Hook – Using the top of the toe to pull on a hold to maintain balance and control.
Topo – A map or photo upon which the line taken by a problem (or problems) is marked.
Top Out – The process of getting to the top of a problem. Indoors, you usually jump down from the finishing hold rather than top out, but some gyms have a top out option.
Training Board – A small, steep wooden climbing board mostly seen in personal homes/garages/ (AKA Woodie).
Traverse – A problem that travels predominantly sideways rather than vertically.
Tufa – A limestone rib that can hang down or protrude upward.
Twist-locking – A technique for climbing steep ground where the torso twists perpendicular to the rock to maximise reach.
U
Undercling – This can be any hold! Whether that’s a jug, a crimp, a pocket, you name it. The idea, though, is that the hold is upside down. (AKA Undercut).
V
V Grade – An American system for grading problems consisting of a number prefixed by the letter V; the higher the number, the more difficult the problem.
Velcros – Climbing shoes that are fastened with Velcro straps.
Vertical – A wall that is 90° with the ground. It is directly straight upward.
Volcanic Tuff – A rock type consisting of consolidated ash ejected from a volcano.
Volume – A large, hollow plywood or resin hold (usually triangular or rounded) upon which other holds can be mounted. Volumes can also be used as holds themselves.
W
Wall – A roughly vertical piece of rock.
Warm-up – A routine to prepare the mind and body for climbing by moving the muscles.
Wire Brush – A very aggressive wire-bristled brush that can damage rock if used on it.
Wired – Having a problem mastered (AKA Dialed).
Working – Figuring out and rehearsing the moves of a problem (see Project).
X
X – Used as a signifier. There isn’t a specific term to use when somebody Xs a chunk of rock; you just know to avoid it. When bouldering outside, a piece of rock that you see with an X drawn on it in chalk serves as a warning not to use it because it is unsafe.
Z
Zone – Used primarily in competitive climbing. Competitors are judged on how far they reach on a climb; the zone is usually somewhere in the middle.
There you have it! This was a complete list of bouldering terms that you can surely impress your friends with. Really, though, you don’t need to remember ALL of these. I personally didn’t know some of these before writing this because I’ve never needed to use them. I’ll definitely be calling a climb Morpho when my tall friend climbs it easier than I did, though!
Do you have some favourite bouldering terms from this list? Are there any important bouldering terms you know of that missing? Or, did you learn new bouldering terms after reading this article? Let us know in the comments!
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