The quad is an anchor rigging method that uses a doubled loop of cord or sling clipped across two points, with two strands isolated by limiter knots to form a master point. It equalizes well between the points, adjusts to moderate changes in load direction, and stays redundant if one strand is cut — making it a popular modern two-bolt anchor.
The sliding X is a self-equalizing anchor rigging method where a sling is clipped between two points with a twist in one strand, letting the master point slide to follow the direction of pull. It adapts to changing load directions but can extend and shock-load the remaining point if one fails, so it is used carefully, often with limiter knots.
An offset nut is a wedge-shaped passive protection piece with one face larger than the other, designed to fit flaring or piton-scarred cracks where parallel-sided nuts won't seat. Their asymmetric taper makes them especially useful on aid routes and old trade routes pocked with pin scars.
A micro cam is a very small spring-loaded camming device built to protect thin cracks too narrow for standard cams. Their tiny lobes hold in finger-width and smaller cracks, but they have a narrower holding range and lower strength than larger cams, so placement precision and good rock are critical.
A Tricam is a piece of climbing protection that can be placed passively, like a nut, or set in a camming mode where it pivots on a point and grips when loaded. This versatility lets Tricams protect pockets and shallow placements where other gear struggles, making them a niche but valued addition to a trad rack.
An offwidth is a crack too wide to hand-jam but too narrow to fit your whole body, making it one of the most awkward and strenuous features to climb. Offwidth technique uses arm bars, chicken-wings, and stacked hands and feet wedged inside the crack, and it is notorious for being physical and hard to protect.
Alpine climbing is climbing in the high mountains, combining rock, snow, and ice over long, committing routes where speed, self-reliance, and mountain judgment matter as much as technical difficulty. It blends rock and ice climbing with mountaineering, often in remote terrain with serious objective hazards.
Mixed climbing combines ice and bare rock on the same route, climbed with ice tools and crampons — including 'dry-tooling' on rock. It bridges ice and rock climbing, is graded on the M scale, and lets climbers link icy and rocky sections of winter and alpine routes.
Deep-water soloing (DWS), also called psicobloc, is climbing without a rope above deep water, which acts as the only protection when you fall. It's done on sea cliffs and over pools, combining the freedom of soloing with a relatively safe landing — though falls from height onto water can still injure, so it carries real risk.
Aid climbing is a style where the climber makes upward progress by pulling on, standing in, or hanging from gear placed in the rock, rather than climbing the rock free. It's used on big walls and on blank or overhanging terrain too hard to free climb, relies on equipment like etriers (ladders), and is graded on an A or C scale.