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.
Multi-pitch climbing is climbing a route longer than a single rope length, broken into sequential pitches the team ascends one at a time. At the top of each pitch the leader builds an anchor and belays the second up, then they swap gear and continue. It adds anchor-building, rope management, and commitment on top of the climbing itself.
Ice climbing grades use the WI (water ice) scale, running from WI1 to WI7+, to rate the difficulty of frozen waterfalls and ice routes. The number reflects steepness, ice quality, and how sustained and protectable the climbing is. A parallel 'AI' (alpine ice) scale is used for glacier and alpine ice that is generally less steep.
The British trad grade is a two-part system for traditional climbs combining an adjectival grade for overall seriousness (Moderate, Severe, E1, E2, and upward) with a technical grade for the hardest single move (4a, 5b, 6a). Together they convey not just difficulty but how bold or well-protected a route is — a distinctive feature of British climbing.
Equalization is the principle of rigging a climbing anchor so the load is shared between its individual points rather than resting on one. A well-equalized anchor distributes force across two or more pieces, adding redundancy so no single point is overloaded. It is a core concept in anchor building, alongside redundancy and limiting extension.
A piton is a metal spike that a climber hammers into a crack and clips for protection — an older form of gear largely replaced by removable cams and nuts on free climbs. Pitons are still used in aid climbing and remain fixed on many classic routes, but because hammering them damages rock, their use is now limited.
An ice screw is a hollow, threaded tube that an ice climber twists into solid ice to create protection or build an anchor. Modern screws have a hanger and a fold-out crank for fast placement with one hand. Their holding power depends entirely on ice quality, so reading the ice is as important as the placement itself.
An ascender is a mechanical device that grips a rope when loaded downward but slides freely upward, letting a climber ascend a fixed rope. Used in pairs with foot loops, ascenders are essential for big-wall aid climbing, rope access, and crevasse rescue. The handled type is commonly called a jumar.