Approach shoes are a hybrid between hiking shoes and climbing shoes, built for the rough, rocky walk to the base of a climb. They use sticky climbing-style rubber and a precise toe so you can scramble and edge on rock, while keeping enough cushioning and tread to hike comfortably.
Top-rope climbing is a style in which the rope runs from the climber up to an anchor at the top of the route and back down to the belayer. Because the rope is always anchored above, a slip results in only a short fall, making it the safest and most common way for beginners to start climbing.
The Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) is the rating scale used in the United States to describe how difficult terrain is to travel, from flat walking to hard rock climbing. It runs through five classes; Class 5 covers technical roped climbing and is subdivided with decimals from 5.0 up to 5.15 for increasing difficulty.
The figure-eight follow-through is the standard knot climbers use to tie the rope into their harness. It is strong, easy to inspect at a glance, and holds securely under load, which is why it is taught as the primary tie-in knot worldwide. Climbers finish it with a backup or stopper knot.
The GriGri is an assisted-braking belay device made by Petzl that uses a camming mechanism to help lock the rope when a climber falls. Widely used in sport climbing and gyms, it adds a margin of safety over tube-style devices but still requires a hand on the brake strand at all times.
A belay device is a piece of equipment that creates friction on the climbing rope so a belayer can hold a fall, lower a climber, and manage slack with controlled effort. Designs range from simple tube-style devices to assisted-braking devices that help lock the rope automatically.
Climbing shoes are tight-fitting shoes with sticky rubber soles designed to maximize grip and precision on rock. A snug fit and a flat or downturned shape let climbers stand on tiny holds and edges. They are the most important piece of climbing footwear, chosen mainly by fit and aggressiveness.
A climbing harness is a padded waist belt and leg loops that secure a climber to the rope and distribute the force of a fall. The rope ties into the harness's tie-in points and the belay device clips to its belay loop, making it the central attachment in any roped climbing system.
Belaying is the technique of managing a climbing rope to protect a climber from falling. A belayer uses a belay device and the friction of the rope to hold a fall, lower the climber, and feed or take in slack as the climber moves. It is the core safety system of roped climbing.
A quickdraw is two carabiners joined by a sewn fabric sling, used in sport and lead climbing to connect the rope to protection. The climber clips one carabiner to a bolt or piece of gear and the rope into the other, letting the rope run freely while reducing drag.