Slab climbing is climbing on rock that is less than vertical, where the angle is low but holds are often small or absent. Success depends on delicate footwork, balance, and friction (smearing) rather than upper-body strength. Slabs reward precise technique and composure, since slips usually mean scraping down the rock.
Free climbing is climbing using only your hands, feet, and natural rock features for upward progress, with the rope and gear used solely to protect against a fall — not to help you move. It contrasts with aid climbing, where gear bears weight. Sport, trad, and bouldering are all forms of free climbing, and it is often confused with free soloing.
Lead climbing is a style where the climber ascends with the rope trailing from below, clipping it into protection along the way, rather than having it anchored above. Falls are longer and more dynamic than top-roping, and both climber and belayer need specific skills, making lead the gateway to most outdoor climbing.
Traditional, or trad, climbing is a style where the leader places removable protection — such as cams and nuts — into cracks and features as they climb, and the follower removes it. It demands gear-placement skill and judgment on top of climbing ability, and leaves the rock free of fixed hardware.
A project is a route or boulder at the edge of your ability that you work on over many attempts or sessions — rehearsing moves, refining beta, and building strength — until you can finally send it cleanly. 'Projecting' is the process of methodically piecing such a climb together.
A flash is climbing a route or boulder problem cleanly on your first attempt, but with the benefit of beta gathered beforehand — watching someone climb it, getting hold descriptions, or studying video. It ranks just below an onsight, which allows no prior information at all.
An onsight is climbing a route cleanly from bottom to top on your very first attempt, with no prior practice, no beta, and no watching others on it. It's considered the purest and most prized ascent style, because you solve every move in real time without any foreknowledge.
A gaston is a grip where you push outward (sideways, away from your body) on a hold with the thumb pointing down and the elbow out, as if prying open elevator doors. It lets you use vertically oriented holds that face the wrong way for a normal pull, but is shoulder-intensive.
Flagging is a balance technique where you extend a free leg to act as a counterweight, keeping your body in balance and stopping it from swinging out (barn-dooring) when holds are off to one side. It lets you reach and stay stable without a foothold for the trailing foot.
Mantling is a technique where you press down on a ledge or large hold with your hands — transitioning from pulling to pushing — to lever your body up and over it, much like climbing out of a swimming pool. It's the standard way to top out boulders and gain ledges.