A topo is a diagram or annotated photo that maps out a climbing route, showing its line, pitches, belay stations, protection, and grade. Found in guidebooks and apps, topos help climbers find and follow routes on the rock. It should not be confused with a topographic map used for navigation.
A boulder problem is a single bouldering route — a short sequence of moves on a boulder or wall, climbed without a rope. The name reflects bouldering's puzzle-like nature: each problem has a defined start and finish and is 'solved' by working out the right sequence. Problems are graded on the V-scale or Font scale.
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.
A chimney is a crack or gap in the rock wide enough to fit your whole body inside. Climbers ascend it by pressing against the opposing walls with their back, feet, hands, and knees — a technique called chimneying — rather than gripping holds. Chimneys are awkward and strenuous but can offer secure, restful positions.
An overhang is rock that is steeper than vertical, leaning out over the climber so gravity pulls you away from the wall. Overhanging climbing is strenuous and powerful, demanding good body tension and footwork to keep weight on the feet. The steepest overhangs, which go horizontal, become roofs.
A roof is a section of rock that juts out horizontally, overhanging so severely that it runs parallel to the ground like a ceiling. Climbing a roof demands powerful, tension-heavy movement — heel and toe hooks, underclings, and core strength — to keep the body from swinging off, and pulling the lip is often the crux.
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.
Face climbing is climbing the open face of the rock using holds on its surface — edges, crimps, slopers, pockets, and pinches — rather than cracks. It emphasizes footwork, balance, and reading sequences of holds, and is the most common style on bolted sport routes and indoor gym walls.
Crack climbing is the discipline of ascending cracks in the rock by jamming hands, fingers, feet, or the whole body into the fissure, rather than using holds on the rock's face. It spans sizes from thin finger cracks to body-swallowing offwidths and chimneys, and is a foundational skill for traditional climbing.