A whipper is climbing slang for a big, dramatic lead fall — a long, often swinging plunge taken when leading above your protection. Whippers are a normal part of pushing your limit on safe, well-protected sport routes, where the dynamic rope and an attentive belayer turn them into a relatively harmless, if thrilling, experience.
Barn-dooring is when a climber's body swings uncontrollably away from the wall like a door on a hinge, because their weight isn't balanced over their points of contact. It typically happens when the useful holds are all on one side of the body, and is corrected with techniques like flagging to counterbalance.
Being 'pumped' is the burning, swollen feeling in the forearms when they fatigue from gripping, as metabolic by-products and blood build up faster than they clear. A pumped climber loses grip strength and may be unable to hold on, so managing the pump — through rests, efficient movement, and shaking out — is central to endurance climbing.
The master point is the single, strong, central point of a climbing anchor where all the individual pieces are brought together and equalized. The belay device, the climber's tether, and the rope all clip into the master point, keeping the anchor simple, redundant, and easy to check. It is also called the power point.
A runout describes a long stretch of climbing between pieces of protection, where a fall would be long because the last bolt or piece of gear is far below. 'Runout' routes are bold and committing, demanding confidence that you won't fall, and a route's runout sections contribute to its seriousness beyond its technical grade.
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.
Climbing holds are the features — natural on rock or moulded on a wall — that climbers grip with their hands or stand on with their feet. They come in distinct types, from big friendly jugs to tiny crimps and rounded slopers, and each is gripped with a specific technique. Recognising hold types is fundamental to reading and climbing a route.
Climbing knots are the small set of knots, hitches, and bends that climbers rely on to tie into the rope, build anchors, rappel, and perform rescues. A handful do almost everything — the figure-eight to tie in, the clove and munter hitches at the anchor, and friction hitches like the prusik for ascending and backups.
A pitch is a section of a climb between two belay points, no longer than a single rope length. Routes longer than one rope length are split into multiple pitches that the climbing team ascends one at a time. A single-pitch route is climbed in one go; multi-pitch routes link several pitches up a wall.