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.
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.
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.
A carabiner is a metal loop with a spring-loaded gate used to connect parts of a climbing system quickly and securely. Climbers use them to attach the rope to protection, build anchors, and rack gear. They come in locking and non-locking versions and in shapes optimized for different jobs.