GRADES: Most countries have their own versions, but I'll be talking about the good-old British trad ones. Gives a general indicator of the route as a whole. It goes, in order:
Mod: Stands for 'moderate'. Easy.
Diff: Ie 'difficult'. Though it rarely is.
Vdiff: 'Very difficult'.
Severe: Self explanatory.
Hard Severe: Getting into some tricky territory
Very Severe: 'Bugger, this is harder than it looked...'
Hard Very Severe: 'Sh*t, my arms are knackered!'
E1: 'Extreme'. Take a bow, my son.
E1-E10: Alright, show-off.
Then, just to make it more complicated, you've also got a 'technical grade', which relates to the hardest move or short section. So, a VS4a will be easier than a VS5a.
GEAR: Bits of metal you stick in cracks in the rock on your way up to protect against a fall.
BOMBER GEAR: Bits of metal stuck in the rock you're confident won't rip out as soon as you weight it.
RUN-OUT: Climbs where there's a dearth of opportunities for placing gear. Usually terrifying.
BELAYER: Your mate who holds the other end of the rope. They're almost always shivering and annoyed at you for taking so long.
BOULDERING: Climbing short problems usually just a few meters off the ground and protected with a big crash pad instead of a rope. The most fun you can have on your own (? ...discuss....)
PUMPED: Feels like someone has swapped the blood in your arms for molten lead. Usually precedes a nice big fall.
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