#101 Mountain vocabulary

Every community develops its own vocabulary. The mountain community is no exception. This page gathers the key notions and their definitions for understanding the environment and its codes.

Aid climbing

A climbing technique in which the climber uses flaws in the rock to place pieces of protection, then uses them for support to progress — as opposed to free climbing, where only the hands and feet are used to move upward.

Elevation gain

The variation in altitude over the course of a route. Positive elevation gain corresponds to the accumulated ascents, negative elevation gain to the accumulated descents. Cumulative elevation gain is the sum of the two.

Commitment

A synthesis of the potential risks associated with an outing: distance from civilization and rescue services, impossibility of turning back, exposure to the weather, etc. The higher the commitment, the smaller the margin for error. See also #101 - Grades and difficulty for the formalized commitment scales.

Pitch

A climbing section whose length corresponds to that of the rope between the belayer and the anchor. Pitch in English, largo in Spanish.

Leave No Trace

A method of Anglo-American origin aimed at minimizing the impact on the natural environment during an outing. Based on seven core principles. See #101 - Protecting our environment for the details.

Objective hazard

Risks inherent to the terrain and conditions: rockfall, crevasses, avalanches, altitude, weather phenomena. These risks exist independently of human presence.

Subjective hazard

Risks tied to the individual themselves: an experience level unsuited to the outing, a deficient physical or mental state, poor decision-making. Managing subjective risk is one of the core skills of the mountaineer.

Scrambling

A discipline at the boundary between hiking, climbing and mountaineering. Refers to progression over rocky or airy terrain that occasionally requires the use of the hands, without resorting to a rope.

Route

A set of pitches forming a climbing itinerary. A route with a single pitch is called a couenne (single pitch in English). A route with several pitches is a grande voie or multi-pitch (multi largo in Spanish).