What to Say: Climbing Edition
Climbing involves a lot more than just scaling rocks. Assuming you are not climbing alone, it requires communication with your partner that relays critical safety information. Today we’re breaking down different safety phrases you may hear or be expected to say when climbing outside.
“Belay on” = Used in almost all forms of climbing except bouldering, this is a phrase to let your climber know they are safe to climb because you are ready to belay. It is often a part of a quick conversation between climber and belayer before the climber takes off.
“Climb on!” = There are many ways to say this. Basically, you’re giving your climber the final go ahead as a belayer. There are many different personal variations of this, but this is the classic.
“Climbing?” = This can be used in two distinct scenarios. If you are the climber, you would ask this before leaving the ground to start the safety check between you and your belayer. If you are a belayer, you might ask this question if your climber has recently asked to “take” and you’re unsure if they are climbing yet.
“On Belay?” = Still a part of the opening conversation between belayer and climber, this question is asked by the climber to see if their partner is ready to belay.
“Clipping!” = This alerts the belayer that they need to quickly feed rope to their climber. This may be said by a climber all the time or never. This is total personal preference but is nice if you are out of the belayer’s sight on route.
“Take!”= Also, “Take!!!!”, “TAKE! TAKE! TAKE!”, or “OHMYGOD, TAKE!” is said by the climber when they need a break. Maybe they just want to think about the move a little because they’re totally NOT SCARED, they just want to see the moves in their mind first….yeah….either way, this is the belayer’s cue to take in slack and let the climber chill out.
“That’s me!” = When climbing a multi-pitch route, this is a phrase the new climber will yell when the old climber has established their anchor and starts pulling up slack. When there is no more rope to pull up, and it is taught between climber and belayer, the person on the ground will say this and start climbing after checking that their belayer is ready.
“Watch Me Close” = This can be said to a belayer or spotter when a climber is getting to a crux. This is said to prepare the belayer/spotter to have to catch a fall, and thus hopefully make it easier on all ends.
“Off Belay!” = This is said to the climber when the belayer has let go of the belay device and no longer has them secured in event of a fall. This is typically said when a climber is cleaning an anchor and is protected with a personal safety device.
“Off Rappel!” = Repelling is usually a one-at-a-time sort of thing unless you’ve mastered the simul-rappel. When you’ve finished repelling and have disconnected your device, yell this to your climbing partner to let them know they can start their descent.
“ROCK!” = Prepare for a rock to fall! Climbing outside can be unpredictable in certain facets and sometimes loose rock or gravel gets kicked off route. If your climber, or any climber yells “rock”, stay alert. While we always hope it is not necessary, this is your helmet’s time to shine and a reminder to always keep the brain bucket on while climbing outdoors.
Finola McDonald thinks bios are really hard but here is her best go: Finola is a runner, a writer, a climber, snack enthusiast, cat mom, and city lifer turned nature lover who loves getting people outside. She is a firm believer that time in Earth’s wild spaces is time best spent and we need it more than ever. She hopes by sharing her passion for our planet and outdoor recreation, she can convince others of the same. In her free time, you can find her touching cool rocks, running around SLC and the Wasatch, and trying her hardest to leave this earth better than when she entered it.
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