Rock Climbing Commands

[TallGrass]

"Belay" ("On belay"), "climbing" ("climb on"), "slack" and "rock" are fairly universal, but what do you use when you want your belayer to pull in excess rope? And what do you use when you what them to also put their full body weight on it to take out any stretch?

"The most common mistakes in a command series tend to come around the word "take." Climbers often use the word in two different ways. Some will say "take" in lieu of the command, "up rope." Whereas others will say "take" to mean "take my weight.""
http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2010/05 ... mands.html

I met a climber who insisted "Take" means to weight the rope, but when asked, he didn't have a command for removing slack. At the gym, I let a newer climber belay me and when I said "Tension" because I needed to rest a second and didn't want to drop below the overhang via rope stretch, they just took the slack but no weight. When I repeated "Tension" they actually began to give me slack. I stopped and had him lower me right then, we had some words (should have had a pre-climb review of commands to be sure we were on the same page), his friend got snooty insisting I knew nothing, etc. Yuck. Funny thing is I've climbed with many and never had that issue. Occasionally they might use a different term like "On you" but it's hashed out in a ego-free way.

Any how, thought it'd be interesting to see what others use or have heard. FWIW, I'm a belay-climbing-slack-take-tension-lower-(clipping-rock-rope) kind of guy, but adapt as needed. And regardless of commands, I always check my and my partners gear and have them do the same (tie in, belay set up and biner locked).

More stuff
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belaying#Communication
https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice ... mbing.html
http://opp.uoregon.edu/climbing/topics/signals.html

[polar]

Why do you post rock climbing related stuff here? Why don't you go post on Mountain Project or Supertopo?

[TallGrass]

Why do you post rock climbing related stuff here? Why don't you go post on Mountain Project or Supertopo?

Why not post here?

[Justin9]

Why do you post rock climbing related stuff here? Why don't you go post on Mountain Project or Supertopo?

Why be a dick when someone asks questions that could be directly related to situations encountered on certain 14er routes? Keep that stuff for MP or Supertopo...

To answer the OP's question, I have heard a variety off terms used but when I climb I always use up rope if there is a loop hanging below me and use take when I need all the slack taken from the rope.

[polar]

Why be a dick when someone asks questions that could be directly related to situations encountered on certain 14er routes? Keep that stuff for MP or Supertopo...

Because people don't come to 14ers.com to discuss rock climbing. If you need to use rock climbing commands on certain 14er routes, then hopefully you have worked that out with your partner long before you committed to a 14er. If you TRULY want a discussion of rock climbing commands, MP or Supertopo would be a much better place to generate comments from climbers.

And I wasn't being a dick, I was being succinct.

[Scott P]

Commands I have learned:

"This anchor looks bomber" = You go first.

"This pitch doesn't look that runout" = You lead.

"Seems sandbagged" = Don't tell anyone I fell five times.

"Nice place for a picture" = I'm tired and need to rest.

"Layback" = I need a nap before we continue.

"We need to write a trip report on this" = I climb much harder online than I do in real life.

[crossfitter]

what do you use when you want your belayer to pull in excess rope?

"Pull your head out of your ass and quit being a shitty belayer."

Or if they are doing a good job but you need to feel extra warm and fuzzy, "I'm a wimp, hold me closely"

"up rope" is also acceptable, but generally the belayer is responsible for managing this on their own. If they are consistently f***ing up and leaving excessive amounts of slack, have a conversation with them about their technique on the ground, and/or find a new belayer.

And what do you use when you what them to also put their full body weight on it to take out any stretch?

"Pull your head out of your ass and quit being a shitty belayer."

"Take" does not mean simply lock the belay device off. Making an effort to remove the rope stretch is part of the expectation of the command.

Remember kids, there's more to being a good belayer than simply feeding out slack and locking off when the leader falls. Be an active belayer, constantly adjusting and carefully maintaining as little slack as possible without short-roping your leader. Try to anticipate when your leader will be wanting a lot of slack quickly (clipping), and reel in the excess once they clip. Move around as needed right off the belay so the rope is running out of the way, and learn to give a soft, dynamic catch so you don't slam your leader into the wall.

[rob runkle]

Why be a dick when someone asks questions that could be directly related to situations encountered on certain 14er routes? Keep that stuff for MP or Supertopo...

Because people don't come to 14ers.com to discuss rock climbing. If you need to use rock climbing commands on certain 14er routes, then hopefully you have worked that out with your partner long before you committed to a 14er. If you TRULY want a discussion of rock climbing commands, MP or Supertopo would be a much better place to generate comments from climbers.

And I wasn't being a dick, I was being succinct.

Wow, I wish that I knew why everyone comes to this site. I clicked on this thread on the front page, out of curiosity. I guess that I should have known that people don't come here for that talk, and I would not have clicked. Thanks for clearing that up, and telling everyone what their interests should be.

[polar]

Wow, I wish that I knew why everyone comes to this site. I clicked on this thread on the front page, out of curiosity. I guess that I should have known that people don't come here for that talk, and I would not have clicked. Thanks for clearing that up, and telling everyone what their interests should be.

Ok, based on the response, obviously I’m wrong to assume people come to 14ers to discuss hiking/scrambling/skiing 14ers and 13ers. I’m not afraid to admit it when I’m wrong. Carry on.

[rob runkle]

On subject...

My partner and I use the word "take" in the gym, to mean pull tight, need a rest.
Never used the word tension.

"Take Slack" to take the slack
"Falling" is obvious
"Stay alert" means that climber is worried about falling in the next few moves
"Clipping" we rarely use, unless we think that the belayer might not be expecting climber to clip and the climber needs the belayer to let rope out quickly
"Climbing" when on the wall after a "take" and getting ready to start back up again

When up high, our key commands are "Take" and "Climbing"

These are mostly related to leading. We do not talk nearly as much during top rope climbing.

We have been climbing together for 14 years, so we kind of know each others verbiage.

[polar]

And to make a positive contribution to this topic…

“Up rope” means take up extra slack without putting tension on the rope. It’s usually used when someone is toproping or following with too much slack at their tie-in. When leading it’s unusual to encounter a huge amount of slack at the climbers tie-in (the extra slack usually pile at the belayer’s feet).

“Take” is the same as “tension”, but take is used more often. It means taking up all the slack and put tension on the rope (by sitting back in the harness). Climbers use it in both leading and toproping, but it is not a good idea to ask for “take” when leading above a bolt.

“Watch me” is used when the climber thinks there’s a good chance they may fall and need the belayer to pay extra attention. Can be used by both lead climber and toproper/follower.

“In direct” means the climber is hanging directly off a piece of gear, like clipped directly into a bolt to rest, or hanging off the anchor to clean gear. “On you” is basically the same as “take”, but usually used when the climber’s weight is going back on the belayer after going “in direct”.

I like to keep my commands short, so I don’t say “ready to lower”, I just say “lower”. When lowering the climber may stop to cleaning gear, or to work a section of a climb. Some people use “dirt me” to mean “lower me all the way to the ground without stopping”.

“Off belay” means just that, belayer can take the climber off belay. But on a long multi-pitch route when it can be hard to hear each other, the follower can confuse “off belay” with “on belay”. So I like to differentiate the two by using “off belay” and “belay on”. Some other English speaking countries use “safe” instead of “off belay”.

“That’s me” is used more in a multi-pitch setting, when the leader is pulling the rope through and it’s tight to the second. I like to say “that’s me” before the rope is completely tight, so I have a bit of slack to work with to clean the anchor, putting on my shoes, etc.

I don't use "clipping", but some climbers do, especially for difficult clips in a hard section when they need rope quickly. If you do use "clipping", it may be nice to say "clipped" after the rope is in the quickdraw because often it's very hard for the belayer to see if that's the case.

Whatever command you use, work it out with your partner so you both clearly know what each other mean. Avoid long commands and commands that can easily be confused, "on belay" and "off belay" will both sound like "... BELAY!!" when the pitch is 100 feet long and climbs around a corner or an overhang, with a raging river or a highway behind the belayer. When it's hard to hear each other, turn your face to your partner, really yell, and enunciate the command. When my belayer look down at the ground and mumble something unintelligible to his belay device, I often just ignore it and press on. You can also use walkie-talkies and rope tug signals, but each has its own issues.

[crossfitter]

And to make a positive contribution to this topic…

...

Good stuff, a few other things to add:

When yelling commands, it's useful to break it up into syllables and shout loudly - and as you say, actually turning to face your partner and even cupping your hands around your mouth. "Off Belay" becomes, "OFF..BE..LAY". If It's REALLY windy and loud and communication is difficult, it can be useful to give powerful, drawn out tugs of the rope synchronized with each syllable - it helps give context to your belayer and makes it explicitly clear that they are hearing you and not another party.

It's also a good idea to set up a consistent scheme so that you can infer from context with rope movements what is happening if it is impossible to communicate. Example:

Leader gets to top of the pitch and starts building an anchor. Belayer notices that the approximately expected amount of rope has been given out, and that there has been no progress for a while.

Leader calls off belay, but belayer may not have heard them. Leader gives it 15 seconds or so to give the second a chance to take their belay device off if they did hear the command, then starts pulling up rope quickly. Assuming the belayer didn't hear the communication, they will notice that suddenly the rope is moving very quickly. Since they can't confirm that the leader is actually off belay, they must do their best to feed slack without going off belay - annoying, but not that big of a deal.

The rope eventually goes taught on the second when all the slack has been pulled out. The leader puts the second on belay, and gives it another solid tug when ready to indicate the belay is on. The second waits a little bit to be sure, then starts climbing, verifying that the rope is being pulled up as they make progress.

This situation is far from ideal and has a number of potential risks, but it is one of the better, viable solutions available when communication completely breaks down. If you establish a repeatable pattern of how to do things, it's not too difficult to figure out what is going on. This is why it is VERY important to not get in the habit of calling off belay for short breaks. Some new sport leaders will do this while cleaning an anchor, only to ask to be put back on belay a short time later. This has lead to numerous accidents. Better to give up a bit of efficiency than risk a catastrophic miscommunication.