Aid climbing is one of the easier forms of rock climbing. You are hooked to a line and merely step and pull yourself up. It is a good way to start climbing and get comfortable with the verticality and being up in the air.
One of the pillars of rock climbing is the bolt. A bolt is pretty much what it sounds like. It is a piece of steel bolted into a rock and used as an anchor. Due to its strong hold on the rock, it is a very safe think to hook on to prevent long falls.
Lead climbing is a step up in the climbing world. When you lead, you are displaying the skill to work the route, the pitch and place anchors. You also risk the potential of falling farther than those below you. All and all, an advanced level of climbing.
The next step down from a bolt is a camming device. The device is placed in cracks on the climbing surface. The modern version is spring loaded, so it snaps open in the space creating friction and a hold that can support a lot of weight.
If you are going to do some serious ice climbing, your feet are critical. You need to anchor yourself on the ice with your toes, and rigid crampons are the answer. They fit snugly over the bottom of your boot and have spiked toes that anchor into the ice.
As your skills advance, you will advance to top rope climbing. Top rope is a form of climbing where the climb has a rope hanging from the top of the climb down. It allows you to get comfortable moving up vertical surfaces with plenty of safety.
Frog in the headlights is a slang term used for a climber that freezes when they look down from a high climb and get intimidated. Their eyes get big like a frog and they freeze like a deer in the headlights of a car.
Once you finish a climb, you need to get down. This process is known as rappelling. Ironically, a lot of people get hurt rappelling, particularly the first couple times they do it. It should be a controlled descent completed by running a rope through a friction device on your belt.
The next time someone asks you how many languages you speak, you can now add climbing to the list. Fortunately, this language is easy to learn. Even better, you don't have to roll your Rs.
