Page 177 - Rappelling

cold shuts: metal hooks commonly found in pairs Friend: the name of the original spring-loaded
as anchors atop short sport climbs to facilitate camming device (SLCD) designed by Ray
lowering off; can be open, with gates, or Jardine and marketed by the Wild Country
welded shut Company in 1977. The word friend became a
cordelette: a short length of cord, normally 18 to generic term for any SLCD.
25 feet in length, often tied into a loop, used girth-hitch: a hitch used to connect webbing or
to equalize multiple anchor points. For nylon cord around a feature or to another sling by
cord, 7mm is the standard diameter. High- looping around the object then back through
strength (Technora or Dyneema) cord is often the webbing or cord
used in 5mm or 6mm diameter. Grigri: an assisted braking device manufactured by
crack: a fissure in the rock varying from extremely Petzl
thin and narrow to as wide as a chimney jumar: the original mechancical ascender, first
crag: another name for a cliff or rock formation introduced in the 1960s; also a generic term for
dynamic rope: a climbing rope with built-in a mechanical ascender; also used as a verb, e.g.,
stretch to absorb the energy of a fall, typically “jumar up a fixed line”
around 9 percent stretch under body weight jumaring: the act of ascending a fixed rope with
and up to 30 percent in a big fall mechanical ascenders
EN: European Norm magic X: see sliding X
etrier (pronounced a-tree-a): a stirrup-like ladder master point: the equalized point in an anchor
made of nylon webbing, used with mechanical system; the point a climber clips into; also
ascenders called power point
fireman’s belay: a technique used to belay a MBS: minimum breaking strength
rappelling climber by pulling down on the rope Munter hitch: a hitch used for belaying or
below the rappeller, creating tension that stops rappelling that requires no gear other than a
the rappeller from further movement down the carabiner
rope natural anchor: an anchor made from a feature
fixed anchor: any permanent anchor left for all occurring in nature, such as a chockstone, rock
rappellers to utilize, typically bolts or pitons tunnel, horn, tree, boulder, etc.
flaking a rope: uncoiling a rope into a loose pile, N.F.P.A.: The National Fire Protection Association,
with one end on the bottom and the other end which is an organization that develops safety
on the top of the pile; also called “stacking” a standards for the fire department that are
rope widely adopted by departments involved in life
friction hitch: one of several hitches tied around safety and search and rescue
a rope using a piece of smaller cord or a sling, nut: a wedged-shaped piece of metal designed to be
which grips when weight is applied but can be used as an anchor in a crack; also called a chock
loosened and slid up the rope when not under pegs: see pitons
tension; commonly used to ascend a rope and
in self-rescue techniques pins: see pitons

166 Glossary

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