Climbing Dictionary: Mountaineering Slang, Terms, Neologisms and Lingo

In this hilarious yet authoritative illustrated lexicon of climbing terms and slang, former Climbing editor-in-chief Matt Samet has compiled a reference of more than 600 terms used by climbers and mountaineers around the world. The Climbing Dictionary runs the gamut, from technical terms (belay, harness, rappel, Stopper) to slang (dab, choking the cobra, Gaston, old dad, pimpy), to regional (such as the Southwest's "baby-butt slopers"), antiquated (Goldline, "press-up"), and foreign terms that have achieved universal usage (a cheval, colonnette)—and much more.

Each word's definition includes its part of speech, origin (if known), its meaning, and a humorous but factually sound example sentence to demonstrate usage. Throughout the dictionary, Mike Tea's illustrations—both technical and humorous—help explain harder-to-define terms such as piton, sling, cam, hand jam, or drop-knee.

Sure to become the reference—or even the sicktionary—for novice climbers and expert mountaineers alike.

A former editor-in-chief at Climbing magazine, Matt Samet lives in Boulder, Colorado. Mike Tea is an-house illustrator for Black Diamond, as well as Climbing's Senior Contributing Illustrator. He lives in Salt Lake City.