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Essential Spain-Spanish climbing vocabulary
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Essential Spain-Spanish climbing vocabulary

How to sound really Spanish when climbing in Spain

Viet Nguyen
Aug 27, 2020
Share this post
Essential Spain-Spanish climbing vocabulary
openbeta.substack.com
Photo: Climbing in Bellus, comunidad de Valencia (the wall in sun is el Aventador)

Rock Features

  • Chorrera: tufa

  • Cazo: jug

  • Regleta: crimp

  • Canto: edge

  • Romo: sloper

  • Pinza: pinch

  • Invertido: undercling

  • Chimenea: chimney

  • Diedro: dihedral

  • Placa: slab

  • Desplome: overhanging wall

  • Techo: roof

  • Paso: the crux

Climbing Moves

  • Bicicleta: drop knee

  • Bavaresa: lieback

Belay Commands & Safety

  • Pilla! Take!

  • Baja! Lower!

  • Me voy! Falling! (lit. I’m leaving)

  • Cuidado! Be careful/watch me! (to the belayer)

  • Atento! Pay attention (to the belayer)

  • Estoy contigo! I’m with you!

  • Cuerda! Give me rope!

  • Dame cuerda! Give me rope!

  • Para! Stop! (so you can clean the quickdraw on the way down)

  • Asegurar: to belay

  • Me aseguras? will you belay me?

  • Te aseguro! I’ll belay you

  • Aseguradora/asegurador: the belayer (feminine/masculine)

  • Voy! Literally “I go”, but in the context of climbing it can mean “I’m climbing” (starting from the ground or restarting after hanging on the rope)

  • Listo? (speaking to a guy). Lista? (to a woman): Ready?

  • Desmonta la reunión! (or simply Desmonta!) Clean the anchor!

Equipments

  • Reunion: anchor

  • Mosquetón: carabiner

  • Cinta or cinta expres: a quickdraw

  • Chapas or parabolts: Sport climbing bolts

  • Químicos: glued-in bolts

  • Pies de gato: climbing shoes (not cat feet:)

  • Arnés: harness

Misc.

- Rock climbing gym: el rocodrómo (gymnasio = workout gyms with weight machines)

- I want to join (telling the locals you want to go climbing with them): me gustaría (or quiero) apuntarme

- Do you have a seat for me (in the car)? Tienes hueco para mi?

- Climbing crag (literally means “school”): escuela

- topos: croquis or reseñas (de escalada)

- chalk: el magnesio

- climbing route: la vía

- multipitch: largos

- French grades: 5s = quintos, 6s = sextos, 7s = séptimos

Colorful Adjectives and Phrases:


- Cool, awesome (to describe a climb or a crag): es guay/una pasada/chula/guapa/de puta madre ("de" is important otherwise it means something very vulgar)

- Awkward (climbing route, body position): feo

- Polished: pulida

Ways to congratulate your partner after a send:

  • 🤜 De puta madre tía! F’ing awesome! (use tío if talking to a guy): Note: again do not miss the “De” in the beginning,

  • Eres una máquina or Qué máquina!: You’re awesome/cool (gender neutral phrase)

  • Eres un crack or eres una crack (feminine): You’re awesome!

Misc.

  • Me mola! I love it

  • Me ha flipado or estoy flipando! I’m shocked/freaking out/f’ing crazy.

  • Venga! or animo! Come on!

  • A tope! Used alone it’s a cheering expression to mean Come on, be strong, you’re the best!

How to pour apple cider in Asturias

Those are some common ones I came across during my two years climbing and living in Spain.

Got any interesting climbing vocabs or phrases to share? Please leave them in the comment below.

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Essential Spain-Spanish climbing vocabulary
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