Defunct Climbing Terminology

Aaron Kolb wrote:

I read somewhere that the French call a gaston "une epaule," a shoulder

The French not using “gaston” is kinda like a mother critter abandoning her baby that’s been touched by humans.   

F r i t z wrote:

The term "gaston" was actually named after the strongest boulderer in France in the 1800's. Legend has it that his training plan included bench-pressing buxom barmaids and consuming five dozen eggs per day.

Supposedly last year's Reel Rock was going to feature the clip below, a historical reenactment of his warmup routine.

However, after spending over $69,000 in member dues to conduct a Microaggression Impact Study, the Access Fund deemed that clip contributed to a culture of toxic masculinity and threatened to pull funding from Reel Rock if it were included.

Gaston's many FA's in the Font -- which include Expectoration Station V10+, Biceps to Spare V11, and Intimidating Specimen V13 -- have been redacted and are sadly lost in the annals of climbing history.

Sadly, this is actually believable.

Bomber, not so much that it has been abandoned but I don't think it was ever used correctly. I have seen bomber rock applied to almost every crag, I simply just don't believe the term anymore. If you are not willing to hammer at the holds on an established route knowing the rock wont break, the rock isn't bomber. 

Also bullet proof. I really want someone to fire shots into the rock to prove this point. I think most bad rock would still be bullet proof. 

i just thought of another one.  "world class". talk amongst yourselves...

slim wrote:

i just thought of another one.  "world class". talk amongst yourselves...

Careful. You're channeling the puppy bugger.

Has anyone mentioned Alez! yet?  I think that's how its spelled.  

Allez? Watch any Mellow video in Europe and you'll hear it plenty

"Venga!" lolz.... usually shouted by folks with very limited spanish vocabulary.

Marc801 C wrote:

Careful. You're channeling trolling the puppy bugger.

slim wrote:

"Venga!" lolz.... usually shouted by folks with very limited spanish vocabulary.

Con huevos?

Kevin Mokracek wrote:

Has anyone mentioned Alez! yet?  I think that's how its spelled.  

Allez means to “come on” or “come”. While it’s just a general French word, I have heard it used a lot in the European Mellow climbers

Andre Sarrazin wrote:

Allez means to “come on” or “come”. While it’s just a general French word, I have heard it used a lot in the European Mellow climbers

What annoys me is not French climbers using it but American climbers using it trying to sound like laid back French climbers but it comes off sounding pretty cringy. 

Andre Sarrazin wrote:

Allez means to “come on” or “come”. While it’s just a general French word, I have heard it used a lot in the European Mellow climbers

Interesting, is that colloquial?  the literal translation - Go! (Command form of aller) makes more sense to me. 

phylp phylp wrote:

Interesting, is that colloquial?  the literal translation - Go! (Command form of aller) makes more sense to me. 

I think that has more to do with the fact that in English "come" can have different meanings. 

He came in

Come on!

slim wrote:

The obsession with me never ends!

I first heard Allez when I started bouldering in a gym that was about 5 hours from Font.  The local gym climbers had adopted it from their pilgrimages to Font.  I've used it very rarely at home but hear it occasionally and it reminds me of my early days pulling plastic and grunting.

I have always thought of a gaston as a cross-body side pull and a "side pull" as being a move where you pull towards your body with the hand on the same side as the pull, in agreement with what was already explained.  The counter pressure crack move makes sense too and makes me think that what I've been doing is only half a gaston.

Splitter is over used.  I cringe when I hear it used to describe weather, snow, slab, anything but a crack that formed when the rock split abruptly and sharply. 

Mentors

Has anyone mentioned sandbagged? I recently overheard someone telling their partner "This route is so sandbagged, there's sand in every hold!" 

Darren Mabe wrote:

Mentors

Let's keep it fresh and give a slagging to "neologisms we can live without." First up: mentee.

Almost 10 pages in and have hardly seen any defunct terms here