Starting out?

I suppose he was climbing at a snails pace anyway? Cheers.

<groan>

Can you say on-sighting if you use a guidebook? I mean those can be quite descriptive so does that count as prior knowledge??

Why can't climbing get it's act together and cut the jargon a bit?

In case you didn't realise I think part of the enjoyment of become experienced in an outdoors discipline is the use of jargon to confuse newbies. A small part but still a part!!

Funny!

Beta the new climber's drug that makes you light as a feather, strong as a power lifter and as fearless as a Ethiopian highland baboon!!

Also gives you perfect balance and the ability to hang from one arm while scratching your armpit with the other or your head if the climbing problem is hard.

Also helps you to make sense of all the jargon and grades!!

Now that drug should be found and made very legal!!

Only known side effect - red arse!!

Sorry! Imagination has gone into overgear!!

 So what's climbing the bolted routes called?

 Would that be 'aid' climbing?

If you hang off it or use it for progress its aid basically.

Modern yoof call bolted climbs sport climbing and old fashion place you own gear Trad. 

Actually aiding can be fun.  When I was at college at Bangor in the early 80's a mate and I bolted a nice slatey overhang behind the Kwik Save in Bangor, not far from the sea end. An abseil from the top left you about 10 feet out at the bottom and it was only about 60 feet high. We did it from the ground up as we couldn't reach the crag from an abseil. I seem to recall that a few years later some poor sod took a terminal fall from the approach path! There was also a bolted/hook aid route in Tin Can Alley at Idwal. Just over the stile. The bolts were rather crappy with thin tin hangers that bent a lot. Bit of a chop route as the boulders at the bottom were rather pointy. Red Wharf bay was fair game in those days as well. I hit the deck when the Friend that I was hanging and swinging from under a roof ate its way through the limestone. Luckily I was about 4 feet off the floor! Look for some pics of Parliament House cave at Gogarth for a big aid roof. Just sitting underneath was scary.