Beta, flash, onsight
Definitions
Beta is the information about a route (moves or protection) so you will not have any surprises during the climb. If you climb a route or problem without falling or resting on the rope or pros but with beta, you will flash rather that climbing a route onsight.
Flash: Flashing is climbing a route without previous practice nor falls but perhaps with beta, or also, climbing this route after seeing someone doing it before you.
Onsight would be the purests, that is, climbing a route without falling on the first attempt and without information nor viewing anyone doing it before.
Additional info
Grammatical category:
Beta: n.
Flash: v. / n.
Onsight: v. / n.
Field: climbing, bouldering
Source of the definition: Explore Translations
Words in use. Examples
“Do you like beta? Some people do; some people don’t. How much beta do you like? Do you want move-by-move instructions on how to send a 60-foot sport route? Would you prefer I just tell you where the key hand jam is at the crux as I belay you from above? Or would you like no beta whatsoever, so you can claim the true onsight?”
Source of the example: Climbing magazine
“Dave Graham has flashed two 5.14a routes in a little over a week. According to his scorecard on www.8a.nu, Graham flashed Half Baked and Half Broken at the Wailing Wall, near St. George, Utah, on April 2. He flashed Paleoman at the Buena Vista wall on March 24″.
Source of the example: Climbing magazine
“Alex Megos’ ascent of Estado Critico at Siurana in Spain is widely accepted as the world’s first 9a onsight.” (…) “I didn’t really plan to onsight the route. Actually I wanted to try La Rambla (9a+), but I didn’t know where the line goes and I couldn’t ask anybody. So I decided to have a look at this 9a.”
Source of the example: DMM Climbing
Other languages
BETA:
Spanish: beta. See definition
German: Informationen vor dem Start
French: Description de la voie
Italian: Informazioni
FLASH:
Spanish: flash. See definition
French: Enchaîner en tête
ONSIGHT:
Spanish: a vista. See definition
Source of terms in other languages: Canada Rockclimbing, EscalaMadrid
Do you know this word in other languages?
Please, leave a comment!
1 Comment