Climbing Vernacular
“Rope Gun”
CZ
Zoom Video Call
5/18/20
Informant Data:
CZ is 20 years old, and a sophomore at Dartmouth College. He is an avid climber, cyclist, and general outdoors person. He is also a talented musician; playing piano, guitar, and drums. CZ is from Salt Lake City, Utah. He began climbing and canyoneering as a high schooler and found his place in the Salt Lake climbing community. At Dartmouth, CZ competes with the Dartmouth Climbing Team and is a member of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club (DMC).
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context:
Outdoor climbing can be less accessible to many people. It requires greater safety precautions, skill, and experience. For many people who have spent time in a climbing gym, making the leap to outdoor climbing requires the help of a friend with outdoor climbing experience. Unlike at a climbing gym, where ropes for belay walls are set and monitored by staff, outdoor climbing often requires someone to go up first and set the route and the ropes. The person who sets the ropes must be experienced with safety precautions and depending on the difficulty of the route must be a strong climber.
Social Context:
The term “rope gun” could be used by anyone in the climbing community but can only refer to a strong and experienced climber. For a climber to function as a “rope gun” they need to be pretty advanced as explained above, but for them to be called a “rope gun” they must be with a group of intermediate or beginner climbers. In a group of advanced climbers where multiple people have the skill and experienced need to set the ropes, the role of the rope gun does not exist.
Text:
The following text is paraphrased from a recorded zoom interview with CZ. In the interview he defines the term “rope gun” from his personal experience.
The term “rope gun” refers to a highly skilled and experienced climber who is able to set the ropes for a group of less experienced climbers in an outdoor climbing situation. CZ said, “A rope gun is someone who is a super-strong climber, in a party of worse climbers.” He said, “If me and some friends were going to some crag and we wanted to top-rope a difficult climb we would need a really good climber to lead for us. He would be the rope-gun.” By top rope he means climbing in which the rope is anchored at the top of the crag or rock face. In this situation, the group would be climbing outside and would need to set their own ropes for the route they seek to climb. CZ Said, “It’s just a really good climber who can put the rope up for the climbers who are less good.”
Max Barrett, ‘22
Dartmouth College
Russ 13
Spring 2020