What is Beta in Climbing?
So, you’re looking for the “beta” on climbing beta? I remember hearing this word used at the climbing gym for the first time and being very confused. Don’t worry, you’re not alone! It wasn’t until a more experienced climber brought me up to speed that I realized how simple it is.
“Beta” is essentially the “How To” of rock climbing. Have you ever been at the climbing gym and watched other climbers make weird hand movements in the air like they’re conducting an invisible orchestra? What they’re doing is visualizing the body movements they need to use to successfully climb a route. This includes figuring out the handholds, the foot placements, and the body positioning. This is beta.
Here, you’ll learn how and when to use beta and the climbing jargon to use it with.
Developing Your Own Beta-Reading Skills
Ever heard the best way to learn something is by doing it? Well, the best way to learn how to read a route is by climbing, a lot. We don’t know how to grab a new hold until we physically grab it, oftentimes, by finding ways not to grab it.
Developing your beta-reading skills comes with practice, and even then, you can have hundreds of hours spent climbing and think you can read any route on the ground only to find out by climbing that you were very, very wrong. (cough, cough… me).
Origins of Beta
Why “beta”?
“Beta” is thought to originate back to Jack Mileski, a prominent rock climber in the 80s and 90s. Mileski would videotape himself climbing using a video cassette recording format known as Betamax. (This soon was overtaken by the VHS format)
Mileski would share these tapes of himself climbing with his friends. The term “beta” quickly became the go-to slang for the how-to in climbing.
Types of Beta
- Visual – Remember the climbers conducting an orchestra? This is visual beta. By practicing the movements off the wall, we are reinforcing them in our brains. This way, we can spend less energy while on the wall because we already know how we want to move through a sequence.
- Verbal – Verbal beta is used either when discussing beta with other climbers, or when somebody is helping guide a climber to the correct sequence during a climb. An example of this could be your belayer or spotter telling you, “Don’t forget that right foothold” or, “Remember, hips in!”
- Unsolicited – Anything unsolicited is usually regarded as unwanted, and we don’t want to be unwanted. Another term for unsolicited beta is “spray”. Spraying refers to giving beta to a climber when they didn’t ask. Do not do this.
Ethics of Beta
This is quite simple: Always ask a climber if they want beta before you offer any tips.
Part of the fun of climbing is figuring out how to climb a route on your own, don’t take that away from anybody!
If somebody is spraying you down, (giving you tons of unsolicited beta) just politely tell them you’d like to figure it out on your own. If this beta-sprayer is consistent beyond your attempts to subdue their blabbing, well, guess who isn’t climbing with them anymore.
The Role of Beta in Climbing Progression
Figuring out the climbing beta before you try a problem could be the difference between sending or not. Let’s say you’re working on a boulder problem and each time you get back on the wall you make it a little further. You’re unlocking the sequence, you’re figuring out the beta! You’re psyched because of the progress you’re making, but wait, are you getting tired?
Figuring out the beta for a problem while on the ground can be a tremendous tool for your climbing progression. By learning how to read a route before even touching the wall, you save yourself plenty of energy to get the send. Think of all the energy you spend while climbing just trying to figure out where to place your foot or how to position your body.
Save your energy – learn how to read routes!
- This skill, as mentioned, takes a lot of time spent climbing. Try not to get frustrated if you can’t figure out the beta from the ground. Sometimes you think you have it figured out only to climb it and realize you were way wrong. (This happens to me often).
Other Uses of Beta
Beta has transformed over the years, though, and doesn’t specifically relate to the moves of a climb anymore. While this term is still used for how to move your body up a wall, beta has become an umbrella term for many things climbing-related.
Here are a few examples of how the term “beta” can be used when not referring to climbing movements.
- Say you’re planning to go bouldering outdoors and hear, “What’s the beta on pads?” This likely means “How many crash pads do I need?”
- Maybe you’re taking a backcountry trip to climb in the mountains and are wondering, “What’s the beta on base camp?” This can mean, “Where should we set up basecamp before we go climbing?”
Beta can even be used when talking about mundane things like, “What’s the coffee beta?” Which could mean, “What coffee grounds to water ratio I should use?” or “Where can I find some good coffee?”
These are a bit out of the box and even though I’m sure are rarely used, there are probably people out there that talk this way. I just stick to using beta when talking about climbing.
The Language of Beta
As a new climber, you’re learning the beta for climbing terms. Here is climbing jargon that can assist you in giving proper beta (when welcomed, of course)
Handholds: These are types of holds that, as a climber, you’ll eventually experience.
- Jug: Big holds, in-cut so you can curl your fingers when grabbing.
- Crimp: Tiny holds where usually just the first or second digit of your finger can fit.
- Pinch: This is what it sounds like. A hold that you can pinch.
- Sloper: Rounded, these require great friction and body positioning to use effectively.
- Pocket: Usually described as a two-finger or three-finger in-cut hold.
- Mono: Single finger pocket.
- Ledge: A large, well, ledge.
- Bucket: A large, scooped hold.
- Hueco: Water depressions in rock. (I once climbed a route with a hueco so large it was like a tiny cave)
Footholds: There are more ways to use your feet than you think when climbing. Here are a few movements to learn to up your beta knowledge:
- Toeing: Using just the toe of your foot to stand on a hold.
- Smearing: Think of pasting your foot on the wall where there is no foothold.
- Heel Hook: Using your heel to keep balance or propel you upwards.
- Toe Hook: Using your toe, usually to keep balance.
- Stacking: This is when you have one foot on top of a hold and the other toe-hooking underneath. Used to keep you close to the wall on an overhang.
Some more useful climbing jargon when talking about beta is:
- Hand-foot match: Using your hand and foot on the same hold.
- Dynamic Climbing: Dynamic climbing is moving your body in a swinging motion, often letting go of a hold before you can grab the next one further away.
- Dyno: Physically jumping to reach the next hold.
- Static Climbing: Keeping your limbs on the wall and reaching for each hold (not jumping).
- Belayer: The person on the controls the slack to the roped climber.
- Spotting: Used when bouldering, a “spotter” is the spectator who actively ensures the climber falls safely and lands on the crashpad.
(Spoons, not forks! Keep your thumbs in when spotting)
- Slab: A wall that leans forward.
- Vertical: A directly vertical wall.
- Overhung: A wall that leans toward the climber.
Learning these terms and how to identify them will help you give proper beta, but it will also help you understand what that sprayer is yelling at you when you appear stuck on the wall.
There you have it, the “beta” for climbing beta. Remember, the best way to learn something is to just do it. What I really mean is, by failing. But don’t forget, climbing is supposed to be fun. Besides, why else would we spend our time making weird hand motions at a wall?
Hopefully, you’re not as intimidated by climbing when you started reading. In my experience, climbers have been the most welcoming group of people I’ve met regardless of their climbing ability. Think about it, we’re all just a bunch of weirdos trying to climb rocks.
Climbers come in all shapes and sizes. Climbing beta, however, is not one-size-fits-all. What might be good beta for somebody else may not work for you. My main climbing partner is six inches taller than me, so we rarely have the same beta. That’s the beauty of rock climbing, though. You can take three different climbers and watch three different ways to send a climb.
I just have one request, if you only take away one thing from reading this, please let it be: don’t be a beta-sprayer.

Korey Tockes is an avid rock climber and writer pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University. He shares his passion for climbing as a writer for HMH Outdoors’ publication ‘Harness’ and as the Senior Content Writer for iwannabeaclimber.com. With just under a decade of experience, Korey worked as a climbing instructor and coach and has climbed in various locations across the US. His favorite place to climb is in the Wind River Range in Wyoming. Korey’s extensive travels and outdoor experience enrich his writing and allow him to connect with readers through his love for climbing.