Glossary of Therms
Aid climbing is the practice of using Active and Passive protection to scale an exposed rock face. This is a time consuming process where the climber places a piece of protection in the rock and applies his or her full body weight. This process is repeated numerous times, with each piece bringing the climber higher up the rock face. Aid is most commonly used on vertical shear cracks and faces where free climbing is not humanly possible. The creation of aid climbing is what made the summits of the largest "Big Walls" in the world a possibility. Aid climbing was created by the pioneers of climbing in the first half of the 19th century.
A bivouac is usually a small and uncomfortable place to sleep mid-way up a climbing route. A bivouac can be planned for, or it can be unplanned and be referred to as an open bivouac. Generally, an open bivouac affords little comforts and can be sloping, dirty, wet, cold and/or all of the above. They can be prone to avalanche, rock fall and extreme winds. To avoid unplanned bivies, bring a mountaineering tent.