beta

n. in the sport of rock climbing, advice or instruction on the best way to climb a geographic feature. Subjects: English, Sports & Recreation

Etymological Note: The term is said to be derived from Betamax, the first popular format for recording video.

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Citations: 1989 John Hanc Newsday (Oct. 16) “The Rat Rock Ballet In The Park” p. 2: Stripping his suit to reveal a pair of bright green lycra tights, the Manhattan businessman lifts himself up on to the east face of the rock to demonstrate “the beta”—that’s climbese for the ability to flawlessly excecute a sequence of moves. 1990 Ray Snead Usenet: rec.backcountry (Feb. 22) “Re: 5.12 babble”: A flash has come to mean the ascent of a route with no weighting of the rope (falls, hangs, etc.) It also generally connotes no significant pre-inspection, beta, etc. An “a vue” ascent is a flash with *absolutely* no beta or inspection. 1991 Bob Pasker Usenet: rec.climbing (Apr. 13) “Re: Best use of *ugh* climbing wall”: There are also a bunch of people there who do not climb *real* rock. i was talking with one guy and we were disucssing the beta on a 5.11a. i asked him about what kind of stuff he was leading and he said, “leading? like outdoors? oh, i’ve never done that.” 1992 Rick Ansorge Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph (Colo.) (Feb. 15) “It’s ‘mutants’ against the ‘rock’ at new indoor climbing center” p. B1: BETA: A verbal videotape of how to make a particular climb. Example: “Lay off the arete to a mono, cross through left then match on the slope, rock on the high step, set and dyno for the bucks.” 1995 Sharon Doyle Driedger Maclean’s (Can.) (Sept. 18) “Why indoor rock climbing is the height of fashion” p. 50: Beta: Tips, clues or any other information on how to climb a difficult route. 2003 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Minn.) (June 6) “David Christopher Gunstone” p. 4B: Gunstone wrote and published “The Traveler’s Guide to Washington Rock Climbing” and was widely known as “Beta,” a term used by rock climbers to refer to good information on a route. 2005 Brendon Connelly Slacker Manager (Apr. 4) “The rock climbing/management metaphor”: When the climber understands that the belayer is truly working for them, then the climber is limited only by their own technical skill and degree of boldness. This is particularly true if the belayer has already experienced the route and can offer genuinely helpful advice (in the climbing world, such advice is called beta).

Posted 6 Apr 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend