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A friend has just completed the move you keep getting stuck on. You want to ask how they did it, but end up pointing and saying this, this. Break the exchange into three steps: ask about the move, ask about foot placement, and request a demonstration if the explanation is still unclear.
This chapter focuses on discussing movement at a climbing gym. It serves a different purpose from the chapter on climbing trips, equipment, partners and calls. After reading, try the climbing practice, which currently uses a Chinese interface.
What I wanted to say
Imagine your friend has finished an attempt and you are discussing it on the ground. Asking how they did something is different from asking them to demonstrate it now. You do not need to force both intentions into one memorised sentence.
REI defines beta as information about a climb. Here, we use it specifically for movement and hold sequences. Climb On Equipment’s gym-etiquette guide demonstrates asking whether someone wants beta before offering it.
What you can say in this situation
| Intended meaning | Reference expression | Relationship to the source |
|---|---|---|
| Ask how your friend completed the move | How did you do this move? | Adapts Collins’ How did you do it? by replacing it with this move. |
| Request a demonstration | Can you show me how to do it? | A direct Cambridge example; the climbing setting is supplied here. |
| Ask about their left foot on the previous attempt | Where did you put your left foot? | Adapts Geniebook’s Where did you put it? by replacing the object with your left foot. |
| Explain that a hold is beyond your reach | I can’t reach that hold. | Adapts Cambridge’s I can’t reach my zip by replacing the object; REI supports the climbing meaning of hold. |
| Offer beta without assuming it is wanted | Do you want beta? | A direct example in Climb On Equipment’s gym-etiquette guide. |
Two complete sentences appear directly in the sources; the other three preserve a source sentence’s structure while replacing its object. Dictionaries and teaching material support the language patterns, while REI supports climbing terminology. These are not all quotations from a recorded climbing conversation.
Can I say it another way?
How did you do this move? asks about a completed attempt. Can you show me how to do it? requests a demonstration. The first may receive a verbal explanation; the second makes the action you want clearer.
In Where did you put your left foot?, did is followed by the base form put. Change left to right to ask about the other foot.
Do you want beta? is asked by the person offering advice. It is not a request to receive beta. If you are the person who is stuck, ask a specific question such as How did you do this move?
Reach means being able to get to or touch something; a climbing hold is a feature you use. I can’t reach that hold. describes the difficulty without deciding whether strength, height or movement explains it. A demonstration gives you something concrete to discuss.
Change the details and say it again
- Ask about the right foot instead of the left: Where did you put your right foot?
- Indicate a closer hold: replace that hold with this hold and say I can’t reach this hold.
These are substitutions within the same structures. Practise distinguishing left and right, or this and that, before adding a longer description of the movement.
A short dialogue
This is a self-written discussion on the ground, not climbing calls or instructions for executing a move:
A: I can’t reach that hold.
B: Do you want beta?
A: Yes, please. How did you do this move?
B: I used a different foothold.
A: Where did you put your left foot? Can you show me how to do it?
B: Sure. Let’s look at it together.
The exchange begins with a difficulty and consent to discuss beta, then narrows from the whole move to a foot position and a demonstration request. What to do on a particular climb depends on the climb and appropriate instruction; this chapter teaches how to ask.
Say it without reading the English
- Your friend has finished. Ask how they completed that move.
- They explain, but you want a demonstration.
- Ask where their left foot was placed.
- Explain that you cannot reach that hold.
- You have an idea. Ask whether the other person wants beta.
Open after speaking to check the reference expressions
- How did you do this move?
- Can you show me how to do it?
- Where did you put your left foot?
- I can’t reach that hold.
- Do you want beta?
Choose a move you have actually struggled with. Link the three actions: ask how, ask about the foot, then request a demonstration. Continue with the climbing practice and try recalling the expressions from Chinese prompts.
References
- REI: Rock Climbing Terms & Lingo Guide: The climbing meaning of beta.
- REI: Climbing Techniques and Moves: Context for moves, footholds and foot placements, not the original wording of the questions here.
- Climb On Equipment: Top 10 Unwritten Rules of the Climbing Gym: Asking whether beta is wanted.
- Cambridge: how, English–French dictionary: The complete demonstration request.
- Collins: how, English–Chinese dictionary: The source structure for asking how a move was done.
- Geniebook: Interrogative Words & Modal Verbs: The source structure for asking where something was put; a children’s grammar lesson rather than climbing dialogue.
- Cambridge: reach: A sentence about being unable to reach something.