rock face
Sheer climbing surface
The vertical or near-vertical surface of a rock formation, cliff, or mountain.
Rock faces are what climbers scale and what geologists study for exposed strata: The rock face showed millions of years of sediment layers.
A sheer rock face drops straight down with few handholds or ledges.
- ledgeProjecting horizontal surface
- cragSteep rugged outcrop
- bluffCalculated false front
- outcropSurfacing native stone
- slabThick flat piece
overhang · big wall · escarpment · cliff · boulder · wall · arete · chimney · handhold · exposure · granite · crevice · fissure · foothold · free climb · layback · erosion · pitch
- mountain terrainpeak, ridge, slope, gorge, pass
- Cliffscliff, bluff, crag, escarpment, scarp
- mountain featurespeaks, peak, ridges, summit, slopes
- mountain scenerypeak, summit, ridge, snow cap, cliff edge
- slopesslope, incline, slopes, inclines, grade
- climbingfree climbing, belay, bouldering, carabiner, chalk
terrain gradient/slope
rock facegentle slope
Gradual land elevation
flat ground · plain · plateau · valley floor · flatland
surface texture/traversability
rock facesoft ground
Unstable, yielding terrain
sandy beach · grassy field · mudflat · marshland · mud flat