Word of the day: thrutch

The word of the day is thrutch:

Push, press, or squeeze into a space when climbing

(https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/thrutch)

"I kicked to make toe hooks and heel hooks, felt for pockets where I could jam my fingers, and knobs to pinch and slopers to cling to, breathing snoutfuls of dust and sediment, thrutching ever upward."

 - Lori Lansens, The Mountain Story

Word of the day: choss

The word of the day is choss:

Friable, crumbly, or loose rock, typically considered unsafe or unpleasant to climb.

1930s; earliest use found in Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949), novelist. Representing a colloquial or humorous pronunciation of chaos.

(https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/choss)

"My hands were torn and bleeding already, so I paused to wipe them, one at a time, but I lost my grip and bounced from front to back over the choss, transferred by the tumbling rubble to the bottom of the wall."

 - Lori Lansens, The Mountain Story

Word of the day: manzanita

The word of the day is manzanita:

1. any of several western North American shrubs or small trees belonging to the genus Arctostaphylos, of the heath family, having leathery leaves and clusters of white to pink flowers.
2. the fruit of one of these shrubs.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/manzanita)

"Nola suggested a flat spot up the hill near some manzanita, which would help block the wind."

 - Lori Lansens, The Mountain Story

Word of the day: chinquapin

The word of the day is chinquapin: 

1. a shrubby chestnut, Castanea pumila, of the beech family, native to the southeastern U.S., having toothed, oblong leaves and small edible nuts.
2. a Pacific coast evergreen tree, Castanopsis chrysophylla, of the beech family, having deeply furrowed bark, dark green lance-shaped leaves, and inedible nuts.
3. the nut of either of these trees.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chinquapin)

"A long branch of spiky chinquapin reached out from nowhere to snag the nylon shell of my parka, and when I stopped to free my sleeve from the yellow bush, I was surprised to spot the girl in the green flip-flops moving slyly through the distant trees."

 - Lori Lansens, The Mountain Story

Word of the day: jig-back

The word of the day is jig-back:

1. an inclined cable tramway with two cars that are connected in such a way that as one goes up the other comes down.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jig+back)

"The tram worked on a double jig-back system, with one car headed down the mountain while the second climbed up; hung on twenty-seven miles of interlocking cable strung out between five massive towers bolted into the mountainside."

 - Lori Lansens, The Mountain Story