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In the skiing and mountaineering world we use climbers (sometimes “lookers”) right/left or skiers right/left to differentiate when facing uphill or downhill. I
by gorbypark 4y ago
In the skiing and mountaineering world we use climbers (sometimes “lookers”) right/left or skiers right/left to differentiate when facing uphill or downhill. I find having both is helpful instead of just having a single standardized one.
For example, if you are standing and looking at a mountain, it’s easier to say “just to the climbers left of that peak” because it’s on the left from your perspective, likewise when descending it best to say “stay to the skiers left of the rock”.
There’s also lots of times it’s good to mix and match, like if you are looking at and discussing a mountain from afar and planning on skiing down it later, you might keep the conversation from a skiers perspective.
- tuatoru 4y agoAnd in general hiking, referring to streams and rivers one may follow or cross, there are the "true left" and "true right" banks of the stream. Meaning, left or right looking the way the water is flowing: downstream.
- illegalsmile 4y agoWe always say "river left" or "river right" but same same.
- altec3 4y agoYep, these are the terms I've always used when whitewater rafting.
- pklausler 4y ago"East bank" and "west bank" are also used for the sides of a watercourse that flows generally north/south, even for bits of it that are flowing east/west or have curved around to flow south/north. Which is why West St. Paul (Minnesota) is directly south of St. Paul proper -- it's on the "west bank" of the Mississippi, while St. Paul is on the "east bank". (Same story, mutadis mutandis, for "north bank" and "south bank" of generally east/west-flowing rivers.)