gumby

plural gumbies

1. derogatoryslangsometimesclimbingAn inexperienced climber.

   Caroline was silent. Probably standing there, watching with pity. Or maybe she'd left. Why would she stay to watch the gumby climb anyway?

   2018, Sarah Nicole Lemon, Valley Girls, page 183

   3 more examples

   Eddy Delwood wove an exaggerated tale about him. It was a story about the day's big climb. "So the gumby's up there fifteen minutes now...He's not movin', just standin' there."

   1984, Steve Roper, Ascent: The Mountaineering Experience in Word and Image, page 61

   "Beattie...What's a gumby?" "It's what I thought you were the first day: a beginner, a rookie, green as grass and wet behind the ears. Something you've never been, Spider-Man. Though the way you climbed just now...well..."

   2008, V. M. Jones, Out of Reach, page 230

   You do notice one guy (not a gumby, he's done A5 climbs) who doesn't really hoist any equipment, never leads the climb, never finds routes, and conveniently forgets to bring his ropes.

   2011, Stephen E. Schmid, Climbing - Philosophy for Everyone, page 155