![]() For climbers inexperienced in belaying from above, or even just experienced climbers who are rushed and tired on a long multi-pitch, such mistakes might be hard to spot.Īn indirect belay is where the belay device hangs from the belayer themselves, usually from their harness’ belay loop, rather than directly putting force on the anchor. If the device is incorrectly configured, it will not lock.This requires more care and is less intuitive than lowering a climber on a redirected belay or top rope. Lowering a seconding climber who is sitting and has loaded the rope can be difficult, and dangerous if done incorrectly.Your partner’s/ buddy’s life will be directly hanging from the anchor. Direct belays require an absolutely bomber anchor.Guide mode belay devices are designed to be auto-locking when correctly used in a direct belay manufacturers instruct to always keep a hand on the brake rope, but by design, the belay device should lock automatically in the event that the seconding climber falls. The munter hitch can also be used in a direct belay, though it offers no assistance braking.īy using a direct belay with a guide mode belay device, the belayer is free to move around the belay station while belaying. The Petzl grigri can also be used in a direct belay, though a redirected belay should be preferred when possible. The belay is direct because the climber’s weight hangs directly off the anchor.Īny guide mode belay device, such as the ATC guide or Petzl reverso, can be used in a direct belay. ![]() This is where the belayer hangs the belay device directly from the anchor’s master point. The most common and safest way to belay from above is the direct belay. This is because, even with tube devices with space for two ropes, belaying up two separate followers would require you to periodically take your hand off the brake rope to take in slack. You can only bring up one climber at a time.This is a very minor worry, because you probably shouldn’t trust your buddy’s life to a point that can’t hold more than 200lb, but it’s worth bearing in mind. Belaying in this manner doubles the force on the redirect point, which increases its chance of failure.If it suddenly fails, the belay device will invert as the rope direction changes, which may cause the belayer to lose control of the rope. The top roping climber’s weight is entirely on this redirected belay point. ![]() However, there are a few major drawbacks to this system: So, this method allows the belayer up top to belay as though the seconding climber were on the other end of a standard top rope setup (just starting far below!). This just requires the belayer up top to clip a quickdraw into the anchor point above themself, or into a bolt or piece of gear on the following pitch, and clip the side of the rope going down to the seconding climber through the other end of this quickdraw. However, many belay devices are designed with top belaying especially in mind and will do this job much better. This includes all tube-style devices (ATC, reverso, etc.), assisted braking devices, and even the old-school munter hitch. In theory, any belay device can be used to belay from above. Belay Devices and Techniques for Belaying From Above In this case, the rope stretch of a fall might land the climber below the starting ledge, which may then be difficult to climb back up to. ![]() Rope stretch when falling on top rope off the first few feet of a long climb might also be a problem if the climb starts off a ledge. With 200 feet of rope between the climber and the belayer, it’s probable that a fall on top rope in the first few feet will see the climber fall back to the ground due to rope stretch. Maybe the route is long and the moves in the first few feet are hard. By belaying from above, you halve the length of rope between the climber and the belayer when compared with a standard top rope belay, therefore halving the potential rope stretch. In situations where you would like to minimize rope stretch when top rope belaying, you might choose to belay from above. ![]()
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