Hot answers tagged climbing
8
Question: Should I girth hitch my main belay loop
Answer: No! You shouldn't girth-hitch a sling to your belay loop. The belay loop should only ever be in contact with a carabiner, as the trained instructor told you. As the instructor told you, girth hitching to the main belay loop will cause it extra wear, and make it wear out faster.
You can girth ...
7
Like with most climbing related questions, I personally find it hard to give a definitive rule that applies to all circumstances. There are a couple of safety factors to consider, as well as the perception of the climber. Don't venture out on your own if any of the following doesn't seem intuitive to you.
Keep in mind the following:
Rope stretch: Rope ...
3
It's a bit of both.
Security
When toproping, an experienced belayer should have the necessary training to adjust slack/tension depending on the route itself.
For example, to avoid any swings that would crash the climber into the rock.
There are many examples on safety-related criteria for determining tension (safety for both the climber and the belayer), ...
3
Leg loop verses main belay loop
You'll find recommendations for placing an autoblock on either the leg loop or the main belay loop. Some concerns about either placement are:
Leg Loops
If you're placing an autoblock on your leg loop AND you're using a "quick release" buckle, the carabiner that's holding the autoblock can catch on the buckle and release ...
3
I love doing routes with 3 people. Once you are efficient at it, those don't take much longer than going with 2 people, you have someone to talk to when the leader is taking forever, and you have an additional hand, if you need it (for taking pictures, dealing with rope tangle, keeping an eye out on the weather, another belayer if the leader gets in ...
2
It depends.
If you're in a climbing gym, or some scenario where you're belaying someone on toprope on a route that's less than 50' tall, runs straight up-and-down ( so there's no chance for the climber to swing dangerously), or crash into a ledge then the exact amount of tension is somewhat of a personal preference for the climber. The belayer should ...
1
It usually works to grab the whole mass of coils, and flip them over when handing them to the second. When you're doing this, care has to be taken that you don't wrap one of the ends around one of the climber's anchor cord. The leader (when bringing up the second) has to make sure that the loops are neatly and tightly stacked, and not falling over.
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