How To Get Started: Rock Climbing, Part 5

Hello AkshunKat fans!

This is the blog that will get you started in the fun, challenging and overall just amazing world of outdoor adventures.  Eventually, I'll cover everything that I have experience with:  SCUBA diving, hiking, camping, ice climbing, mountaineering, mountain-biking and maybe a few others that I can't think of right now.

But I wanted to start out with my first true love:  Rock Climbing; and in the last few entries I've covered the basics of how to get started, what gear you might need, a few tips on fitness and technique, and whatever else I could think of that might be useful.  Now, let's keep it going, and push you closer to your goal of being a real rock climber. 

Remember: while it is, of course, possible for you to "teach yourself" through books, magazine articles, YouTube videos, blogs (like this one) and lots of slow and careful practice, I always recommend that you get some personal instruction from an experienced and competent climber.  It'll be faster, more thorough, safer, and you'll probably even have more fun that way.  It's always nice to have a real person right there teaching you, so you can ask them questions, watch them closely, ask them to repeat themselves, etc.

Having said all that, it's still a great idea to teach yourself at least a few things, so you don't walk into your first session with a professional completely blind.  If you already know some of the basics, then you'll be able to focus more of your class-time on the things you don't understand and get more out of it.  That's where this blog can come in pretty handy.

So let's get back into it!

When we left Part 4, our intrepid Leader was approaching the top of the "pitch."  Remember, a "pitch" is one of the sections that any given climb is broken up into.  Many climbs are just 1 pitch, which means that you climb up, get to the top, and that's it - you either walk back down, have your belayer lower you back down or you rappel back down (you can also just climb back down).  You can also secure yourself to the anchor at the top, belay your partner up, and then you BOTH go down.

If a climb is "multi-pitch," that means that there are at least 2 pitches.

So, what do you do when you get to the end of the first pitch? 

If you are climbing in a popular area where people have been climbing for a long time, there will most likely be an anchor, or a "belay station," at the top of the pitch.  It might be a stout tree with a bunch of webbing or cord around it, or it could be bolts drilled into the rock, or it might be pitons that have been hammered in.  It will usually be at a naturally convenient place to stop - like a ledge.  If not, it'll be what is known as a "hanging belay," where you'll literally be hanging in your harness off of the anchor.  These are, needless to say, less comfortable!

Sport Climbing areas usually have established anchors at the top of every pitch, but Trad areas might not.  Usually, if a Trad climb is 1 pitch long, there will be some kind of anchor at the top, and just like after a Sport climb, you can rap (rappel), lower, or secure yourself to it so that you can belay your partner up.  At that point, once you are both up at the top, you can then either walk down (if that's possible), or rap.

If your climbing area does NOT have established belay stations, you'll need to build your own.  This is an incredibly important skill, and one that requires a LOT of practice.  You'll need to make sure that you have enough gear left - after climbing the pitch - to build the anchor (and it needs to be the right gear), and you'll need to build it in a way that allows you to do whatever it is that you are going to do next - most likely you'll want to connect yourself to the anchor so that you can remain safe and comfortable while you belay your partner up.  You'll also have to think about where your partner is going to go once he gets there.

So, when you get to the top of the pitch, or when you start to run out of rope, or when you feel like you are in danger of running out of gear, OR maybe you just see a nice comfy ledge and you think "Wow, that's a great place to stop and belay!" you'll want to start thinking about how and where you will build your anchor.

If there is a permanent (or "fixed") belay station, then you just clip into it.  Usually, each anchor or belay station will have a central "clip-in point" - a heavy duty steel ring or screw-link, or maybe 2 (for redundancy) aluminum rings that cord, rope or webbing is connected to.  In turn, that cord, rope or webbing will be connected to whatever the anchor is (a tree, bolts, pitons or even someone's old metal wedges (like a Black Diamond "Stopper").  You might even run into some gear that somebody before you forgot (like my $50 cam that my partner left at a belay station on the Grand Teton!)

That central clip-in point will also serve as a rappel point if you decide to rappel the route.

There are a couple of different ways to clip into a fixed anchor.  You can clip a locking carabiner into the clip-in point, or into the webbing (or rope or cord), and then clip your climbing rope to that carabiner with a simple knot like a "clove-hitch."  This will attach you to the anchor and effectively make you completely independent of your belayer below.  However, you should ALWAYS connect to the anchor with TWO points of contact - once again, for redundancy.  If one of them fails for some reason, you want to have a backup.  

This is why you always want to make sure that you have a few slings and carabiners left when you get to the anchor - and they should be LOCKING carabiners for an added level of safety.  If you are climbing on double ropes, you can use both ropes to connect to the anchor.  If you are only using one rope, then you can use it plus a sling.  Or, you can just use two slings.  Some climbers also use specialized pieces of gear like a "daisy chain" (a sling with super-strong sewn loops in it to make it adjustable), or a "cordelette" (which is really just a really long sling.)

Once you are securely connected to the anchor and comfortable, you are no longer relying on your Belayer, so you can yell down "Off Belay!"  Or "You can take me off belay!"

At that point, your Belayer will take the climbing rope out of the belay device and yell back "Belay is Off!"  Then, your Belayer is free to have a drink, go to the bathroom, eat a Clif bar, and get ready to climb up to meet you.

Congratulations!  You have just "led" your first pitch!  You're a real Leader now!

Now, if you are planning to belay your partner up, YOU have to become the Belayer.  You have to put your partner on belay.  Belaying someone up from the top of a pitch is yet another difficult and incredibly important skill that takes a lot of practice; but it mostly depends on the nature of your belay station.

Basically, you need to think about what will happen if your partner falls while you are belaying.  When their weight comes onto your belay, you need to be able to absorb it or transfer it onto the anchor so that you don't get yanked around.

One helpful technique is to connect yourself to the anchor so that you are sitting, standing or hanging below it, and then redirect the end of the climbing rope (running from your belay device down to your partner) to a higher point.  That way, the rope will run from your belay device on your harness, up to the anchor, and then back down to your partner.  Then, if your partner falls, much of the weight will come onto the anchor directly, and you can use your own body weight to counter the rest.

After you have the rope repositioned at the higher point, but before you've attached it to your belay device, you'll need to pull up the slack that is between you and your partner.  For example, if you are using a 200 foot climbing rope, but the pitch you just climbed was only 120 feet high, then there will be about 80 feet of slack.

Pull all of that up, and place it somewhere next to you.  If you're on a ledge, you can just pile it neatly on the ledge, or if you are at a hanging belay, you can drape it neatly over one of your legs.  Here is where subtle rope-management skills come in handy.  Believe me, you'll be really annoyed if that rope turns into a tangled mess.  It can even cause serious problems.  Always try to keep your belay station neat and tidy!

As you are pulling the rope up, communicate with your partner and make sure that they are actually tied in to the other end.  You don't want to pull ALL of the rope up!

If you were the Belayer, on the ground (now you are no longer the Belayer, you are the "Second" or the "Follower"), you need to be aware that your Leader is up there building the station, configuring the belay position, and the next thing he will do is pull up the slack.  So make sure that you are either tied in, OR make sure that your Leader knows that you are NOT tied in, so they won't pull up all of the rope.

If you need to run to the bathroom or something, let your Leader know!

Once the Follower is securely tied in on the ground, the Leader up at the belay station should pull up all of the slack (keeping it organized), run the rope through the belay device on his harness, and then yell down "You are on belay!"  Or "On belay!"  Or "Belay is on!"  (The exact words aren't important, what is more important is that you are communicating with your partner so that you both know exactly what is going on at all times.)

At that point, the Follower (or the Second) will start climbing.  

Now, there is another way to belay your Second up, using a more versatile belay device that can be attached directly to the anchor (NOT on your harness).  There are several versions of it made by several companies (the one I use is the Black Diamond "ATC-Guide"), and it locks off the rope if the Second falls.  You might consider this to be a more "advanced" belaying technique, so I'll leave it to you to explore on your own.

Let's stop here for the time being, and in Part 6 I'll talk a little more about the process of building an anchor from scratch (if there is no fixed station waiting for you), and about "switching leads".

As always, if you have any comments, questions or criticism, let me know in the comments.

Until next time,

Chris at AkshunKat