Have fun and climb safe

Climbing is exhilarating and fun, but it is important to know the basics and stay safe while climbing. The folks at Rock & Ice have provided us with some great tips and belay technique to keep you out of the hospital and on the mountain. Preview the article below or read full story here.

"How to Climb Safe: Belay School"

BY: Tyler Stableford

I’ve always viewed trad- or ice-climbing falls as more serious than sport whippers. Heck, most of us, myself included, have become so accustomed to dropping onto bolts that we now fall more often than we send. The casualness has trickled down to belayers, who scratch their dogs and lounge in lawn chairs as their partners plummet earthward.


Turn that sport route into a thin crack or frozen pillar, however, and—whoa!—falling suddenly becomes a horrible prospect: What if that TCU rips, or ice shears? Even as a belayer, when I hear the cry of “Falling!”, I tense up and brace hard for the upward jolt.

Paradoxically, a good firm catch may be exactly the wrong move—an unyielding belay can double the impact forces on the top piece of gear, a critical consideration when leading on natural gear.

For this installment of Climb Safe, Rock and Ice Publisher Duane Raleigh and I field-tested impact forces during a common fall scenario—a nine-foot whipper with about 55 feet of rope out—using two belay techniques. For one set of falls, I belayed with a Petzl Grigri anchored securely to the ground (a static belay) while Duane hurled himself off the rock; for the next, I clipped the Grigri to my belay loop and, leaving myself unanchored, jumped up at the moment of impact, yielding a dynamic belay.

Read full story here.