Things I’ve Learned About Belaying

Your average non-climber understands that ascending a cliff requires a certain amount of skill and expertise. This non-climber has little to no idea the range of skill or what skills exactly that might entail, but they get that climbing involves skill. It’s not a hard concept to grasp.

Belaying on the other hand, not everyone appreciates the skill that involves. Yes there are the basic “this is your brake hand and EVEN IF A CHUCK OF GRANITE LANDS ON YOUR HEAD NEVER EVER LET GO” rules one must learn, but there is much more than just paying out and taking in slack involved in the art.

I was taught the basics by my friends, how to give out slack when someone is clipping and not to think of lowering as a race from the anchors to the ground. However, as a small female being taught to belay from guys with fifty-plus pounds on me, I quickly understood that I would need to adapt their methods to prevent them from grounding out.

Here are some things I’ve learned:

1. If they haven’t clipped at least four bolts I’m taking a whipper too.
2. There is no need to jump to cushion someone’s fall (see number one).
3. Do not stand a casual ten feet back from the rock with extra slack in the line. If they fall I’m going to go up and forward into the cliff; it will hurt.
4. Bracing oneself against the rock with one leg can help prevent number three.
5. Keep very little slack in the system when the climber is not clipping (look to number one again).
6. Boinking is easy for me and impossible for anyone I belay weighting over 140 pounds.
7. Belaying is a workout involving squat jumps and pull-ups whenever someone wants to up rope.
8. Never expect to be asked to belay if the route is hard and there’s someone bigger available.
9.  Expect that larger climbers will fear clipping the first few times I belay them.

Now, here are a few things to note if you’re over 150 pounds and are belaying me: 

1. The belay device is simply a backup in case your non-break hand isn’t on the rope to catch me.
2. You may not notice that I’ve fallen till you look up (or I shout something mid-air).
3. Up roping is a non-challenge, same with having me boink.
4. If I’m on top rope you can lift me to the chains simply by taking a walk backward (please don’t; I’m not really into aid climbing at the moment).

To sum it all up, I’m a belayer’s dream (except for climbing slowly, stopping to tape up mid-climb, and occasionally throwing down extra layers half-way up) and a climber’s last resort. However, in my defense, I only have one groundout on my record. Tommy has a solid seven inches and a lot of muscle mass on me, and it was after the first bolt. He received a very soft seated landing, though he did have to start the climb over again from the ground. I got additional practice repelling.