Lead Belaying
 Cristina belays and watches her climber, Tahquitz Rock, CA.
As a lead belayer, you have someone else's life literally in your hands. If you let go while your partner is hanging on the rope or falling, they will fall to the ground and will be injured or die. It is crucial that you receive professional instruction on how to lead belay. Do not use this guide as your only form of instruction!
That being said, lead belaying is not incredibly difficult to learn, and it opens you up to a whole new world of climbing. Familiarize yourself with the Lead Climbing systems before you agree to get on belay. |
At a Glance:
Lead Belaying:
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How It Works
First, visualize a top rope belay system. The rope goes from the climber to the top anchor and then down to you (the belayer). The anchor takes the force and friction of a fall. When sport climbing, the climber attaches the rope to fixed anchors (bolts) as he/she ascends. These bolts take the force and friction in the event of a fall, though more force will be translated to the belay if the climber falls from above his/her last bolt. As a belayer, it is your job to make sure the climber has the appropriate amount of rope to make the bolts effective anchors. Too much and, in the event of a fall, they're going for a long ride. Too little and your climber will be constantly pulling on the rope and will get quite pissed at you.
The belay device is set up in exactly the same way as with Top Rope Belay, except that the rope travels directly from you to the climber. As your climber moves up the wall, you will give them slack to allow them to advance. Slide your hand down the tail end of the rope and bring your other hand near the belay device, then simultaneously pull and feed the rope through the device. This technique ensures your brake hand never leaves the rope, and you can lock off quickly as necessary. Take up slack accordingly.
As the climber attaches quickdraws to bolts and clips into them with the rope, you will need to give a lot of slack. This is the most dangerous part of sport climbing, so you need to be sure to keep your brake hand on the rope. Follow the same procedure as for giving small amounts of slack, but simply give more. Finally, if your climber falls, you need to be ready to catch them. Pay attention, and react accordingly. If they look like they are definitely about to fall or if they yell "TAKE!", take in as much slack as possible and brace yourself for a fall. Get low and be ready to jump to help absorb the shock.
In some instances, you may need to use a Ground Runner Belay to take in slack more rapidly than with the traditional belay to prevent your leader from decking. This will be an issue on routes where the distance between two bolts is greater than two times the distance to the ground plus rope stretch (usually occurs between the first and second bolts). If you find yourself in this situation (no beginner should!), you the Ground Runner Belay will hurt your gear and potentially the belayer but may save the leader's life. Follow the links above - we will not cover this expert technique here.
The belay device is set up in exactly the same way as with Top Rope Belay, except that the rope travels directly from you to the climber. As your climber moves up the wall, you will give them slack to allow them to advance. Slide your hand down the tail end of the rope and bring your other hand near the belay device, then simultaneously pull and feed the rope through the device. This technique ensures your brake hand never leaves the rope, and you can lock off quickly as necessary. Take up slack accordingly.
As the climber attaches quickdraws to bolts and clips into them with the rope, you will need to give a lot of slack. This is the most dangerous part of sport climbing, so you need to be sure to keep your brake hand on the rope. Follow the same procedure as for giving small amounts of slack, but simply give more. Finally, if your climber falls, you need to be ready to catch them. Pay attention, and react accordingly. If they look like they are definitely about to fall or if they yell "TAKE!", take in as much slack as possible and brace yourself for a fall. Get low and be ready to jump to help absorb the shock.
In some instances, you may need to use a Ground Runner Belay to take in slack more rapidly than with the traditional belay to prevent your leader from decking. This will be an issue on routes where the distance between two bolts is greater than two times the distance to the ground plus rope stretch (usually occurs between the first and second bolts). If you find yourself in this situation (no beginner should!), you the Ground Runner Belay will hurt your gear and potentially the belayer but may save the leader's life. Follow the links above - we will not cover this expert technique here.
Lead Belay Do's and Don'ts:
- Don't let go of the rope. This seems like an obvious one, but it's amazing how often people let go of the rope while belaying. Use your other hand to gesture to holds, wave to friends or whatever. Your brake hand stays on the rope at all times; when you are giving slack, when you are taking slack, and when you are locked off. Particularly with auto-locking belay devices, this is a real problem, as people become accustomed to the device and get lazy. Make a habit of it, and you will keep your partners alive for future climbs.
- Do keep locked off when not taking in or giving out slack. The locked-off position for your break hand is at your hip, down and away from the belay device. If your hand is up above the belay device and your partner falls, the rope will slide through the belay device, burning your hand and perhaps bringing your climber down. Another common mistake is to hold your hand too close to the belay device. If your climber falls, your hand can be pulled into the belay device. Ouch. Keep your hand at least 6 inches away from the belay device.
- Do keep your eyes and ears on the climber. Particularly with sport climbing, falls can be big and unexpected. You need to be ready to brace yourself in case of a fall or to give slack so your climber can clip or move upward. Keeping your eyes peeled and ears open is the only way to know what is going on with your climber above. If you can't see your climber, watch the rope. You will see it start to move upward as they climb or clip (or fall), and can respond accordingly. Also listen for commands from the climber.
- Do give an appropriate amount of slack. You should always strive for an upward catenary line for the rope; in other words, the rope should travel outwards and upwards from your belay device to the first clip. If your rope goes down then up like a suspension bridge cable, you have too much slack.Conversely, if the rope is too tight, you can pull your climber off the wall, a mistake sure to blacklist you among your climbing partners. Take and give slack as your climber climbs to maintain the correct shape in your rope line. Also, as your climber goes for a clip, they need slack. A good rule of thumb is to reach for your belay device and pull out a whole arm-length twice as soon as the climber yells "clip". This is because this is about how much slack a climber can pull out at once. However, you should pay attention to your climber. If their clip is at waist level, they may only need a few feet of slack. Adapt to each situation and listen for commands.
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Do stay in the right place in the right position. Ideally, you should be a few feet away from the wall, to the left or right of the first clip. If your climber is to the left of the first clip, stand to the right to avoid being hit by feet or rocks, and to have a better vantage point. If to the right, then stand to the left. You also want to be close to the wall so that as your climber falls, you don't get pulled hard into the rock and get a faceful of granite. Stand so that the rope makes an angle of 45º or less with the wall when taut. Finally, you should be standing in an athletic, "ready" position, so that if your climber falls, you can either sprint backward to take slack very quickly (for a huge, cratering whipper) or jump upwards to soften the fall. Also, you can walk forward or backward to give or take slack while still locked off. Don't sit down, lie down, or stand facing in the wrong direction. You could hurt your climber.
- Do inform your climber about any dangers or mistakes they are making. Falling rocks, swinging climbers and even attacking animals can catch a climber unawares, and it is the belayer's job to let them know. Also, if the climber back clips, z-clips, or back-steps, the belayer is the only person who will notice the hazard. Let your climber know about any mistakes they are making. It's more important to be safe than to look experienced. Also, if a climber needs to extend a clip to avoid rope drag, you should tell them.
