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4.1 Knots
4.1 Knots
For this chapter, the following knot is important.
The munter hitch
The munter hitch
The munter hitch (halve mastworp) is a knot you can use to belay someone. Because the knot isn't fixed in place (in fact, it's technically not a knot at all), but does create a lot of friction, you can hold a fall or lower someone with very little force, similar to the function of a belay device. The knot is often abbreviated as HMS (German: Halbmastwurfsicherung). You can check whether the HMS is set up correctly by alternately pulling on the two strands and seeing whether the knot "flips over" at the carabiner. Practice the HMS with climbing rope or prusik cord in a carabiner, and then tie it with one hand.
HMS.mp44.2 Rope commands
4.2 Rope commands
In a multipitch, you can't always hear or see each other well. To still know what the other person is doing and to ensure safety, there are five commands used during multipitching. As this syllabus in intended for use in the ASAC we will use the Dutch rope commands: stand (off belay), touw in (take in), touw uit (that's me), nakomen (climb on), and ik kom (climbing).
You always give the rope commands after saying your climbing partner's name. This is to get their attention and to avoid confusing other rope teams.
The situation: Jeroen and Lieke have both tied in to the ends of a rope. Jeroen has gone ahead to lead, has built a belay station, and is now securely attached to it. After Jeroen has done a thorough check, he calls out:
“Lieke, STAND!”
Result: Lieke no longer needs to belay, takes the belay device off the rope, and calls out:
“Jeroen, TOUW IN!”
Result: Jeroen starts taking in rope toward the belay station. When Lieke notices the rope is nearly all taken in, she calls out:
“Jeroen, TOUW UIT!”
Result: Jeroen starts belaying Lieke from the belay station. After a check, he calls out:
“Lieke, NAKOMEN!”
Result: Lieke knows she's on belay. The moment she starts climbing, she calls out:
“Jeroen, IK KOM!”
In the example, it's essential for Lieke to be certain that Jeroen has called "stand"; if in doubt, she should simply keep belaying. Afterward, it's just as essential that Lieke be certain Jeroen has called "nakomen"; if in doubt, she should not start climbing.
The two commands given from above (stand and nakomen) are therefore essential for safety, since they indicate that belaying should stop or that belaying has started again.
It's also important to call back and forth as little as possible, to avoid misunderstandings around commands. It can have serious consequences if the belayer thinks they hear "stand," while the climber actually only said, "what a view!" Are you unsure of the command your climbing partner gave? Then wait, or ask them to repeat it. Did your partner not hear you? Try calling the command at different pitches and in different directions.
Sometimes you'll manage to signal each other visually, or (safely) call each other by phone, but it's best to have agreed on that in advance.
Also, always start a rope command with your partner's name. After all, multiple people may be climbing in the same area, and it can be deadly to accidentally follow a rope command from a different rope team.
4.3 Belaying the follower from the belay station
4.3 Belaying the follower from the belay station
Taking in rope
Taking in rope
After you've given the "stand" command, your partner stops belaying and you get the command to take in "touw in." Pull the rope up and hang it in loops, left and right, over your lifeline. To avoid "rope spaghetti," you can start with large loops and gradually make them smaller. This way, the loops are less likely to tangle with each other when you later pay out rope again. If there's room at the belay station, for example on a small ledge, you can also gather the rope on the ground instead. This gives you more freedom of movement and less chance of "rope spaghetti," but you do need to keep a close eye on the rope so it doesn't slide off the edge.
You keep taking in rope until you hear "touw uit." You use the last section of rope you've taken in to set up a belay.
Now it's time to belay your follower up. Several techniques exist for this. This course focuses on the following two: belaying the follower with HMS, and belaying the follower with a plate.
Belaying the follower with HMS
Belaying the follower with HMS
Clip an HMS carabiner into the central point of your belay station and load the climbing rope into it with a Munter hitch. Lock the carabiner and check that everything is set up correctly (it helps to check whether the knot "flips over").
Make sure the section of rope going to the follower is taut, ready to belay. The section of rope on the other side of the HMS is your brake rope. When taking in rope, make sure you always keep at least one hand on the brake rope at all times. Now you can give the "nakomen" command.
Belaying with HMS has quite a few advantages: you need very little gear (just a carabiner), you can lower your partner a bit without any trouble (simply by paying out rope), and your partner can move almost immediately into leading the next pitch.
Disadvantages are that an HMS doesn't function like an assisted-braking device, and it can cause kinks in the rope.
Belaying the follower with a plate
Belaying the follower with a plate
As described in the chapter on gear, you need a belay device suitable for use as a plate, also known as 'guide mode.' This requires a large eye attached on one side of your device and a small eye on the other.
Clip a carabiner into the central point of your belay station and hang your belay device from it via the large eye. Lock the carabiner. Now load the rope through the belay device the same way you would for top-roping (you can always check the little symbols on the device for climber and brake rope). Take a second carabiner and clip it through the loop in the rope and the belay device. Again, this is similar to how you'd do it for top-roping, except this carabiner is no longer also attached to your harness. Lock the carabiner and check that everything is set up correctly (it helps to give a sharp tug on the rope going to your follower, to see whether the plate locks up).
Make sure the section of rope going to the follower is taut, and then you're ready to belay. The section of rope on the other side of your belay device is your brake rope. When taking in rope, make sure you always keep at least one hand on the brake rope at all times. Now you can give the "nakomen" command.
The big advantage of belaying with a plate is that it functions like an assisted-braking device. And if you're working with double rope (see Chapter 5), belaying is much easier with a plate.
A downside of the plate is that the setup you've just made to belay the follower isn't suitable for belaying a lead climber. So extra steps are needed once the follower arrives at the belay station, to prepare for the next pitch. In addition, it's not possible to lower the follower by simply paying out rope while belaying with a plate.
4.4 Belaying the lead climber from the belay station
4.4 Belaying the lead climber from the belay station
Transitioning from following to leading
Transitioning from following to leading
Once the follower has arrived at the belay station, the priority is: attach your lifeline to the belay station and lock the carabiner. Good communication is critical here: the follower lets the belayer know that they, too, are secured to the anchor, and the belayer lets the follower know they intend to stop belaying. Check each other and wait for a response. Only then should belaying stop.
Now there's time to hand off gear, discuss the route ahead, or just take a moment to relax. Usually, the follower will now become the lead climber. Make sure that person has enough quickdraws (and other gear) with them.
Belaying the lead climber from the belay station
Belaying the lead climber from the belay station
In principle, you belay through the belay station just as you do when belaying a follower. This means that in a fall, the force goes onto the central point rather than onto the belayer's body. So, as the belayer, you also won't get pulled upward in a fall. However, the rope on the lead climber's side will shoot upward (provided a piece of protection has already been clipped). So as the belayer, make sure you immediately put both hands on the brake rope in the event of a fall.
Since you're belaying through the belay station, you can't quickly take a step forward to give your lead climber extra rope for a clip. To keep clipping smooth anyway, it's therefore common practice to always keep some slack in the rope while belaying. Practice with your partner to find what works well for you.
If no protection has been clipped yet, the lead climber will fall past you, down below the belay station. This doesn't have to be a problem, as long as you're both aware of it. Stand at the belay station on the side away from the climber, just as with lead belaying from the ground. If you're belaying with a tuber (see below), extra steps are needed to keep this situation safe.
Fall factors
A lead fall is "harder" than a fall on top-rope. This is mainly because you fall a much greater distance. The rule is: the greater the distance, the harder the fall. But climbing rope is dynamic, so it's also true that: the more rope that's been paid out, the more it can stretch, and therefore the softer the fall.
That's why the concept of the fall factor matters: this is the ratio between the length of the fall and the length of rope paid out.
You'll fall the softest when a lot of rope has been paid out and you fall a short distance (low fall factor). This is the case, for example, when you're already fairly high up on a lead route and fall right after clipping.
You'll fall the hardest when little rope has been paid out and you fall a long distance (high fall factor). The most extreme case of this is when you climb away from the belay station and fall right before making the first clip. You then fall past the belay station, twice as far as the length of rope paid out: fall factor 2. So make sure you never skip the first clip after the belay station!
Belaying the lead climber with HMS
Belaying the lead climber with HMS
If you were already belaying with HMS, no extra steps are needed to transition from belaying the follower to belaying the lead climber. The belayer keeps hold of the brake rope, just be sure to communicate when the follower is about to start leading again.
Belaying the lead climber with a tuber
Belaying the lead climber with a tuber
It's also possible to belay through the belay station using a tuber. To do this, hang the tuber from the central point of the belay station using a carabiner.
The advantage of belaying with a tuber is that you're often already used to belaying with it.
A major and important difference compared to belaying with HMS is the following:
A tuber does not brake if the rope only makes a single bend! We call this a single-bend belay ("karabiner-knik-zekering"), and it's an extremely dangerous situation. Therefore, whenever belaying with a tuber, a precautionary measure must always be taken to prevent a single-bend belay. The ASAC teaches the following methods:
How to prevent a karabiner-knik-zekering?
Attach an extra carabiner to the central point and run the brake rope through it. This way, the rope will still make a second bend in the event of a fall past the belay station. Make sure this carabiner is small enough to guarantee a bend! See the figures.
Once the lead climber has clipped a few quickdraws, it's a good idea to remove this extra carabiner. Paying out rope then becomes much easier.
Note: In the past, the ASAC (and still today at other organizations) taught a different method: the dummy runner or plus-clip. This method is less safe, since a single-bend belay reoccurs if one bolt fails. For this reason, the ASAC no longer teaches this method, and using an extra carabiner on the brake rope is preferred instead.
You may still come across climbers who want to belay you using the method described above, so it's good to be familiar with it. Talk it over with your climbing partner and let them know your preferences.
Using a dummy-runner or plus-clip
With this method, you place a carabiner in a higher bolt than the one you're belaying from, for example, the backup. Run the climbing rope (not the brake rope) through it. If the lead climber now falls, the rope will run through this carabiner, and so won't cause a single-bend belay at the tuber. This kind of intermediate protection point is also called a dummy runner.
It's also possible, at an earlier point (back when you yourself were the lead climber), to climb a bit past the belay station and pre-clip a carabiner into the next bolt, running your climbing rope through it. This is convenient to do if that bolt is reasonably close to the belay station. This is also called a plus-clip. Do keep in mind the risk that leading may then effectively rely on only a single bolt.
Body belaying
It's also possible to belay the lead climber with a belay device attached to the belay loop of your harness (instead of the belay station). We call this body belaying. This method requires some practice to do safely.
Body belaying has the advantage of using the same techniques you're already used to from lead belaying on the ground. If you want to use an assisted-braking device, it's also often done this way. Although, some manufacturers of assisted-braking devices do state that theirs can also be used through the belay station (check the manual). With body belaying, a fall will be more comfortable for the lead climber, since the belay is more dynamic.
But this is at the same time the big downside of body belaying: in a fall, the impact is absorbed by the belayer's body! On the ground, you often have room to absorb that impact in a controlled (and dynamic) way. But at a belay station, space is limited. You may be hanging in your lifeline while belaying, meaning that in a fall you'll first suddenly shoot upward, then come to a jarring stop in your lifeline (or with your face against the rock).
In the right situation, and with the right judgment, it's entirely possible to belay safely through the body from a belay station, but be extremely careful with this, especially when there's a large weight difference between climbers.
Note: if you're body belaying with a tuber, you also need an extra carabiner to prevent a single-bend belay!
Practice questions and assignments for Chapter 4
Practice questions and assignments for Chapter 4
Explain the rope commands to someone. Practice the commands with them. This can be done on the ground, but also at the bottom/top of a staircase. Communicate clearly and don't forget to use your climbing partner's name.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of belaying a follower with HMS compared to belaying with a plate?
What makes using an extra carabiner/dummy runner/plus-clip essential for your climber's safety?
Practice taking lead falls again in the climbing gym if it's been a while.
Scenario for Chapter 4
Scenario for Chapter 4
For a scenario, the assignment is always: How should you and your partner act to stay safe? What steps do you take, and in what order? What do you need to pay (extra) attention to in this situation? What do you discuss with each other?
Your partner is leading from the belay station. You're belaying through the belay station with a tuber. Your partner is in the process of clipping the first piece of protection, and then you suddenly notice: you forgot to use an extra carabiner (or dummy runner)!
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