We have been asked the really good question why you would choose to use a sling or the rope. Our preference is to always use the rope. It reduces the links in the chain and allows for greater flexibility for adjusting tension on each anchor point. If the sling is used to bring everything to one central power point it is to simplify matters and/or use much less rope. This could be because we are climbing with someone who doesn’t have the skill set yet to build a multiple anchor belay with the rope, or your short on time and want to speed things up and/or keep it simple on belays. The other reason could be the pitch you have just led or are about to lead is very long (or the anchors are a long way back) and you don’t have enough rope. Hope that helps. Feel free to get in touch if you need any further advice.

Class video thanks for making and posting. Best video I could find on belay changeovers, in particular for block leading

Such a useful video thank you 😀

Hi there. Thanks for the video I'll give the second method a go next time I'm out. I climb wih a mate who always seconds and I've usually gone for a master point but the picthes where I live are never more than 30m so always loads of rope left to build a belay with and will give my mate a better understanding of equalising belays whilst I'm there to watch. Cheers.

I like the way you're teaching. Professional way of ... Anchoring from the rope, old style takes more time ... so on multi pitches, I would prefer to get it on cordelette. However, I always have had more fun to get safe from the climbing rope :)

Great instructional video. I just want to point out that at the ending, from my perspective it looks like your partners belay device is upside down, and that it would be a great addition to include a double check before you undo your anchor point.

Thanks. With rope set set up belay I would say if you are block leading your second probably doesn’t have the skill to rebuild the belay (and a faff to do even if they do). Better to remove the Boa style anchor point and tie big overhand master anchor point - you clip and belay from this point. You second clips in at this point and you both untie and retie either ends of the line. No rebuilding and dismantling systems then. Much easier and needs no skill per-se from the second.

Please refer to Brent Peters' videos "Clove Hitch for Anchors" the strongest, safest, most efficient, and fastest anchor system!! Thanks!

Just wondered when setting tue angle of the sling in the belay. Is it in the general direction of the climber ckming up or the last piece of gear that you placed (i.e. if a wandering pitch this might be off to the side) in this case if the sling was set up for a slight side pull, the 2nd takes out the last piece of gear but then falls onto the belay this would cause issues. Hope this made some sense?

Hi can't quite make it out... at the end when your second is ready to belay you on the next pitch, is the belay plate on his belay loop? Thanks!

@LeadingEdgeMountain

3 жыл бұрын

In a multi pitch context we ALWAYS clip the belay plate to the rope loop created behind the figure of 8. This is directly attached to the anchors via the rope and should your leader fall off and in particular exert a fall factor two on the belay you want as much of the load going through the rope systems and onto the anchors, not onto your kidneys which is what would happen if you clipped the belay loop. Hope that helps?

I am always intrigued why you're belaying to the body instead of the central anchor of the belay. Would you be so kind as to tell me what advantage it has to belay to the harness to a second instead of securing in guide mode with the plate to a second climber at the central anchor of the belay station you do make with the sling in the 2:25 minute? It only occurs to me in the event that the anchors are terribly unsafe. Thank you

@LeadingEdgeMountain

3 жыл бұрын

Prusik Mallorca hi there, very sorry for the slow reply. So most climbing in the U.K. is trad not sport, it is really important with trad to always try and maximise and not compromise the placements. We also want to reduce any shock loading onto any system as much as possible. In addition to all of this belays on trad routes are often well out of reach from where you would like to sit or stand to belay so you can communicate effectively with your second. For this reason it is always preferable to build systems directly with the rope and attach these back to you in a manner that allows you to micro adjust the tension and angle of the system. Many use clove hitches to do so. The belay plate is then attached to the figures of eight rope loop, absolutely NOT the belay loop of the harness, this is very important as the weight of a fallen climber then goes through the figure of 8 and directly through the rope into the anchors. We do not clip the belay plate into the belay loop, this would be very bad as it would mean the full weight of the second comes onto the harness and the belayers kidneys. We do things this way rather than creating a power point because of the need of making very fine adjustments to the tensions of the rope when building the belay and the fact that it’s is often quite a distance away from you (the belayer). We are not using unquestionable bolts, we are using protection with far lower braking strains and need the elasticity of the rope to help reduce impact forces. We do not utilise the method shown because we think the anchors are bad!! It is because we want to make them even better and maximise the holding power of the trad equipment. As you can see in the demo when things are brought into a power point it is very easy to unload part of the anchor, just with a tiny shift of direction. The largest nut has a breaking strain of 14kn, a bolt has a breaking strain of 25kn that’s a big difference. We need to utilise that protection in the best way to ensure all points of an anchor are equally loaded. It is very easy to give slack or lower someone a few moves down to allow them to sort out the retrieval of the trad protection when belaying off your rope loop, the belayer is also better engaged to be sensitive to the level of tension on the rope. Utilising belay plates in guide mode does often result in the rope being taken in quite harshly and yanking on the seconds harness, not pleasant. Only minor points perhaps compare to the ones above but all part of enhancing the climbing experience. Hope that helps?

@prusikmallorca

3 жыл бұрын

@@LeadingEdgeMountain Thank you very much for the very detailed and extensive explanation. And thank you for also specifying that it should not be anchored to the harness loop, since in other videos I have seen it and did not understand it. Have a nice day. Greetings and thanks for responding.

@shoqed

3 жыл бұрын

​@@LeadingEdgeMountain How does belaying from rope loop reduce amount of load in the system? If you are too far from the anchor, why not extend the guide mode device, attach it on the rope as well? Doesn't belaying from rope loop increase the risk of ring loading figure 8 (bad)? It really seems that attaching the belay plate in guide mode to an anchor (on a dynamic rope extension if you must) would solve all of these problems.