Learning to Belay

Learn it

Demonstration:

How the device works, how it is loaded, and then the COMPLETE buddy check in order: climber, harness, knot, follow the rope and confirm it is the same rope, belay device, carabiner, harness, belayer.

• The brake hand never lets go. Say it, then say it again. Everything else on this list is second.
• PBUS is the method: pull, brake, under, slide. Where a kid is fighting it, use the rowing motion instead until the feel arrives.
• Lowering is slow, and they must be able to stop a lower on request.
• A knot stands in for a climber. Tie both ends of the rope together and they belay the knot to the top of the wall, then lower it back. It is a full belay on a real rope, and a mistake drops a knot rather than a person, which is what makes it the drill to repeat.
• The backup belayer is a real job with a name. Coaches back up every belay today.

The commands, because a belay without them is half a system. Insist on names with every one.

• On belay? / Belay is on. Climbing? / Climb on.
• Take? / Gotcha. Lower me! / Lowering.
• Take! / Gotcha! Resting! / Gotcha.

Practice:

Give all the participants one side of a rope, and have them practice loading the device. Once they have loaded the device, once coach should walk through the buddy checks with them. Then have them take the rope out of the ATC and carabiner out of the rope, then do it again. Have them continue to practice until they get it right 3 times - talking a coach through the buddy checks each time they complete the setup. Coaches should walk through the line of participants, giving 1:1 attention where needed, but making sure 1 coach is always free to help with buddy checks and resetting.

Apply it

The ground round, everybody at once. One device and carabiner per pair, and two ropes tied together so the pair has a long enough line to work with. PBUS on the ground with no climber until the hand sequence stops needing thought, the partner on the far end taking the load and calling each step out loud while they watch the brake hand, then swap. Both coaches walk the pairs. Nothing in this half queues, so run it with the whole group.

Then the wall, and this is the part that strands a class. A coach backs up exactly one belay at a time, so two coaches means four athletes on the ropes and six with nothing to do unless you have already given them something.

Set the ropes up side by side, the two carrying climbers beside the ones tied into loops, so neither coach has to turn their back on a belay to see the rest. Then run three stations and rotate every eight minutes:

1. On the ropes, one pair per rope: one belaying with a coach backing up, one climbing.
2. Belaying the knot, a pair per spare rope: one takes it to the top and lowers it back, one watches the brake hand and calls each step.
3. Traversing low, with whatever technique the last two weeks taught attached to it.

Ten athletes is five pairs through two rope slots, so three rotations gives every pair a turn and takes twenty-four minutes. Whatever is left in the block is a second turn for whoever needed one.

Tell the climbers on the rope to move slowly and to stop if the belay falls behind. A fast climber on a slow belay teaches the belayer nothing except panic.

Demonstrate understanding

• The brake hand stays on the rope through every phase, including the slide.
• They can lower smoothly and stop halfway when asked.
• They run the full buddy check and the commands before their partner leaves the ground, unprompted.

If the concept isn't sticking

The brake hand comes off during the slide. Back to the ground, no climber. This is the one thing that cannot be half-learned.

PBUS will not come together. Switch to the rowing technique and let the sequence arrive later.

The rotation collapses and everybody crowds the ropes. Give stations two and three a finish line rather than an activity: ten clean cycles, or a traverse there and back.

Both coaches are tied to a climber and the other stations drift. Drop to one rope and put the free coach on the floor. Eight athletes moving through a station somebody is watching beats six who have stopped.