| Top-Roping
and Belaying
In top-roping, a rope from the top of the
climb always holds the climber, making most slips off the
climb harmless. As shown above, the climber is attached to
one end of the rope, the middle is passed through an anchor
at the top of the climb, and the other end is held by the
belayer.
The anchor at the top of the climb is assembled
from loops of webbing connected to carabiners attached securely
to the rock. The rope is passed through some of the carabiners,
and the others are attached to either pieces of protection,
wedged into a convenient crack, or bolts, which other climbers
have drilled into the rock.
The anchor's carabiners with the rope passing
through are suspended below the top of the climb to prevent
the rope from rubbing. When bolts or protection are far from
the top of the climb, substantial lengths of webbing are needed
to place the carabiners correctly.
Not all climbs can be top-roped because of two requirements:
1. There must be a safe way to the top to
set the anchor before the climber starts. Most popular top-roped
climbs have an easy way to hike to the top.
2. The climb may be no longer than half the
length of the rope; when the climber starts, the rope must
cross the full length of the climb twice.
The belayer stops the rope with a belay device
attached to his harness if the climber slips. The belay device
makes it easy to apply enough friction to stop a falling climber.
If there is some danger of the belayer being lifted into the
air, he can be anchored down.
The belayer must keep the slack in the rope
to a minimum since when a climber slips, any slack must be
taken up before the rope can stop the fall. To take up this
slack, the belayer pulls the rope downward as the climber
climbs. While doing this, the belayer must never release the
rope fully to ensure the climber could never fall far.
Lead Climbing
In lead climbing, two people, a leader and
a follower, ascend the climb in pitches: sections of the climb
shorter than the length of the rope.
First the leader climbs the pitch, wedging
pieces of protection into the rock and attaching the rope
to them with carabiners.
Once the leader makes it to the top, she
anchors herself to the rock and belays the follower, who climbs
the pitch, removing the protection. Finally, both the leader
and follower are at the top of the pitch with all their gear,
ready to climb the next pitch.
The leader's job is dangerous.
Unlike top-roping, where slipping off the
rock usually doesn't result in a long fall, a leader can fall
twice the distance from the last piece of protection before
the rope can help. The figure below depicts a fairly pleasant
lead fall--the leader has fallen and is dangling in midair.
More often, the leader will hit the rock on the way down--a
common cause of climbing injuries.
A ``quickdraw''--two carabiners attached with
a loop of webbing--is used to fasten the rope to a piece of
protection. One carabiner is attached to the loop on the piece
of protection, the rope is passed through the other. This
provides some separation of protection a rope, allowing the
rope to twist without dislodging the protection, pass more
smoothly past the protection, and go more directly up the
climb.
Ideally, so the rope is not forced to go
around friction-increasing corners, the protection should
be along in a straight line between belay stations. This is
not always possible, so longer pieces of webbing in the quickdraw
are used to make the path of the rope straighter.
Lead climbing places fewer restrictions on
what can be climbed than top-roping. The two requirements
are:
1. There must be places for a belayer to be
secured to the rock (``belay stations'') spaced no farther
than the length of the rope. Most popular lead climbs satisfy
this.
2. There must be places to attach the rope
to the rock. In rock with many cracks, protection, especially
SLCDs, can easily be used. Occasionally on smooth rock, other
climbers have drilled permanent bolts into the rock that can
be used with a quickdraw to attach the rope to the rock. |
