UKC

There are loads of ways to tie in to a belay, whether that belay is built of bolts or traditional gear, but over the years I have come to favour a few simple methods that I use time and again.

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In reply to UKC Articles:

Not really 'building' a belay is it? Just tie-ing in a belay that's already there.

In reply to UKC Articles:


Should this not be on the bight?

In reply to galpinos:



Not if you use your teeth to hold the slack.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Modern bolt belays do not need to be equalised and equalisation will rarely be achieved anyway. The second bolt is to provide redundancy and an extra clipping point for convenience, common practice is to position one bolt for clipping in direct with a 60cm sling and use the rope on the other bolt. The DAV recommend alternatively using the rope to clip in series and the belay device on one of the bolts.
Climbing ropes aren´ t by any standards "extremely strong", they hold about 1/3rd to 1/2 of what any modern bolt can withstand.

In reply to UKC Articles:
4 screwgates! bloody nora, sod that.

clip to one bolt with the rope ( or sling/daisy), belay direct from the other and join them together with a quickdraw.

In reply to snoop6060:

My thoughts exactly, definitely the quickest and easiest way of doing it. Not the super safest and maybe not the most UKC bore anally retentive way of doing it mind

In reply to UKC Articles:

Sling to one anchor, clove hitch the rope to the other and belay from your harness redirected through another biner in one of the bolts. Something about skinning a cat comes to mind

In reply to snoop6060:


We are talking about sport multipitch here, is shaving grams really a concern? 4 modern screwgates (or similar) don't exactly weigh a lot.

In reply to planetmarshall:

Yes, sport multipitch (to me) means hard. Well harder, not hard. So saving weight helps. No rucksack, no shoes, as little gear as you can do with within reason. But I agree screwgates aren't heavy to be fair

In reply to planetmarshall:

Not just weight, clutter

In reply to UKC Articles:
Weight and clutter is not a big deal on a multi-pitch sports route and if that is your only discipline go for it if it makes you happy but avoiding carrying unnecessary gear develops a mind set that carries on into trad and alpine climbing where it can be critical. "Building Fast Belays" becomes a bit of a contradiction if you use multiple screw gates.

Al

In reply to UKC Articles:

Made me wonder if there are any sport routes in this country that are still done as a multi pitch. Seems like running pitches together has been in vogue for a quite some time now.

In reply to stp:

Twll Mawr

Quite a few multi pitch sport routes in Twll Mawr....

In reply to UKC Articles:

As said already many methods, and this is a good method if bringing up the second in magic plate or guides mode. But I don't think this method of attaching the belay plate is very good if using it in traditional belay plate mode. that is because it seems as if the plate will be above the waist of the belayer for them to pull the rope through in tension, this then means if the second falls or needs to be held the belayer will have to move their anchoring hand away from them back above the plate. This can be an awkward manouevre and not as instinctive as when the belay plate is attached to the waist via the belay loop where it is more fixed and easier to lock the plate.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Surely rope lanyard pretied to harness clipped into one bolt, biner and rope clove hitched to the other done. Then magic plate to the biner in the bolt nearest the line of ascent of the second. If the bolt were to pull the belay plate would still be connected to the other and is "autolocking" at any rate. Or for an extra 30 seconds put a sling across the bolts in a sliding x and connect the belay plate to that. The chances of a bolt pulling are so slim, a sliding x will be fine.

In reply to UKC Articles:

So, when swinging leads, does the belay device stay in "guide mode" on that power point or does the device have to be rearranged before leading commences? If that's the case, on balance, I think I'd rather just belay off a rope loop at my harness with the moving rope clipped into a QD on the left bolt. Where would you be storing the dead rope on a small stance. It looks more faffy to have the belay device at a level below the dead rope if you are hanging loops over the ropes to the anchors.

In reply to callwild:
Why would anyone do that?

In reply to JLS:

Ah, but only if you don't both have a magic plate. In which case the second comes up, hands his plate to the person on the stance, they put them on as standard and then hands off any remaining gear to the new leader. When ready the new leader disassembles the belay plate and clips it on their harness and buggers off. Simples.

In reply to JLS:

Exactly as Mike says. Though even if you are going to take the plate off it's still better to guide / magic plate as it means you can slip your shoes off, grab some food, have a drink, check the topo, put your rack on a convenient sling to the side for the second to re-rack etc. Essential for moving fast in somewhere like the Dolomites.

In reply to beardy mike:

Aye, fair enough. I can't say I'm wholly convinced having to swap belay devices with your partner at each stance is somehow faster than not having to.

In reply to JLS:

It's not. But being able to do other stuff on the belay like drinking and eating or layering up/down is a great advantage. If you are doing a 14 pitch sport route and you save 5 minutes at each belay because you're multitasking, then you save hours overall.

In reply to beardy mike:

So who is taking in the slack as your second climbs while you are eating and drinking?