UKC

Just a quick post to say that Women’s Trad Festival is happening this weekend. We will be spread out on various crags throughout the Peak District. All the climbers are BMC members and have been briefed by MIA’s about crag etiquette. 

Give us a wave if you see us, we’ll be in brightly coloured t-shirt and we’d love to say hello!  

Hello to all tRadical women! Have fun!

And even un-radical women. Have fun!!

Mick

Absolutely loving the colours, the camaraderie and the competence at this year’s Women’s Trad Fest. Not a single saggy rope or stand-up belay at Stanage today and experienced climbers passing on skills to new learners. Thanks to Rockfax for giving a guidebook to each volunteer, amazing. 

The future is bright indeed! 

That's going to be a controversial statement amongst the grey-haired men who seem to favour the stand-up belay!

(If anyone can explain to me the attraction, please let me know. I've never understood it)

We were just out for a spot of climbing yesterday and saw several teams at Crow Chin, everyone smiling and having a great time! What a good event. Chapeau to the organisers and everyone involved.

Because it takes us so long to sit down and even longer to stand back up again.

Not allowed to sit down to belay from below....... not allowed to stand up and belay at the top......!😯😉

Easier to lean out (standing backwards/looking in preferably) over the edge & see your second climbing. Similar to a belay on a wall (I'm much less likely to sit facing out).

Perhaps I've been missing some nuances all these years......

Hope everyone has had a great weekend - the scary weather forecast hasn't come to fruition 

I agree.  Stand up belays require more care (not recommended for beginners) but can have plenty of uses from better visibility to aiding assisted progress of a struggling second.

The WTF seems to me to be going from strength to strength. Its great to see the event massively oversubscribed due to so many women wanting to gain confidence in trad with other women. Looks like these thunderstorms mostly missed their main venues. 

I agree and standing up is fine if the anchors are above you and there is a straight line from anchor-belayer-climber. Generally it's not fine at Stanage though. Still, it made some great examples of how not to do it for our enthusiastic learners.

A brilliant weekend had by all and only slightly damp in a shower on Sunday. Thanks to everyone for the enthusiastic smiles. From the brief chats I had with other climbers at Burbage and Stanage, everyone was so psyched for the concept of the event.

You're probably not a fan of the shoulder belay either, are you?

Absolutely - with the gear above you, which isn't very common to find on single pitch grit at Stanage. On a multipitch of course, standing often makes more sense and sometimes is the only sensible option!

My problem with standing with the gear below your waist is that:

• It surely can't be good for your back if your second falls off.
• Instead of the force of the fall coming directly onto the gear as with a well-arranged sitting belay, your back and legs become involved by virtue of the fact you've created a dog-leg in the ropes to the gear.
• If you're on the edge of the crag, even with the ropes taut there's a good chance you could be extended over the edge of the crag if somehow you lose your footing when pulled, because the ropes aren't taking the shortest path to the gear.
• I hate standing at the best of times!

Sitting at the bottom of the crag? I must admit I sometimes do that in the right circumstances...

It's a tool we have an option to use as long as we understand the extra forces and risks.  A standing belay can help:  visibility, especially on a very sloping edge where it's very uncomfortable to sit; enable sideways movement to protect a traversing second not otherwise protected by gear (eg when the leader is roped soloing and bringing up a second), use of legs to lift a struggling second when they want/ need to dog a crux; keep ropes off a loose quarry cornice; avoid having to sit in an ant swarm (especially the red biters) ! I mainly sit down on a standard flat topped grit crag but I've held numerous falls with no problem from seconds on a standing belay on a flat edge with the gear well back at foot level. I've even used shoulder belays and held the occasional second's falls OK (I mainly use it scrambling and on easier enchained quick roped solos...holding falls that way needs more skill as it's a lot riskier) and waist belays (on winter climbs protecting a shitty snow belay, fortunately never tested though).