UKC

I'm an avid boulderer and have only had a bit of experience top roping in Ireland. When I first came over to register at a climbing wall here I was told the way I tie in was the old way (fig 8 on climber / belay clipped in to belayers harness) and was told a fig 8 is used on both ends now.

Can anyone explain how this works or maybe link to a video/article that explains it for me? Can't seem to find anything on it online :/

Thanks

In reply to Krsnik87:
I can't work out what you mean by a fig. 8 being used on both the climber and the belayer...can you clarify please?

In reply to Krsnik87: I've got no idea what he was talking about.

In reply to Krsnik87:

Tying in certainly isn't common practise at my wall....but I guess its what you do when multipitch climbing....and it acts as a backup should the belayer drop the deadrope.

In reply to craig1983:

edit...

*tying in at both ends*

In reply to craig1983:

I'd have thought in indoor top roping if you tie off to the belayer's harness as a backup the climber is going to hit the ground before it goes tight...

In reply to tom_in_edinburgh:

The ropes at some walls are barely long enough for doing that...

No, I've never heard of tying on at both ends indoor, particularly as for any given indoor route when top-roping there'll be one side of the rope that's better to use than the other to prevent it getting in the way.

Or do you mean tie to krab and clip? Yes, that's only used for groups (and then not always), as it's less safe (more to go wrong/forget).

Neil

In reply to Krsnik87:

Which wall is doing this? Did you ask them why?

Neil

In reply to Krsnik87: Which wall was this at?

In reply to Neil Williams:

Not as a standard thing obviously, but quite often indoors I will stay tied in to belay and have my partner tie in to the other end of the rope if we're thinking of doing a few routes on the same line. Saves constantly tying and untying, if the rope is long enough.

In reply to Krsnik87: Assuming you are not trolling . Tying on with a figure of 8 on the bight and a karabiner is not generally used now. Instead tie on with a rethreaded figure of 8 through your harness loops. Now await a long discussion about how in reality you should use a bowline !

In reply to tehmarks: I do this too... saves time and effort at the wall. When doing this I normally clip my belay device through my rope loop but could equally well use the belay loop. I'm not sure there is a 'standard' one way or the other,

In reply to Krsnik87: I think this is what you mean and gives a good explanation:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1129

In reply to deanr: This is exactly what I meant, thanks for the link and the rest of the replies of course. Sorry for any confusion in my description, at the time I didn't get any reason as to why I was wrong or how the other way worked. Was just pointed towards a beginners course :/ Seems like it would have been nicer to just show me but I guess time is money..

The wall was Mile End.

Thanks again folks.

In reply to Krsnik87: One thing worth noting is that many of the harnesses that can be hired at walls do not have a belay loop but have an attachment point instead. This tends to put the karabiner into a vertical plane and makes the belay 'handed' i.e. the natural line of the rope is right to left rather than up and down. With devices like the Grigri and Mammut Smart clipping to a rope loop gets them orientated correctly again. It also gives more space to use the release handle on the Grigri.