Belay from above
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I have been climbing a few days a week in a gym for about a year and a half now and I have been very interested in starting to climb outdoors. I have climbed outdoors a couple of times on a top rope from below after someone had else set it up. Next week I am going to Mineral Wells State Park and from what I understand, you start up top, rappel down, and then climb back up. From what I've gathered, it sounds like there are bolts set varying from 0-3 yards back from the edges on top of different climbs. I'm assuming that we will have to belay from the top at some point, so what is a good setup for a belay station for this situation? Insight and past experiences climbing there are also appreciated. Thanks! |
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David, |
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you don't need to belay from the top at mineral wells. just walk up and clean your anchors. all (or most) anchors are easily accessed from the top to set a TR. |
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Thanks for the input guys! I have had experience setting anchors for top roping as well as had hands on instruction from experienced climbers and I am confident in my abilities and knowledge for what I will be doing. And I also wont be the the one with most experience in our group, I just have never personally set up a belay station from the top and wanted to know a method or two of doing it just so I know. |
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Not to confuse the op question but I have always wondered if people who say they belay a second off the harness redirect the rope above them or lock off with their brake hand above the device, assume an atc type belay device? I almost always belay off the anchor but have been curious how it would be done effectively from above given the geometry if you do not make either of those two adjustments. |
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I do not want to come off as a jerk, but you should do a google search. There are literally 100s of pages of info available for free on this subject. |
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Xam wrote:Not to confuse the op question but I have always wondered if people who say they belay a second off the harness redirect the rope above them or lock off with their brake hand above the device, assume an atc type belay device? I almost always belay off the anchor but have been curious how it would be done effectively from above given the geometry if you do not make either of those two adjustments.The same way you catch a true factor 2 fall on multi Your braking direction flips so you now need to brake upwards instead of downwards The safest is to pull it to you hip and up ... Also unless you belay off the rope tie in ... You risk a serious case of swuishy ballz syndrome if you belay off your belay loop I suggest trying to lower someone directlyfrom the top without a redirect, with someone backing you up of course Everyone who does multi should practice it every now and then If you dont know how, how in the world will you catch a factor 2 fall (no pieces of clips in) ;) |
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Thanks John and bearbreeder...unless I am mistaken, you both described variations on what I meant by lock off with their brake hand above the device. |
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David Bridger wrote:Thanks for the input guys! I have had experience setting anchors for top roping as well as had hands on instruction from experienced climbers and I am confident in my abilities and knowledge for what I will be doing. And I also wont be the the one with most experience in our group, I just have never personally set up a belay station from the top and wanted to know a method or two of doing it just so I know.I totally do not want to sound like a jerk. I have been the one on here before asking questions just like this but building anchors for toprope and belaying a second is a totally different ball game. I agree with everyone when they say get a mentor or guide, What was taken from your question was that you where planning on going out with just the knowledge you got from us which would be crazy. If your going out with experienced climbers why ask on MP? |
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Xam wrote:Thanks John and bearbreeder...unless I am mistaken, you both described variations on what I meant by lock off with their brake hand above the device.correct ... its not a natural braking position ... there have been accidents on both falls past the belay and simple lowers with people having issues with it im too lazy to dig up the accident reports now but you can find em on RC, supertopo, and ANAM short story is that the belayer wasnt skilled or wasnt expecting the change in direction, they braked downwards, their hands got burned and their partner decked on something everyone who belays multipitch should practice lowering straight off the harness to get used to the change in direction IMO |
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David Bridger wrote:Thanks for the input guys! I have had experience setting anchors for top roping ...That's not the impression I got from your initial comment, " I have climbed outdoors a couple of times on a top rope from below after someone had else set it up. |
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Hey David! I've been climbing many times at Mineral Wells State Park (I assume you mean the Mineral Wells west of Fort Worth, TX?). If so, the best way i've seen and use is to rig your top rope anchor with some static line with the master point hanging over the cliff. Thus you can belay from the bottom. Also if you walk to the end of the trail there is a nice stairway built that gets you to the bottom of the crag. Absolutely no need to rappel to get to the bottom. However, There are a bunch of people that go out here to strictly practice raps which is why you may be confused. |
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just to follow up on the question about belaying off the harness |
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There are a variety of way's to tackle belaying from above. One that I've recently become a fan of is belaying with a Muntner Hitch. It's a fun belaying histch that only requires a locking carabiner. |