Belaying

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As a nautical term, belaying refers to making a line fast to a cleat, pin or other fixed object. In climbing, it refers to the practice of controlling the rope fed out to a climber.

[edit] Climbing

In climbing, belaying is the technique of controlling the rope so that a falling climber does not fall very far. This task is assigned to a belayer. (Self-belaying is possible as well, but as it is an advanced technical climbing technique, the description is beyond the scope of this article.) The term belay is also used to mean the place where the belayer is anchored; this would typically be a ledge, but may instead be a hanging belay, where the belayer is suspended from anchors in the rock.

One thick rope (about 11mm) or two thinner ropes (about 9mm) in parallel may be used; both systems have their advantages in different situations. The belayer passes the rope(s) through a belay device which allows the rope to pass freely through the device in one direction (as the climber being belayed ascends), but allows the belayer to easily lock off the rope in the event of a fall. Alternatively, for a single rope, a belayer could use a knot called a munter hitch on a carabiner, which effectively provides the same function as a belay device, but has the undesired side effect of twisting the rope.

Historically, belaying in climbing meant simply that the belayer would take a wrap of rope around his or her waist; friction between rope and the belayer's body was used to arrest a fall. This technique, known as the hip belay, is still sometimes used by climbers needing to move quickly on low-angle terrain, but on vertical rock it is no longer used as it is less reliable and more apt to injure the belayer stopping a long fall.

The person climbing is said to be on belay when one of these belaying methods is being used. Belaying is a critical part of the climbing system.

By using one of these belaying methods, the belayer can hold the entire weight of the climber by using relatively little force, and can easily arrest even a long fall. By using a mixture of belaying angle and hand-grip on the rope, a climber can be lowered gently by the belayer to a point where climbing can be resumed.