Learning the Ropes

By Michel Goulet, MultiTrek Climbing School

ROCK-CLIMBING is a thrilling outdoor activity that combines personal challenges and social camaraderie. Every year, hundreds of adventure sport enthusiasts from the Ottawa-Gatineau area fulfill their long time curiosity and sign up to introductory rockclimbing courses. Although rock-climbing offers many pleasures, it also entails certain risks inherent to the sport. Gravity and high places can be very unforgiving. Knowing how and where to climb and how to correctly use the safety gear can make the difference between enjoying and not enjoying the activity. Newcomers to the sport are therefore well advised to seek out certified instructors who will provide quality instruction.

Typical introductory courses begin on level ground in a classroom setting. There, instructors will familiarize participants with rope handling skills and the proper use of technical climbing gear. Knots such as the figure 8 (see fig.1) and the butterfly (see fig. 2) will be practiced. Safe climbing procedures will be covered in detail, including anchoring methods, rigging of safety lines, communication systems and proper belaying and rappelling techniques.

Belaying is the action of securing a climber with a dynamic climbing rope. The climber is tied to one end of the rope while the person belaying controls the other end. Should a fall occur, the person belaying arrests the fall by keeping the rope from feeding out from his or her position. The feeding out and taking in of the rope and the stopping of falls needs to be practiced and perfected before anyone moves out onto the vertical playgrounds.

Two or three daylong outings will usually follow the ground school. During this time, participants will start to put into practice the safety procedures that they have learned. They will begin to develop their very own climbing style while gaining a greater appreciation and respect for the rock-climbing environment.

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Novice sessions are held on cliffs that range from 15 to 30 metres in height. Organisations providing these courses will carefully select sites that offer clean and solid rock faces, which offer both easy and more difficult climbing routes. Many such sites are located along the Eardley Escarpment near Luskville, Quebec and in the Calabogie, Ontario area. For those who don’t mind longer drives, Val David north of Montreal and the Adirondack Mountains around Lake Placid N.Y offer excellent teaching cliffs.

Once at the climbing site, climbers are briefed on the objective dangers

found within the area. Un-even and exposed walking surfaces and the alwayspresent possibility of rockfalls are discussed. Methods to control these hazards are put into place, such as the wearing of climbing helmets and the use of boundary lines. In order to build a solid foundation to safe and enjoyable climbing, all participants are asked to take an active role in selecting climbs and in helping to rig the safety ropes. This participation will include choosing and building anchorage, and connecting the belay system to it. Anchor selection is based on strength and location. Large living trees, secure boulders and correctly fixed anchor bolts make good anchor points. Small or dead trees, moving boulders or improperly installed or loose anchor bolts should be avoided. When setting up a top-bottom belay system (see fig.6), it is always best to rig secure, redundant and load sharing anchor systems. That means that two solid anchor points will be set-up in parallel and both will share the load that may come to bear upon them (see fig.3). Additionally, only carabiners with locking gates should be used in these locations, because it doesn’t matter how strong anchors are, if they become accidentally disconnected, then the entire system will fail.

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Tubular webbing makes great anchorage slings because this material is strong and inexpensive. Long pieces are needed (five to 10 metres in length) as many anchor points found outdoors are far back from the cliff edge and using webbing in loops and in a 3 basket configuration is the strongest (see fig. 4). In popular climbing areas, the tops of frequently climbed 4 routes are sometimes equipped with permanently installed anchor bolts. These anchors are usually fixed in pairs for redundancy. Holes are drilled into the rock, and expansion bolts or glue-in stems are inserted and secured. When properly installed, these anchor points provide strong and secure attachment points. However, it is always recommended to inspect, and back up these points if necessary, as environmental conditions can compromise their safety. Low stretch anchorage rope can also be useful in

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building solid and secure anchor systems, especially when the anchor points are trees that are far back from the cliff edge (see fig. 5).

When learning to rock-climb, novices are always secured by a rope coming from the top of the cliff. This is called top-rope climbing. After two or three years of experience and skill development, climbers will want to graduate to lead climbing. This is not unlike taking the training wheel off your very first bicycle. Lead climbing involves leaving the ground with the safety rope attached to the harness and trailing it from

below. As the lead climber progresses upwards, he or she passes the rope through a series of anchors, which they place during the climb. This is a little bit like sewing the rope to the cliff. Should a fall occur, the belayer, who was letting out rope, keeps the rope from feeding out, and the lead climber is held onto the cliff by the last stitch or anchor placement. Lead climbing requires much experience and solid nerves.

Top rope climbing, if done correctly, affords greater safety. Because the climbing rope is always positioned above the climber, fall distance (if and when a fall occurs) is generally much shorter and less force is generated on the system. Top rope systems can be set up with the belayer positioned either at the top or at the bottom of the cliff. Both systems have strengths and weaknesses but most novice climbers prefer to position the belayer on the ground. This system is called a top-bottom belay set-up (see fig. 6). Using this system allows the belayer and the climber to communicate more freely and allows the belayer to keep a better eye on the climber’s progress. The draw back is that only cliffs that are half the length of the climbing rope can be climbed, because the rope is doubled. Also, it is important for the belayer to realize that the stretch in dynamic climbing rope can be considerable with this system. More tension needs to be applied to the rope when the climber is near a ledge or close to the ground.

Before any climber can leave the ground, a complete system check is necessary. Even the most experienced climbers will run through a series of verifications of the belay chain. Harnesses will need to be properly adjusted and their buckles secured and locked. The climber’s tie-in knot, a Figure 8 Follow-Through, must be tied correctly and attached at the proper location on the harness. The top anchor points, where the rope is being re-directed, is checked and secured…and so forth.

There are many different belay techniques and devices used today to stop and hold falls. Body belays used in the 1950’s and 60’s were fast and easy to set-up and did not require additional equipment. There were drawbacks with this technique, however. The rope wrapped around the back and waist of the belayer and was difficult to hold during hard falls; the impact force or rope slippage could cause injuries, and this system was difficult to escape.

Today, slot type belay devices such as the ATC (Air Traffic Controller) and the Munter hitches are used with greater success. Another belaying device called the GriGri is also commonly used for outdoor climbing and its popularity may stem from its use in climbing gyms. Although this device is four times the cost of an ATC, the GriGri is worth every extra penny. The device functions a little bit like the seat belt mechanism in vehicles except that it is made for climbing rope, not seatbelt webbing. By learning the proper hand sequence (see fig. 7) the belayer will pass the rope freely through the GriGri from either direction. In the event of a climber fall, any sharp pull on the device will lock up the rope movement, thus arresting the climber’s fall quickly and safely. The GriGri also incorporates a lever that allows the belayer to lower the climber to the ground in a controlled fashion.

Once all these techniques are practised and participants understand their responsibilities, it is time to move onto the rock. That’s what it’s all about after all!

Moving upwards on vertical rock faces is a whole subject matter in itself and many professional climbers have written entire books on that aspect of the sport. Basically, the rope and safety equipment

used in rock-climbing is just there as a safety net in case of a fall. Climbers use their hands and feet to help them scale the rock. Techniques for ascending face climbs include crimping fingertips on small edges and smearing friction shoes onto coarse rock. Hand and foot jamming methods as well as lay backing techniques will need to be practiced for movement up crack climbs. Novice climbers will learn not to lean forward into the rock face and not to hug the rock. They will perfect body position to maintain balance while always keeping three points of contact with the cliff, moving either one hand or one foot at a time.

As confidence and abilities build, climbers will begin to appreciate the absolute beauty of their newly discovered surroundings. Soon the physical and mental challenges of ascending a 30-metre high cliff will be met and climbers will want to attempt higher, more exposed rock walls. That’s when rock climbing really becomes exciting…but one must first learn how to fly, before one can soar.

About the author: Michel Goulet is co-founder and director of MultiTrek Climbing School, established in Ottawa in 1982. He is a certified climbing instructor and adjudicator with the Ontario Rock-Climbing Association and the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians. For over twenty years, Michel has dedicated his professional life to teaching people how to work and play with ropes in vertical environments. His e-mail address is: mgoulet@multitrek.com.