This is an English translation of an article by Walter Britschgi featured in Bergundsteigen 2/04 page 64-69

Belaying Partner Safely, Part 1

Elementary Belaying mistakes and the 3-leg-logic

by Walter Britschgi

Note: the following has been translated from the following German source:

http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2004/2/64-69%20(sicher%20partner%20sichern,%20teil%201).pdf

If you wish to comment on the translation please email climb@camp5.com

Indoors climbers are being exposed to a rapidly expanding range of “belay devices”. Walter

Britschgi of “Gaswerks”, Zurich, one of the largest indoor climbing facilities in the world and

has been observing Belayers very closely for several years. He has observations identify

fundamental deficiencies. As such, the search for a methodical approach to improve this so

important action “rope hauling – rope giving” has led to the 3-leg-logic.

The Attention Myth

“Attention while belaying the partner is the most important thing!”

This myth has prevented the climber from observing the absolute basics of safety; the

actual handling of all safety devices, including the HMS safety knot. With professional

handling, of course combined with the indispensible attention, we can in future avoid half of

all rope team accidents in indoor climbing gyms.

The Gaswerks Investigation:

The Climbing Center Gaswerk is suitable for such investigations, since 50 to 500 climbers

are visiting daily. This makes per year about 100,000 visitors with an estimated 300,000

climbing hours.

A widespread opinion is that climbing accidents in halls predominantly occur by inattention

and too much slack rope. By carefully analyzing the accidents that occurred in the Gaswerk,

we come to other conclusions. Over a period of three years investigations were conducted

on climbing accidents that required consultation by a medically trained person. Of a total 37

accidents, 31 involved roped climbing; the remaining 6 were involved rope free climbing

(bouldering).

Accidents with rope

16 of the 31 accidents, involving roped climbing, the belayer held the fall of the climber;

injuries sustained were mostly minor.

15 of the 31 accidents, the belayer failed to hold the fall of the climber, resulting in the

climber hitting the ground (or in one case landing on the belayer); injuries sustained ranged

from mild to severe. The belaying devices in use included: 8 x HMS, 6 x Grigri, 1 x Figureof-

Eight.

The doctrine upside down

Based on standard presumption, one would expect the 15 ground falls to be caused by lack

of attention, excess slack or wrong handling of the ropes. But this was not the case. The

facts revealed that 14 out of 15 accidents were caused by incorrect handling of the safety

equipment (in one case, the exact cause could not be identified). Thus, the wrong handling

of safety equipment has nothing to do with “inattention”, but to acting out of habit! This

shows us once again that we have to question doctrines again and again. Only this way can

we begin to make climbing safer.

Do accidents open our eyes when we experience them ourselves?

When a rope team is involved in an accident, both partners are typically able to give a

detailed report of what has happened. But they are not able to draw the correct conclusion

out of it. This is because they stick to the general assumption that most of the accidents are

caused by inattention while belaying. The result is that the belaying person feels guilty and

does not question anything else. He/she will therefore not be able to learn from the lesson.

What we absolutely need to know!

Improper equipment handling cannot be compensated by increased attention, because it is

subject to acting out of habit. This finding is backed by another investigation done in 2001,

in which I observed the belaying behavior of 180 randomly selected subjects. 50% of the

subjects belayed properly; the other 50% took the risk of not being able to control the rope

in the event of an unexpected fall. It struck me that subjects belaying style was always the

same, at whatever wall they climbed, that is: always right or always wrong. This means that

the way to belay – according to the habit – is always the same, depending on the way one

was once trained. We can benefit from “habit” when we train the climbers from the

beginning to a technically perfect belaying.

Training means: to closely observe the belaying practice of the new climber and

immediately addressing mistakes. The prerequisite is, however, that many trainers, who

themselves do not properly belay, recognize the gaps in their knowledge and are willing to

fill them.

My rope partner – my teacher

Most beginners receive basic training through professional institutions/instructors. Following

which, there is a growing desire, to also get to know other skills.

Often the climbing partner comes the trainer; this can be dangerous. We do not address

the professional capacity of the climbing partner to act as a trainer, but rather the number

of facilitation of the lesson and number of persons involved. Logistically to teach in a format

of only two people, the teacher and the studentm is not sound. A third person is definitely

needed to watch the climbing. At times the student is overextended while the trainer is

climbing. This leads to an extremely dangerous situation; the student is left alone, even if

the instructor is visible and can hear him.

The accident statistics of the climbing center Gaswerk confirms very clearly the risk due to

the lack of a third control person.

Of 10 climbers who fell to the ground, between 2001 and 2002, three were acting as a

trainer of the belaying person, reflecting an astonishing 30%. Instead of with a simulation

rope the training was done with a real rope from the beginning at which the “instructor”

finally climbed.

Roughly estimated, about 1-2% of the visitors in the climbing gym comprise of “teacher -

student” partnerships. Thus identifying a significant minority of climbers whom are highly

likely to crash to the ground.

Error Causes with HMS (refers to the drawings)

1. Wrong basic posture (according to Swiss doctrine; note ed.): To hold the brake hand

lightly downwards is dangerous, as this might lead to tangling and tangling might lead

to the release of the rope from the carabiner, unless it is screwed up. It does not matter

at which side the carabiner opening has been placed.

Even if the carabiner remains closed, loosening the HMS knot will lead to considerably

less brake force.

2. The cross hand technique demonstrated here is currently practiced most. To mix ropes

up can never be ruled out. However, more important is that this method of HMS-top

rope belaying misleads to using the Two-finger-grip: for a short moment the brake

rope is only held with two fingers and at this very moment one cannot hold a falling

climber. Holding the partner rope gets at that moment more priority than the much

more important brake rope that is only held with two fingers.

3. Slacky open hands are a widespread bad habit. The ropes are elegantly juggled back

and forth. Most climbers are not aware of this danger. An unexpected fall can lead to

the loss of control of the brake rope

The 3-leg-logic

Based on these long-term observations and accident analysis, I developed the 3-leg-logic,

which is comparable to a 3-leg table. None of the three “legs” may be violated, or else to

the table or the climber falls to the ground. Safety equipment and handling must comply

with the 3-leg-logic: the principle of the brake hand, brake mechanics and reflexes.

The brake hand principle

Golden Rule: When belaying the climbing partner, at least one hand must hold the brake

rope cross handed.

To guarantee control over the rope flow, the brake rope must be tightly led to the device by

the brake hand. Loosening the brake rope for a fraction of a second can already have fatal

consequences.

Not only for all dynamic belay devices (HMS, Eight, Tubular, etc.) is the brake hand principle

absolutely essential but also in all so-called semi-automatic devices (GriGri, Tre, etc). The

use of none of the semi-automatic devices can guarantee that in particular situations and

with different rope types the brake mechanism can be blocked.

The brake hand principle was not sufficiently given attention to when belaying devices were

developed. Many of the manuals could therefore be faulty in this respect.

The brake mechanism of the device

Moreover, the proper function of each belaying device can only be guaranteed when the

brake hand – depending on the device – is also correctly positioned. Besides the HMS all

other belaying devices work according to the “bend-brake” principle.

With this method, the rope in the device is led over a small radius, and is thus in case of a

pull sufficiently braked or clamped. The brake hand must, in the event of a fall, hold the

brake rope so that the mechanism of the device can be effective.

For all devices with the clamp brake principle applies: When taking in the rope the brake

rope is led upwards and then immediately downwards again. In the event of an unexpected

tension the belaying person will due to the grip reflex yank the brake hand downwards und

thus hold the falling climber.

Some semi-automatic backup devices show in terms of positioning of the brake hand

tolerance. However, with thin ropes, it is important to hold the brake hand down. Some

devices are also prone to error caused by incorrect threading rope, which can cause a

complete breakdown of the braking mechanism. Holding the brake rope down allows at least

the possibility of a strong grip to save the climber from this worst case scenario.

Human reflexes

Reflexes are firmly fixed protective reactions. Muscles contract without conscious control.

Therefore, the function of belaying equipment should never be opposed to human natural

reflexes.

Don’ts (see drawings)

Error causes

1. When the rope is inserted faulty, the braking force of the device is drastically

decreased. In case of a fall the rope can no longer be held.

2. In some countries, holding down the device is taught. Experts agree that in case

of terrifying moments one tends to tighten the grip. Consequently, the blocking is

suspended and the rope can slip through the device unhampered. Danger of a

grounding is very great when the brake rope is not held in one’s hand.

3. Holding the Grigri in the palm is especially dangerous, as doing so the brake rope

is neglected. Climbers who want to belay with this method are mistaken when they

think that they can grab the brake rope with their brake hand fast enough.

4. Releasing with the thumb. With this often used handling the belaying person

releases the self blocking. The brake rope is completely neglected while doing so.

Numerous near-accidents and some severe accidents have resulted from this

practice.

Of fundamental importance in our area is the grasp reflex: As soon as the belaying person

feels that the climber is falling and feels that the rope is going to be ripped out of his hands,

he clasps the rope with his hands and pulls it in addition to that towards his body

independent from the fact whether he is startled or not. If the belaying person is startled,

the grasp reflex is even more pronounced. Whatever is in the hand is grabbed frantically.

This explains why belaying persons often get severe burns when they fail to operate the

device, for example by holding onto the live rope. Numerous examples of accidents have

shown that with a rapid rope release the grasp reflex is stronger than the protecting reflex

(release the “hot” object in order to prevent one’s hands from getting injured).

If the belaying person experiences that something is snatched out of his hands, another

reflex occurs, what we call the “grab-after” reflex; for example, grabbing the running live

rope or grabbing and clasping the Grigri that was snatched away. Even experienced

Belayers succumb to the “grab-after” reflex. When they habitually belay wrongly, they run

the risk of grabbing the wrong part of the rope, or inhibiting the braking mechanism of the

device.

If you are suddenly pulled up off the ground when belaying and thrown to the wall, the

clutching of the rope with one’s hands (clutch reflex) is stronger than the reflex to protect

oneself from crashing to the wall. It needs some practicing to be able to use the legs to

avoid crashing to the wall. The clutch reflex of the belaying person is therefore a natural life

insurance for the climber and therefore an indispensable part of the belaying. You might

read in technical literature or an instructor advises you to simply release half automatic

belaying devices in case of a fall; please note that this is dangerous.

Accident and Error examples (2001-03)

The Climbing Center Gaswerk is predominantly belayed with HMS, Grigri and increasingly

with Tubular. The following examples of accidents and errors refer to these devices.

HMS

At first sight the HMS carabiner makes you believe that it is a simple device. However, in

reality HMS is the most complicated and therefore laborious belaying method in comparison

to all other devices (referring to single-rope applications).

A boy was belaying with the HMS and was carefully watching his very slowly progressing

climbing partner, up to the seventh wall runner. To relax his strained his neck muscles he

looked away for a moment and not up. This moment his partner slipped and fell into the

rope.

The brake rope shot out of his slightly open brake hand so that he could just grasp the

partner rope. This resulted in burns at the belaying person’s hand. The climber fell almost

completely free to the ground, landing on both feet onto the soft gym floor suffer no injury.

The boy blamed himself for not having been attentive. Interrogating him and asking him to

demonstrate his usual belaying habit showed that he occasionally led the rope with relaxed

open hands without getting it straight.

Holding the hand brake low while belaying with HMS (e.g. in Austria instructor doctrine)

promotes above all the formation of tangles in the rope while lowering. Tangles could unclip

the rope from the carabiner, if the carabiner was unlocked or a twistlock-carabiner was

used. In this case the positioning of the carabiner opening is irrelevant. Tangles in the rope

are not only annoying, but especially dangerous in combination with a loose open brake

hand. While lowering with a lot of rope friction in the route, one is particularly inclined to

keep one’s hand open. Observations point to the risk that the rope could jump off the

belaying hand. Investigations of accidents show that it is often difficult to figure out the

exact details. They differ according to perceptions of persons concerned.

In the German speaking region the method for belaying of top-rope climbers with HMS is

taught in a form of cross hand technique; while taking in, both ropes are taken into one

hand while the brake hand lets go and crosses over. One of the common mistakes is to hold

the brake rope with only two fingers. In lead climbing situations, when a bit of rope needs

to be taken in, this dangerous cross hand technique with the two finger-trap is commonly

used again. In combination with a lax open hand this is highly dangerous.

With several lead climbing accidents where crashes to the ground were involved, it is

assumed that these and similar variants of these operating errors were the cause.

Sources of errors with Grigri (refers to the drawings)

5. Holding the release handle laterally – it does not matter if this is done with the

fingertips of the right hand or with the thumb of the left one – is deceiving, because the

grasp reflex in frightening situations might cause the clutching of the device. This fact was

discovered in an interrogation after an accident. The clutching of the Grigri causes the rope

to run freely and in the case of an unexpected fall causes the loss of rope control.

6. Excess slack between device and brake hand: If the rope has excess slack, the

distance of the fall is longer so that falls from a height of 6m cannot be prevented. The

danger lurks in forceful grabbing of the partner rope in frightening situations, as the selfblocking

is not effective.

7. Lowering without active brake hand. A situation that is often observed with

beginners if during lead belaying the brake rope is not held in the hand. Lowering with one

hand often leads to accidents.

Grigri

The Grigri is only then one of the safest devices if all the following findings are observed.

Basically the Grigri has two problem areas: Area 1: rope-giving hand – the hand that that

draws the rope out of the device – and area 2: the brake hand – that is the missing hand at

the brake rope.

An accident example explains the problem areas of Grigri’s: A bulky man was always

belaying attentively the many lead attempts of a petite woman. The route was difficult and

the falls always ended at the same height above the ground. The man belayed the Grigri

while his brake hand clasped the entire device, as if he wanted to press the juice out of a

lemon with his hand. His thumb pointed forward, with the idea that the brake hand would

be at the brake rope immediately, because during the rapid rope giving this was neglected

for a short period of time. At one of these falls, he tried to diminish the height of the fall a

bit. To achieve this, he held the partner rope tighter in his hand and prevented thus the self

blocking mechanism of the device. While the brake hand wanted to grasp the brake rope, so

much rope had already slipped that the woman “slammed” onto the hard ground. This

“grounding” happened in spite of his perfect attention. Climbers who use this belaying

method are mistaken when they think their brake hand is fast enough. Many climbers still

believe that they are able to compensate the problem area “brake hand” by holding the

device low or by laterally holding the release handle. In doing so the problem area of the

rope giving hand is ignored (grasp reflex). On the other hand the existence of the

dangerous grab-after reflex is ignored; this reflex occurs in terrifying moments when the

hand automatically grasps the device. It was discovered during the interrogation after an

accident that the frantically cramping at the Grigri had led to a free rope slipping, which

resulted in loss of rope control and a fall to the ground.

Lowering with the missing brake has led to three accidents in three years. The accidental

one-hand lowering by fully pulling down the release handle occurs normally only with

beginners, who belay their instructor without supervision. In doing so the problem of not

applying the “brake hand” –principle during the lead belaying is also transferred to the

process of lowering.

Sources of error of the Tubular (refers to the drawings)

1. Incorrect hand position. The thumb points away from the devices. Thus the forearm is

twisted as soon as the hand is held down. From this follows that the force for grasping the

rope is less than with normal hand position. Furthermore, this position induces an open

brake hand

2. The HMS is not a tubular. The holding both ropes is dangerous because this way the

brake mechanism of the device cannot operate.

Tubular

Climbers who switch from HMS to a Tubular also inadvertently adopt the habitual handling.

The most commonly observed handling errors is the wrong hand position: the thumb is

away from the device. As a consequence the forearm is twisted, when kept down.

As a result, the force to grab the rope is less powerful than with the normal hand position.

Moreover, with this position one is tempted to use the open brake hand.

Also the holding of both ropes is dangerous, as this way the brake mechanism cannot

operate.

Translation by Grietje Van der Veen Weisselberg and Patrick Andrey

All drawings by Walter Britschgi