A new rock climber typically starts with a style of climbing called toproping, where the rope runs from the belayer's device and harness up through the anchor at the top of the climb and back down to ...

Greetings from the Philippines! I was horrified the other day when I chanced upon these climbers belaying with an ascender. I gave them my best advice because I thought there was about to be a ...

The Mule Knot (a.k.a releasable knot) is ideal to lock off the rope on the belay plate. There are many occasions in climbing when, belaying from the harness using a device which does not self-arrest ...

Toprope soloing is when the climber is not tied into the rope directly. Instead, she sets up a fixed line from a solid anchor above the route, attaches herself to the rope with two PCDs (e.g., Petzl ...

Last February, I was getting ready to belay a surfer friend of mine, a beginner, on a top-rope, and I was demonstrating how to tie a figure-eight when I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Umm, you're not ...

Michael Kester had sketched out a career in public service or public office, but the study of philosophy and leadership broadened his horizons Michael Kester knows when to shift gears. He was a ...

Like Butch Cassidy without the Sundance Kid, Thelma without Louise, Batman without Robin, a climber is nothing without his mighty sidekick, the belayer. "A what?" you ask. Belayer -- the person who ...

Which belay devices are best? When partaking in a sport like climbing that’s equally exhilarating and dangerous, safety precautions take priority. Armed with a good braking hand, harness and rope, the ...

It’s Thursday morning at CityRock. Heart’s “Barracuda” echoes throughout the climbing gym, queued alongside other hits from the 1960s and ‘70s. Climbers quickly ascend the towering walls, with belay ...