Rope Systems

Managing the rope so a falling climber is caught quickly and with a controlled amount of force, whether through a device, a hip belay, or a direct anchor.

A way to move a three-person team faster through moderate ground: the leader heads out as usual while the two followers tie in close together near the rope's end and get belayed up together instead of one at a time.

1. Set it up: The end follower ties in at the rope's tail with a figure-eight. The middle follower isn't at an end, so they need a loop to clip into rather than tying straight through their harness: tie an overhand knot on a bight roughly 5 feet long, about 4-5 meters up the rope from the end follower, then clip it to the harness with two opposed-and-opposite carabiners, or one rated locking carabiner. A bowline through the harness or a cinched-down clove hitch also work if you'd rather tie in directly.
2. Use it on: Moderate terrain only -- low fifth class rock, fourth class with the occasional harder move, open slabs, or steep snow. Anything harder than that calls for a two-rope system bringing each climber up separately instead.
3. Watch for: The anchor needs to hold a potential two-person load, since both followers can load it at once. It performs poorly on traverses, and works best with the stronger or more confident climber tied in at the very end.

A backup for a rappel where a second person on the ground holds the bottom of the rope, ready to pull down hard and arrest the rappeller if they lose control.

Climbing while trailing the rope from below and clipping it into protection as you go, rather than climbing on a rope already anchored above. A fall means dropping past the last piece clipped.

Bringing a climber back to the ground under belay control rather than having them rappel, common after top-roping or once a sport climb has been cleaned.

Climbing a route too long for one rope length, broken into pitches with a belay anchor at the end of each, where the lead typically swaps or the rope gets taken in before continuing.

Descending a fixed rope under control using friction from a device or hitch, the standard way down terrain too steep or loose to walk.

A belay system where the rope runs from the belayer up through an anchor at the top of the climb and back down to the climber, so a fall is caught almost immediately.