Intro Belay* Training!

New or new-ish to climbing? Want to learn how to belay in the gym? Join us for an intro to gym top-rope* belay training!

We'll find a location around MIT (possibly in the gear office) where we can set up a low angle top-rope belay and teach the knots and techniques needed to pass a gym top-rope belay test.

Is this hard? Scary?

It may seem scary, but gym belaying is an easy to learn skill. It is a skill to be taken seriously, but it's something you can easily pick up in a short period of time and do safely.

When?

We'll start training at 11am (morning is the worst!).

Why?

We're planning to run a beginner's friendly gym day later in the day, and we want to get more people top-rope capable so they can have more fun!

Fancy climbing words?

Belay - To provide security to (a climber) by paying out or drawing in rope, often through a braking device, in readiness to break a potential fall

Top-rope - a form of climbing where the climber is securely attached to a climbing rope that runs through a fixed anchor at the top of the climbing route, and back down to the belayer (or "second") at the base of the climb. A climber who falls will be held by the rope at the point of the fall, and can then either resume their climb or have the belayer lower them down in a controlled manner to the base of the climb.

More on wikipedia.

What about lead belay?

Not today. But come to the gym later and make friends with someone who wants to lead belay!

I've belayed before, but I'm rusty ...

Email the leaders. This training isn't aimed at you, but we could probably accommodate giving you a few minutes of practice.