I saw a big guy struggling to rope-solo up a tricky 5.8. He was using an ascender, and he wasn't taking up slack very well. The real problem was at the top of the cliff. His "anchor" was his ...

Michael Donahue covers various types of anchor systems that can be used for a variety of rope rescue scenarios. In the last two articles, we focused on the foundation of mechanical advantage ...

Second, the device cannot be used to belay from above, directly off an anchor like an auto-block belay device or GriGri can on multipitch and top-belay climbs.

Clipping into belay anchors with just a daisy chain. Daisies are great ... Save yourself the headache (literally) and, whenever possible, set up your belay off to the side or under an overhang.

How to Belay. Belaying itself is relatively simple provided one is always paying attention to your climbing partner. The end of the rope which passes through the top-rope anchor and goes back down to ...

Belay device was upside down, no eyes on the climber. This is such an important rule that rope manufacturers recommend you don't use scissors to open the packaging of a new rope.