Learning to Multi-Pitch

Michelle and I learned to multipitch climb by setting up a belay station on the second floor balcony of her apartment in Bolivar, MO. It required a lot of explaining to her classmates the next day, but a week later we were topping out on the fourth pitch of Boulder Canyon’s The Young and the Rackless (5.9+). We both saw it as a huge milestone in our climbing and couldn’t have been more psyched on the achievement. Those skills opened up a whole new world of climbing and have enabled us up some of our most memorable summits.

When swapping leads to the top, the climber/belayer relationship dissolves. Instead, you become one roped-team and success hinges upon working together. That requires enormous confidence in each other as well as strong communication. It’s that teamwork which makes multi-pitch climbing so special. Sharing that kind of achievement and experience makes it one of my favorite things we do together.

When I’m belaying Michelle, I’m trusting her with enormous responsibility. First, she needs to find and rig a suitable anchor with whatever she’s brought to the top of a pitch. Next, she must transition from the security of my belay to whatever anchor she’s built, trusting to the equipment and the rigging principles we’ve learned. Then, she pulls up any slack in the rope and belays me from the same anchor. At that point, we’re in it together – for better or worse. Placing that kind of trust in one another is powerful. It’s one of my favorite aspects of climbing together.​​

Something that really helped us ease into multipitching, was to standardize our anchor/belay station setup. While you can’t expect this to work everywhere, most bolted anchors are pretty similar: the bolts are the same height and around a foot apart. Anticipating a route equipped like this, you can simplify the process by using a pre-rigged anchor, such as the QUAD. While I’d ultimately advise learning many anchor types, we found it helpful to learn the fundamentals of belay transitions on one type. We chose the quad because it’s self-equalizing, extraordinarily redundant, limits extension, and offers many points of attachment. It’s simple, and confidence inspiring in an environment that will surely test your confidence. The only drawback is that it does add some bulk and clutter to your harness.

Another useful tool is some kind of Personal Anchor System (PAS). While your attachment to the anchor should ultimately be made with the climbing rope, a PAS can be make the whole process easier by offering a convenient, adjustable-length attachment. A PAS isn’t an essential element, but it’s a very ergonomic tool that can offer some peace of mind at the belay. Some options for a PAS include the ready-made Sterling Reactor and Metolius PAS. Alternatively, you could save some cash and make your own using a Purcell Prusik.

Basic Sequence:

1. Leader Arrives at Belay Station. Clip Quad to both bolts of the Belay Station.

2. Attach PAS to one of the “shelves” created by the limiter knots. (note: clip INSIDE both loops rather than between both loops). This single attachment is redundant because of quad.

3. Using a locking carabiner, attach yourself to the outer two strands of the equalized (center) portion of the Quad with a clove hitch. Adjust length for a comfortable belay. (PAS can be now be removed or lengthened to tidy things up).

4. Call “off belay” when secure. Begin pulling up any slack between you and the follower, stacking it neatly over the rope or coiling it on the ledge.

5. When the rope comes taut to your follower, they may answer, “that’s me!”

6. Put the follower on belay. We usually belay directly off the anchor in “guide-mode,” though many alternatives are possible.

7. Belay your follower from the top, making sure to manage as they climb. The auto-blocking belay will arrest a fall hands-free, giving you more freedom to manage things at the belay station.

8. When the follower arrives, they secure themselves to the other shelf of the quad with PAS.

9. Now you’re ready to transition! You can either swap leads or continue have the same leader continue in what’s called a “block lead.”

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Swapping Leads

1. Once Follower is secure, remove belay device from anchor and attach to harness. (Note: It’s important here that your weight be supported by the climbing rope. If your weight is supported by the PAS, either remove or extend it, such that any load from an early leader fall will load the anchor through the climbing rope)

2. Once on belay, the follower removes their PAS and is ready to lead the next pitch

Leading In Blocks

1. Once the follower is secure, the belay device can be removed.

2. The follower then attaches to the masterpoint of the anchor with a clove hitch in the climbing rope. Adjust length for a comfortable belay. (PAS can be now be removed or lengthened to tidy things up)

3. Transfer the rope coils from the leader to the follower.

4. Leader attaches to shelf with PAS and removes their primary clove hitch to the masterpoint.

5. The leader is placed on belay off of the follower’s harness.

6. Once on belay, the leader can remove PAS and climb the next pitch.