Belaying is a core climbing skill. With good belaying a climber can climb as fast as he is comfortable to climb, as if without a rope and yet have his fall cushioned at be safe at all times. The belayer needs to be active. He needs to observe and be attentive. I first learned to rock climb with a rope about ten years ago on the Italian side of the Alps and at the time I enjoyed climbing more than I enjoyed belaying. I then spent several years climbing via ferrata instead. The advantage with via ferrata is that it’s a simplified form of climbing. Over a year ago I started climbing indoors daily as I finally found a group with which to climb. My interests and skill in belaying improved. Yesterday I assisted a short belaying perfection course in anticipation of the Villars IFSC climbing event. During this session we were reminded of a few key points....
Posts tagged “safety”
-
Improved Belaying - perfecting our technique — Jul 1, 2017 -
A Call for More Cycling and Walking Paths — Nov 29, 2022I walk or cycle almost every day across five or six villages per walk, and more on bikes. During these walks and bike rides I see that there is a chronic lack of safe walking and cycling routes, if you want to go for any distance. Almost every village has five, six or more roads in and out of it, but there are no safe walking or cycling routes... -
A Continental GP 5000 Without Friction — Oct 3, 2025Years ago I rode with a scooter tyre for nine thousand kilometres before it was replaced. It was only replaced because I went to a different garage. Scooter tyres are rated for about 3000 kilometres before they are meant to be replaced. I rode for four thousand kilometres with my GP5000 and several times I noticed that the rear tyre skidded, either when I applied the brakes as I got home, or when I was braking in a descent, but especially when I had to emergency brake in group riding situations more than once.... -
On Riding a Freshly Serviced Bike — Aug 8, 2025On Wednesday morning I rode my bike into Geneva to drop it off for a service. In the evening I went for a group ride that was heading in the direction I wanted, before leaving the group and riding for home. I didn’t ride much on Wednesday, but I was tired. I believe that walking in cycling clothes, to catch a train, twice, does tire us more than walking in normal clothes....
-
Emergency Contact Information and Incident Detection — Jun 25, 2025Recently I joined a cycling group and they require us to provide In Case of Emergency Information so that if we have an accident our phone provides people with names and numbers to call. At first I thought “Why would I want this, I have no In Case of Emergency person” due to being single and living alone....
-
On Being Able to Walk to a Recycling Centre — Jun 11, 2025For a few days I fled from the Caribana music festival because during this event it is impossible to sleep due to noise pollution. Switzerland, despite being so strict about other forms of noise pollution is lax about the noise pollution from music festivals. Most people plan holidays to flee it. I did too, but I still denounce it. Having said this I stayed in a small village half way up the Jura and was able to walk a short distance to recycle cardboard, cans and PET bottles.... -
HowNOT2 Videos - Climbing Safety — Apr 23, 2024In scuba diving and aviation safety is a discussion that takes place before and after every dive or flight. It is discussed every time divers meet up. With climbing safety is important too but the focus is different. "This is how you should belay, this is how you should climb, this is how you should set up the top rope, and more.... -
Audiobookshelf and Driving — Feb 17, 2024In an ideal world I would use Audiobookshelf when I’m driving tomorrow. In the real world I can’t, or at least shouldn’t. The reason for this is simple. There is no iOS app which, in turn, means that there is no car play app. Combined this means that if I want to use the app during a road trip I need to fiddle with the app’s website when one podcast ends and the next begins....
