This hand-out is not a substitute for learning this hands-on with an experienced instructor.  Belaying is the most important thing you do in climbing.  It is a critical skill.  People will climb with you if you can’t climb as hard as they can but they will not climb with you if you are not a safe belayer.  Inattentive/unsafe belaying is the only reason why we sometimes do not invite students to go on to the Intermediate class and to climb with us on the trips.  This skill must be learned so that it is hard-wired into the brain as an automatic response.

 

The traditional pinch and pull sequence of belaying is not being taught by guide services anymore and most climbing gyms will not allow you to belay using this method.  The new method used by the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) and taught by the AMC is the “hands-down” method AKA PBUS. It is safer and easier to learn in that it makes it difficult for a belayer to pinch both ropes with the brake hand, a common mistake in the “pinch” method; it eliminates the problem of a belayer extending his brake hand beyond his feeding hand, forcing him to remove the brake hand on the recovery (another very common mistake); and it keeps the brake hand in a good position for a fall or lowering.