Belay for competitions

Using a rigging plate to hang all of the gear up top would make things a lot more fair. I'd look at separating the pieces a bit more by using a short runner or eye/eye sling so that the pulley/TIP and belay device don't clatter or lock together.

Using a GG or another belay device in that configuration shouldn't be any different than the lead climber belaying the second on rock, ice etc.
 
It won't work for the footlock because the really strong footlockers rock backward as they crunch and lock on... it takes around 18-24" of slack from their previous position.

With the Sentry they would press up, the device would take slack and then they wouldn't be able to rock back to pull their feet up for the next bite.

In the footlock a foot of slack means a half foot drop. The climber is already secured with their hands and feet, then their FL loop. The belay is a backup. It's an incredibly safe event already.
 
I dont know why all this is going on....

A few yrs ago, there was a group trying to form an Oklahoma Arborist Association. The first 2 yrs, we held our own TCC.

In the second yr, the method we used for belay was a GRCS. Wrap the rope about 3 times and as the climber ascends, you pull the rope, spinning the bollard, taking up slack. When they are done, you simply lower them down like you would lower a log.

There are enough GRCS being owned by judges (or at least Id think), that you wouldnt have a problem finding one each for speed climb and footlock. If it was transporting them to the event for the internationals, there again, id think enough guys in the chapter hosting would have them to borrow.

Ive worked the gri-gri in comp before and that was the biggest pita ive ever delt w/.
 
I think the current system utilizing two belayers and a Grigri works just fine. One guy pulls the rope down from above to keep up with the climber and the other feeds the developing slack through the grigri. No problems, easy for both belayers to do their jobs (aside from the crick in the neck of the one looking up).

In my own experimentation doing the same thing I have found that a Trango Cinch works even better than the Grigri as it allows slack to be pulled through the device so easily that it only takes one belayer to to the job. I also found it easier to lower a climber with the Cinch. The Cinch only takes rope up to 11mm, but that shouldn't be an obstacle.
 
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...I have found that a Trango Cinch works even better ...

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Trango Cinch, Trango Cinch...seems I've heard that somewhere before.

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(aside from the crick in the neck of the one looking up).

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One solution to this is to redirect the belay rope laterally to another tree so that the belayers aren't looking straight up all day.

The Eddy should work in this application too. Having the panic brake built in adds another level of safety too.
 
Well, here you go giving me another reason to plug the Cinch. Because it's so easy to pull slack through the Cinch, the single belayer can stand however far from the device as they want and reduce the crick in the neck phenomenon somewhat.

I would like to check out the Eddy sometime. It looks nice.
 
But with that cinch, you still have to be Right on top of it w/ your hands to let the climber down, right? At least thats the way it appears in the pic i found of it. Same as the grigri.

With a grcs, you can stand 10' back to belay AND repell back down.

Am I the only one that sees this or the only one open to the idea of its use?
 
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With a grcs, you can stand 10' back to belay AND repell back down.


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But if the belayer lets go of the rope...?

I think the GriGri or Cinch or Eddy are safer because all of them will hold if the belayer doesn't.
 
The GRCS seems like a nice idea but the Grigri or like device seems to work fine as long as the system is pretty well free of tree induced friction. You do need a panic (or distraction) safety that will seize the rope if the belayer lets go.

I think the two person thing is great because it allows a high degree of precision managing the amount of slack. One person focuses totally on the speed and rhythm of the climber, the other makes sure there is no excess slack in the system.

The neck crick bit isn't so bad if the belay anchor is away from the climber to cut the angle down, either by redirect or using something at the edge of the ring.

The biggest problem I've seen so far is the belay line interfering with the climber if they rotate as they ascend... too much slack is bad because it could wrap around the climber's neck, too little slack is bad because they can't rock back to get a big bite of rope. The rope anchor rings need to be stabilized to decrease the chance of rotation.
 
That's a pretty interesting set up and I think it would work fine. If I'm figuring this right, at the end of the footlock, you would then lower the whole rig and climber down off another anchor and lowering device right? If so I would suggest replacing the grigri with a pro traxion, you'd get the lock off and probably smoother action due to the pulley. Now I'm speaking about this and I've never used the traxion devices, so totally take that for what it's worth; however I know that rock climbers use them to practice moves on toprope. It's definitely a bomber device and I'm assuming that it's rated and labelled for such use.

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