A Brief History of Belaying
- Jeff
- Aug 28
- 5 min read
(Excerpts from textbook authored by the Department of Vertical Sciences, University of Gravity Avoidance, 2025)
Preface
Much like the cosmos, rock climbing is governed by forces far beyond human control. Fortunately, unlike the cosmos, climbers can cheat one of those forces, gravity, with the aid of belaying. This volume attempts to chronicle all the clever, awkward, and occasionally catastrophic ways climbers have tried to outwit gravity. A surprisingly long and noble lineage of belay systems, from hemp-rope kidney lacerations to modern assisted-braking gizmos that look suspiciously like espresso machines.
Chapter I: The Sacred Principles of Belaying
Belaying is not chaos; it is governed by immutable laws. Its core rests on four sacred principles, which form the foundation of modern belay science. Violate any of them, and your climbing partner will learn about gravity’s acceleration rate the hard way.
The Brake Hand — forever shackled to the rope, never to wander, much like Snape’s tragic affection for Lily Potter.
The Brake Strand — the single line that separates a “safe catch” from a “partner pancake.”
The Brake Plane — an invisible cosmic alignment where maximum control occurs. Depart from this plane, and entropy increases faster than your climber's anxiety.
Friction — the glorious resistance that makes the whole thing work. Without it, belaying devolves into “waving rope around while your climber splats.”
Chapter II: Evolution of Belay Devices
Up to 1950: The Body Belay Epoch
Welcome to the Dark Ages of belaying, where the best safety device was your torso. Climbers wrapped itchy hemp rope around their waists or whatever tree/boulder was nearby. It was less “catching a fall” and more “providing a small amount of drag before your friend cratered.”
Tools: Itchy hemp rope, human waist, questionable optimism.
Method: rope wrapped around a climber’s midsection, grip the rope and rely on “hope” as the primary safety system.
Pros: Simple. Free. Excellent core workout.
Cons: Uncomfortable. Provided roughly the same fall protection as a polite “good luck.”
1950–1970: The Munter Renaissance
Belayers graduated from “certified meat anchors” to “semi-trained technicians”. A result of new equipment (nylon kernmantle ropes, HMS carabiners, and swami belts) entering the scene. This was the time of experimentation, when climbers collectively asked, “What if we made this less painful?”
The Munter hitch was the go-to, a hitch that magically made geometry and friction allies. Climbers rejoiced: belaying is now marginally less lethal to their kidneys!
Tools: HMS carabiner, nylon ropes, swami belts, curiosity greater than a cat’s.
Method: Tie a munter hitch on a HMS carabiner, attach to your swami belt, grip the rope, and send those kidneys a well deserved vacation!
Pros: Increased control. Lowering possible without ruining clothing and kidneys.
Cons: Required learning. (Tragic.)
1970–1990: The Device Enlightenment
Finally! Belayers stopped torturing their kidneys. This was a time when belaying became professionalized, a result of the first purpose-built delay devices arriving on the scene. Figure eights, sticht plates, tube-style devices, and (blessings upon them) sit harnesses adorned climbers bodies.
Belaying was no longer a crude ritual of hemp and hip bruises; it became a refined art. Dynamic belays became fashionable, softening falls instead of slamming climbers into the wall like rag dolls. Rock climbing stopped being about survival and completely embraced style.
Tools: Figure Eight, Sticht Plate, Tube-style device, sit harness, and more sass than Prince.
Method: Load rope into a delay device, attach to your sit harness, grip the rope, and send those kidneys on a well deserved vacation while striking a pose!
Pros: Reliable control. Actual style points.
Cons: You now need to bring gear.
1990–Present: The Assisted-Braking Revolution
The modern age of belaying is now. A time where belay devices began to look like failed NASA prototypes accidentally sold to climbers. An endless parade of mechanisms (geometry, cams, pulleys, and more) providing assistance to weary belayers.
Assisted-braking devices promised to make a belayer's job easier and increase safety margins. Easier has been achieved, as seen through all the free time to argue about safety on internet forums. Belayers finally evolved from “blue collar rope wranglers” into “white collar button-pushers” with smug safety margins.
Tools: Grigri, Mega Jul, Revo, equivalent…, and a masters degree in rope control.
Method: Load rope into a delay device, attach to your sit harness, grip the rope, and remember all the instructions from the safety pamphlet you tossed in the trash can…
Pros: Safer, smoother, lets climbers spend more time falling off harder projects.
Cons: Ego damage when you misuse one in front of your crush.
See Plate D: “Grigri vs. Human Brain: Which One Actually Stops Falls?”
Chapter III: Evolution of Belay Methods
While belay devices were evolving, so too were the methods of belay along its own unique and wobbly path. Here we further define the method of belay as being the actual movements of hands and rope as they navigate around the belay device.
At its heart, belaying is a dance with a very specific choreography. The brake hand must always cling desperately to the brake strand, while the other hand pretends it knows what it’s doing. Both together and separately, swinging and sliding inside, then outside, and through the brake plane. But the style of this dance has changed with each generation.
Early belayers invented the Slip-Slap-Slide, a technique that worked perfectly with terrain belays and Munter hitches. It was then applied to the early devices… until we all realized it briefly compromised both brake hand and brake plane. Translation: “safe enough until science caught up.” Only later did the enlightened age of PBUS (Pull-Brake-Under-Slide) arrive, which gave belayers a method so foolproof even a distracted gym bro could manage it, in theory.
Pre 2000: The Experimental Age
SLIP-SLAP-SLIDE Method
Technique: Belayers reset their hand above the device, completely avoiding the brake plane. The brake hand also maintains marginal control when in the brake plane.
Summary: Worked fine until physics caught up. Like smoking indoors, “everyone did it” until suddenly they didn’t.
Fig. 4.2: “Belayer cheerfully compromising both hands while smiling at camera.”
***PHOTO REDACTED FOR EDUCATIONAL REASONS***
2000–Present: The Enlightened Age
PBUS Method
Technique: Brake hand always remains in control, repositioning on the brake strand below the device.
Summary: Safer, universal, blessed by the Rope Gods themselves. Finally, a method that climbers and lawyers could both agree on.
See Fig. 4.5: “PBUS — Because Dropping Friends is Frowned Upon.”
Epilogue: Belay, the Great Equalizer
From hemp ropes to high-tech devices. Through brake hands, brake planes, and the divine power of friction. Belaying has become the quiet, glorious act that makes climbing possible. It is humanity’s most noble rebellion against gravity. While Stephen Hawking asked “What is the nature of time?”, climbers asked the only truly practical question: “Can you just, like, not drop me?”
Because while gravity always wins in the end, a good belayer makes sure it doesn’t win today.
End of Excerpt. For further reading, see Appendix A: “Friction Burns Through the Ages” and Appendix B: “The Sociology of Yelling ‘TAKE!’”
