Hi my name is Jason Montecalvo with Sport Rock Climbing centers, and today we’re learning how to climb safely in an indoor rock climbing facility. Remember, climbing is inherently a dangerous activity and you want to seek professional help from certified climbing instructors prior to engaging in this activity.
Now we’re going to learn how to tie into the Harness as a climber. The first thing we want to do is identify the fact that there are 2 ropes hanging from the wall and we are going to need the interior end or the end that is closer to the wall, since the climber will be climbing on the wall; the one for this from the walls we’re belaying and we’ll get tot hat later. The first thing we want to do as a climber is we want to get a full-wing span worth of ropes, starting with the very end of the rope. At this point we can drop the end of the rope, the end of the rope is called the Working End and the end that goes up towards the anchor is called the Standing End. Once we have got our Wing Span, we’re going to drop the Working End and we’re going to make a little loop here; at this point we’re going to take the Working End, wrap it around the Standing End and at this point poke back through the loop that I originally made. I will pull on the end of the rope until I have created an 8, this is the first knot that we need to learn how to create and this is called the Figure 8. The figure 8 now will be put through 2 parts of our harness; we are going to get the end of the rope, or the Working End, and we’re going to find our Clutch Strap, once we have found our Clutch Strap, I’m going to poke myself in the Clutch Strap and come up parallel to the Belay loop through the waist belt loop as well; so now I am going through 2 points of contact with the rope. I am now going to pull until my figure 8 gets about 2 inches form my clutch strap and I will stop there. At this point I’m ready to learn my second knot, my second knot is called the figure 8 follow through or figure 8 retrace. What we’re trying to attempt to do here is taking the end of the rope from my working end and retrace the 8 that I’ve just created here, finishing out the standing into the rope. What I need to do first is gather the end of the rope and start right next to my clutch strap with that inter two that I have left myself, going into the figure 8. At this point I can begin to retrace what I have created by following the number 8 as I go, holding out all this lock, keeping the know about an inter two away from my harness. I’m going to continue to retrace this knot, keeping it as nice and even as I go around, as I come around the back I’m continuing to retrace my original knot, and I’m going to take the end, fit it back down through to finish the retracing process. At this point, I’m ready to tighten this knot up by pulling on all the lines in an opposite and linear motion. Once I have done so, I want to leave myself a little bit extra because I am not finished and I need to create my safety knot; my safety knot is going to be a double over-hand knot. On order to create that, what I all need to do is take the excess of my rope and wrap up my standing end twice, so I will show you now how that is done; by going over my main rope once, over twice, this time it’s very important to make an X or cross on the rope, in order for it to pinch itself when I tighten it down. I’m going to take the very end of the rope, fit it back to those two holes that I have now created for myself, take the very end and pull to tighten as well, and now I am completely tied in as a climber. How do I know I’m tight and safely securely and properly, well, I start with my harness, I look at my harness in terms of “is it snug on my waist and legs?” and “are my buckles closed?” Then I will look as a climber to make sure that I’ve tighten through my clutch strap as well as my waist, at 2 points worth of contact. Now I will work my way out, checking for 3 sets of parallel lines in my figure 8 retrace, footing it over seeing the same thing, knowingly that I’ve done this correctly now; and then I’ll look at my back-up knot for my double over-hand and make sure I see what I like to call in equals and a multiplication sign, with a little bit of excess to finish. Therefore I know as a climber I have tightened correctly and I’m safe. Next, what I want to start to talk about is how to belay.
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