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One of the most common complaints we hear about auto belays is how much downtime is required for annual service appointments.

To be clear, an annual service appointment is mandatory for a device to stay in compliance with third-party safety standards like CE and ANSI. Since TRUBLUE Auto Belays are life safety devices, we take our commitment to this recertification process very seriously and require every TRUBLUE to comply with annual service requirements. Failing to do so will result in a voided warranty.

With that said, we also understand that losing access to your TRUBLUE Auto Belay device for several weeks out of the year is extremely inconvenient for most facilities. You paid for your device; you want to be able to get the most possible use out of it.

Auto belay downtime isn’t good for anyone. We designed the No Delay Belay service plan specifically to address this problem.

No Delay Belay is our premium, all-inclusive service plan. Although it was designed primarily to fulfill device recertification and eliminate device downtime, No Delay Belay also includes a host of additional benefits at a low, monthly cost.

How Does the No Delay Belay Service Program Work?

Rather than waiting until your service date arrives, with No Delay Belay we will automatically ship you a freshly serviced TRUBLUE Auto Belay approximately 10 days before your current device is due for service. The new device will arrive ready-to-mount and include a brand new, pre-installed webbing.

No Delay Belay works in a similar way to a propane tank exchange. Although you will not always possess the same physical device, this is not a rental program. You own your TRUBLUE Auto Belay and can elect to opt out of the No Delay Belay program at any time, without penalty.

Shipping is free for all devices enrolled in No Delay Belay. To make things even more convenient, return shipping tags are included in the box, so all that you have to do when your replacement Auto Belay arrives is switch out the devices, attach the return shipping tag, and use the same box to send your old device back to us. That’s it! You’re ready to go for another year!

Who is Eligible for No Delay Belay?

At this time, the No Delay Belay service program is only available to Head Rush customers located within the United States.

Advantages of No Delay Belay

Beyond fulfilling mandatory recertification requirements and eliminating device downtime, enrolling your devices in the No Delay Belay program comes with several additional benefits.

For as long as you remain enrolled in the program, your standard 2-year warranty is increased to a lifetime warranty. This includes all inspection fees and necessary part replacements. You will also receive one free, pre-installed webbing replacement each year – a savings of up to $299 each year, depending on the webbing type.

In terms of convenience, No Delay Belay eliminates the need for you to store your own shipping boxes (or order new shipping boxes if your old ones get damaged). Furthermore, shipping is free, and return shipping is faster and easier than ever.

For facilities looking to recertify several devices at the same time, No Delay Belay makes the process extremely convenient. In a matter of minutes, you can switch out an entire section of TRUBLUEs and then immediately ship back the old ones, saving you time and valuable floorspace.


Benefits

  • Fulfills service requirement
  • Eliminates downtime
  • Lifetime warranty
  • You own your device
  • Includes new webbing
  • Automatically receive device
  • Shipping included
  • Maintenance between annual services
  • No need to store shipping boxes

No Delay Belay

  • 1/ year

Annual Plan

  • x
  • x
  • x
  • x
  • x
  • x
  • x

How Much Does No Delay Belay Cost?

Unlike standard annual service appointments, No Delay Belay must be paid in monthly installments. One of the added advantages of this subscription model is that you’re covered all year round, and do not have to pay for any unexpected maintenance or part replacements which may occur between mandatory annual service appointments.

Including the cost of shipping and a yearly webbing replacement, enrolling in No Delay Belay is roughly the same cost per device as scheduling standard annual service appointments.

No Delay Belay is our preferred service method because it allows us to provide more consistent service and shorter turnaround times, while also smoothing our service demand curve and creating a less stressful workplace for our maintenance technicians. It's a classic win-win-win scenario.

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The TRUBLUE Auto Belay is great for skill development of all types including climbing techniques and other skills such as learning to belay or improving footwork.

Auto belay downtime isn’t good for anyone. We designed our all-inclusive No Delay Belay program specifically to address this problem. Find out how it works.

For kids, learning to climb takes on a different meaning than it does for teens or adults. The benefits of climbing for child development are well documented. Climbing helps kids to improve their creative problem-solving skills, spatial awareness, coordination, strength, endurance, and flexibility, while also reducing stress, building confidence, and encouraging cooperation with others. 

Of course, that’s thinking about the issue from the perspective of a grown up. 

"Kids don’t care that following a particular sequence of holds teaches them valuable life skills like pattern recognition and memorization. They do it because it’s fun."

They do it because they like it and they want to play. And where can you possibly find a bigger playground than in a climbing gym? 

“Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. Play also offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children,” writes Dr. Kenneth R. Ginsburg in an article published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

Dr. Ginsburg goes on to say that adults can participate and even add to the benefits of play, though they have to walk a careful line between being a part of the game and taking it over. 

"Ideally, much of play involves adults, but when play is controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns and lose some of the benefits play offers them, particularly in developing creativity, leadership, and group skills."-- Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg

Which got me thinking: as members of the climbing industry, what strategies can we implement to help instill a lifelong love of climbing, while still allowing kids to get the full benefits and desired development out of their playtime? 

 How Climbing Games Can Teach Kids New Skills 

Whether bouldering, top roping, or climbing on auto belay, the important thing when teaching kids how to climb isn't following the standard protocol of making it to the top so much as having fun along the way. 

“Since young kids are at such a formative period in their mental development, the wrong introduction to climbing can mean a lifelong hatred of the sport, while positive coaching can promote a lifetime passion.” 

That is according to parent and climbing coach Ari Schneider in his excellent article, Coaching Kids – 7 Ways 7 Year Olds Learn to Climb. 

One of the key takeaways from Schneider’s article is the importance of teaching climbing through the lens of having fun and playing games. More than anything else – more than making it to the top or sticking to a specific route or even developing proper form – fun is the primary objective. All of those other wonderful benefits of teaching kids to climb are still present, but they come secondary and naturally. The main thing is just to spend time climbing. 

Like filling celery sticks with peanut butter or smuggling bits of broccoli into mac and cheese, focusing on the fun side of climbing gives kids all the health benefits that parents want in a form that encourages kids to ask for more. 

 Building Confidence with Bouldering Games 

Since they are free to move around and wander off route with limited consequences, the bouldering area is a great place for kids to learn how to play popular climbing games like Add-On or Simon Says (basically just the regular game, but on a climbing wall). 

Traversing is an excellent warm up activity or a good starting point for any kids who might be apprehensive about getting too far off the ground. And, as anyone who has spent any amount of time around small kids will also tell you, having a heavily padded floor beneath you is never a bad idea. 

 Giving Parents a Chance to Play 

On the high walls, auto belays can offer a fun way for parents to join their kids in the game. One of the great things about auto belays (as pointed out to us by none other than Chris Sharma) is that parents can climb side-by-side with their kids. 

“I can actually be right next to her,” Sharma said about being able to climb with his daughter. “It’s really cool, that really opens up new possibilities for new interactions.” 

In an interview with the CWA, John Hur, the General Manager of Macon Rocks in Georgia, reported a similar experience in his own facility. 

“Half of our wall terrain is built with auto belays,” Hur said. “This allows families who are brand new to the sport to climb alongside each other. So, it's not unusual to have a five to seven-year-old climbing alongside his mother or dad one lane over. So, it just allows a really close experience with families and others to start coming in together.” 

A Parent's Perspective on the TRUBLUE iQ+

Gym operators and route setters can help to facilitate this activity by making a couple of simple adjustments: 

  1. Create a section of the gym that’s specifically for auto belays. Having a separate auto belay area also brings the added benefit of being easily monitored by a member of the staff for any safety concerns. If you don’t have room for an entire section, space your existing auto belays near enough to each other that climbers can climb side-by-side. 
  1. Set a couple of routes beneath the auto belays that don’t have any long reaches. Kids are great climbers. Unfortunately, what they have in strength-to-weight ratio, they sacrifice in arm length. 

For more suggestions about climbing games that you can play with your tiny crushers, check out Mirjam Boss’s article Rock Climbing Games for Kids 

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Strategies to help instill a lifelong love of climbing, while still allowing kids to receive the full benefits and desired development out of their playtime.

Have you ever stopped to think about how incredibly talented you are at using a fork? Unless you’ve got a toddler at home, I’m guessing the answer is probably no. After years of practice, each stab, swoop, jab, and scoop comes so naturally that you don’t even have to think about it anymore.

Why would you waste your time? You just eat.

The next time you’re wolfing down a bowl of spaghetti, I’d encourage you to pay attention to how your fingers are handling the fork. It’s actually pretty remarkable. The series of movements that goes into loading every mouthful onto those four skinny tongs is much more complicated than they might seem. But that’s only because, without even realizing it, you have become a master of the fork.

As Malcolm Gladwell would say, you’ve put in your 10,000 hours. You are a bona fide expert now. World class.

The trouble with being an expert at anything is that it can be difficult to remember what it was like NOT to have mastered that skill. At the risk of losing you with too much fork talk, imagine sitting down to a nice garden salad without ever having used a fork before. Imagine having to deal with all those croutons. Imagine the frustration of an unsliced cherry tomato.

Which leads us to a very important question: what on earth does any of this have to do with climbing?

Relearning How to Use a Fork (for climbers)

It can be tempting at times to think of the climbing community as a single, homogeneous entity. A ubiquitous “climbing culture.” But that’s not really the case.

As with any community, reality is much more complicated. And yet, when we talk about “building community” within a climbing gym, the voices we hear are usually the ones who speak up the loudest. In many cases, these are the members who are the most confident, the most involved, and the most comfortable within the gym environment.

Once you become comfortable within your local gym, it can be difficult to remember what it was like to feel uncomfortable.

From the perspective of someone who does feel comfortable in the gym, it’s easy to look around and think, “Finding a partner isn’t that hard. I have tons of partners." They might as well be saying, “Here is something I am comfortable with. Everyone else should be comfortable with it, too.” Which, obviously, isn’t how it works.

Whether due to inexperience, shyness, or any number of social factors, if a climber feels uncomfortable asking a fellow climber for a belay, often they will feel just as (if not more) uncomfortable asking a staff member to help them find a partner. And don’t even get me started about writing your name and phone number on a bulletin board.

If a climber feels uncomfortable asking a fellow climber for a belay, often they will feel just as uncomfortable asking a member of the staff to help them find a partner.

Auto Belay Area at Sharma Madrid

Example of a separated Auto Belay mezzanine at Sharma Climbing Madrid

One of the tools that you can use to help your members become more comfortable in your gym is an auto belay – or even, in a best-case scenario, a separate area for them. Auto belays are unique in that they allow climbers to express and explore an interest in roped climbing, without requiring a partner to do so.

While on auto belay, you can climb with total independence. Not only does this help develop physical attributes like strength and technique, but it also gives climbers a place to avoid judgment (even if it is only perceived) and build their personal comfort level within the gym.

BUT Climbing is an Inherently Social Sport!

If you want to climb outside then, yes, you do need a partner. Ideally, you’ll have several partners. However, for many members, their goal for going to the climbing gym isn’t to transition into outdoor climbing. Every climber does not have the same goals and motivations. Whether they are looking for a more exciting workout plan, blowing off steam after work, or they just think that climbing is fun and want to do as much of it as possible, each person has their own reasons for climbing.

But here’s the twist.

You know all those folks over on the auto belays? Once they do start to build a level of comfort in the gym, they might just decide that they want to branch out a bit. In fact, they might want to learn how to belay or lead climb or climb outside. It happens all the time. You become comfortable with one thing and, from this new vantage point, you realize that you are now ready to try more.

Fortunately, for someone who is already comfortable on auto belays, there’s already an area to meet other, like-minded climbing partners in an organic way.

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“Togetherness.”

There’s a good chance that is not the first word that pops into your head when you think about auto belays. One argument that we hear from gym owners against using auto belays is that they are counter-productive to building a tight-knit climbing community. But that’s not the way that pro climber and gym owner Chris Sharma sees it.

“Climbing with auto belays, you can actually climb together with your friends or your family,” said Sharma, who has set aside an entire mezzanine in his new Sharma Climbing BCN-Gava facility exclusively for auto belays.

“It’s an incredible tool for a climber and, of course, it’s an incredible tool as a gym owner to have this whole zone of auto belays. It really facilitates so many different things for our clients.”

Favorite Uses for Auto Belays

Speaking as a father, one of Sharma’s favorite things about climbing on auto belay is the ability to climb side-by-side with his daughter.

“I’ll climb one route and she’s right next to me climbing another route,” said Sharma, with a huge grin spreading across his face. “I can actually be right next to her. It’s really cool, that really opens up new possibilities for new interactions. And I would have to say, actually, our auto belay zone is one of the most active and social areas of our gym. It’s really amazing. I’m just happy to see how this mezzanine has given so much life into our gym.”

Other than enjoying the chance to climb with his daughter, Sharma also noted the convenience of his auto belay area when hosting group events and birthday parties. The low barrier to entry for new climbers is one of the most frequently cited reasons that we hear from gym owners for installing auto belays in their climbing gyms.

“I would have to say, actually, our auto belay zone is one of the most active and social areas of our gym.” -- Chris Sharma

But that’s only part of the story.

Creating a Safe Place to Climb

Even for owners who are pro auto belay, it’s relatively common to think of this benefit only in terms of individual climbers, rather than taking a step back and considering the enormous social impact they can provide by making gyms available to larger group events.

For many attendees, this may be their first real introduction to climbing. Having a chance to try out the sport without worrying about safety or belay technique allows beginners to focus all their attention on their climbing, their friends, and having a good time.

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There’s a good chance that is not the first word that pops into your head when you think about auto belays. One argument that we hear from gym owners against using auto belays is that they are counter-productive to building a tight-knit climbing community. But that’s not the way that pro climber and gym owner Chris Sharma sees it.

This cathedral for all things climbing is located fifteen minutes outside of Barcelona. The facility spans over 50,000 square feet and includes a colossal lead wall, two competition-ready speed walls, a one-of-a-kind bottomless bouldering area, and a 50ft auto belay mezzanine set up with 20 TRUBLUE Auto Belays. Post-workout, there’s even a lounge where tired climbers can kick back, relax, and heap encouragement (or, whatever) on their more dogged friends, all while guzzling beer and pizza.

We recently had the opportunity to talk with Chris about what went into the creation of BCN-Gavà, and to gain some insights into the modern features and design considerations that have made this gym such a success.

We’ve broken his answers down into five main categories. If you’re currently designing your own climbing gym or even just thinking about shaking things up a bit, these are the five modern features that every climbing gym should have.

1. Social spaces

Given the natural temptation to pack your gym full of as many walls, boards, and problems as physically possible, it can sometimes be easy to forget about one important factor: people. Whether your gym was built to hold 500 people or 50, climbers need social spaces set aside for resting, comparing beta, or just walking from one route to the next.

To avoid falling into the trap of overpacking, ask yourself these questions: What will this space look like when it’s completely full? Where will climbers hang out between climbs? Is there enough room for people to comfortably move from one side of the gym to the other?

2. Competition elements

If you’re thinking about hosting competitions somewhere down the line, as many gyms are, it’s a good idea to think through the angles of your space before you start to fill it. More specifically, make sure that there are enough direct lines of sight from your viewing area to your main competition elements.

For example, at Sharma Climbing BCN-Gavà, the lead climbing wall is the major competition element. Knowing this, they went out of their way to leave the area around the wall open, allowing plenty of space for fans to congregate at and around the base. As an extra cherry on top, they also built a viewing area directly across from the lead wall where a second group of spectators can have an unobstructed view of the action.

3. Designated areas for different disciplines

One of the more unconventional – though easily replicable – choices that Sharma Climbing BCN-Gavà made in laying out the gym was keeping each climbing discipline separate. Sure, it’s common to see bouldering areas sectioned off from roped areas in many gyms, but Sharma Climbing took this idea a step farther by separating the lead climbing area from the top rope area and, notably, building an entirely different area exclusively for auto belays.

There are a couple of significant advantages to having an area set aside for auto belays. For one thing, an enormous number of climbers can fit into a relatively small area, sustaining tremendous throughput with only minimal staffing requirements. Auto belay areas also eliminate the need to mount additional climbing equipment like anchors or quickdraws, reducing the odds of webbing becoming snagged or stuck, and increasing overall safety.

There’s also another reason for having an auto belay area, though you may have to look a little closer to see it. While the communal aspect of auto belays is often trivialized – or outright disregarded – in the larger scheme of “climbing culture,” auto belays are beneficial in developing a unique community of otherwise independent climbers. Some of these climbers might just be missing their partner for the day, but many others are introverted or socially anxious and prefer the auto belay area because it is where they feel the most comfortable. In either case, having an auto belay area simplifies the process of meeting like-minded climbers and, in some cases, can facilitate new climbing partnerships.

4. State-of-the-art amenities

When you spend a lot of time in a space, even the smallest details can make a big impact on your overall impression. At Sharma Climbing BCN-Gavà, thought was put into every detail, from the lighting to the climatization.

Extra effort and attention also went into designing unique climbing features. The first example that jumps to mind is their bottomless bouldering wall, which hangs from the ceiling, leaving a few feet of empty space between the floor and the boulder. Not only is this aesthetically pleasing, the unusual shape and placement of the boulder opens the door to new and unusual kinds of routes, which would be impossible to set in other gyms.

5. Terrain for all abilities

One of the greatest challenges for any climbing gym is making sure that high-quality terrain and inspiring routes are available for climbers of every ability level. From first time climbers to Chris Sharma, himself, finding the right balance between introductory and expert – while making things interesting for the rest of us, in between – can be a difficult line to walk, but it’s one that is worth the effort.

Conclusion

While Sharma Climbing BCN-Gavà is a great example of what a modern climbing gym can be, we aren’t suggesting that every gym needs to (or should) attempt to copy their approach. Every climbing gym is different and brings its own unique charm and personality to the table. It’s part of the fun of indoor climbing. Instead, we hope that you will take the five modern features outlined above, get creative, and make them your own.

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At its core, going on an adventure is an act of self-empowerment. Obviously, it might not always feel that way. The weather changes, the rain starts to fall, and there you are, stuck on the wall with no other option but to wait it out.

Unfortunately, self-empowerment doesn’t make you waterproof. It doesn’t make your toes stop hurting or put calluses on your fingertips.

What a lot of people don’t tell you is that, in the moment, self-empowerment can be a slog. But here’s the kicker: when it’s over, when the clouds miraculously clear the moment you reach the car, and you have the chance to look back on your journey, I’m willing to wager you won’t regret your decision to keep going.

There’s nothing quite like that feeling you get when you make it to the top -- especially if you had to overcome adversity along the way (and what kind of adventure would it be if you didn’t?).

HOW CATCH-AND-HOLD TECHNOLOGY EMPOWERS CLIMBERS TO REACH NEW HEIGHTS

When we set out to design the future of auto belays, we challenged ourselves to create a device that would empower our users to accomplish things they never thought possible. With catch-and-hold technology climbers are encouraged to try harder routes, knowing that they now have the ability to fall, rest, and retry the most difficult moves.

A few seconds of rest might sound like a small thing, but for a sport that involves scaling cliffs, climbing is surprisingly dependent on miniscule gains. Operators, instructors, and routesetters see these gains all the time. A tiny shift of your weight, for example, could be the difference between a great hold and a useless hunk of plastic. Moving your foot two inches higher could turn an impossible reach into something completely manageable.

When it comes to rest, thirty seconds is often the difference between being totally pumped and feeling strong enough to push through. Miniscule gains. But when you add them up, you suddenly realize that you’ve made it farther than ever before. Maybe even to the top.

That’s the power of catch-and-hold technology. That’s the sense of accomplishment that we want all of our users to feel when they climb on the TRUBLUE iQ+.

HOW THE TRUBLUE IQ SERIES MAKES LIFE EASIER FOR OPERATORS

Beyond the user experience, we also made a point of making the TRUBLUE iQ Series more convenient for operators than any previous auto belay devices. The TRUBLUE iQ base model is 22% lighter and 23% smaller than the original TRUBLUE auto belay device, making it easier to install and to move to different locations in your facility.

While making these improvements in terms of weight, we made sure that the iQ Series would not sacrifice durability. In fact, we improved durability by adding wider webbing, a back bumper, and a replaceable mount guard.

Going forward, we’re making the iQ Series even more operator friendly, with planned software updates that will utilize the built-in connectivity of the TRUBLUE iQ+ to provide operators with real-time data on the use, service intervals, and performance of their devices. The hardware and IoT capabilities for delivering these data analytics are already in place. As soon as the software package is ready to go, owners and operators will begin to reap the benefits.

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I give notoriously bad beta. Just ask anyone who has ever climbed with me. There is nothing I like more than mushing myself into a corner, dropping my knee at an odd angle, flipping my elbow inside out, and pressing my palm flat against the wall. Essentially, turning myself into a human pretzel.

It’s fun.

Somehow it just feels right.

But that’s the beauty of climbing. Like the taquitos on those rollers by the cash registers at 7Eleven (or snowflakes, or whatever), no two climbers are exactly the same. Over time, every climber develops their own unique style that feels right for their body.

Some of us scuttle like crabs. Some crawl like sloths. When we get tired, we turn into t-rexes. You have your long reachers and your toe tappers. Your high steppers and your Elvis leggers. There are those determined few who keep things streamlined and efficient, while the rest of us are content to do the twist.

And yes, some of us are pretzels or churros or, regrettably, noodles, but no matter how you get yourself up the wall, there’s one thing that brings us all together. Climbers climb.

It’s not exactly rocket science.

It is, however, our job – as industry professionals, product engineers, and members of the climbing community -- to empower that desire and to improve the climbing experience for as many different people with as many different styles as possible.

“Every climber adapts on every route they climb,” said artist and climber Jon Sedor in the video What is Adaptive Climbing?. “It’s very rare, especially for example between different genders, that I see a man and a woman do the same thing. Not because one is any less strong, it’s just different body types.”

Knowing that different bodies move and climb differently, the question becomes: how can we make climbing more inclusive and more accessible for the most people?

Improving Accessibility for Adaptive Climbers

One way to increase inclusivity is to develop climbing equipment that is useful for climbers who have been previously overlooked and underserved.

Until recently, auto belays were impractical for many adaptive climbers. Seated climbers, for example, could not train on auto belay because instantly lowering after a top out or a fall was too unsteady. With the recent release of the TRUBLUE iQ+, we aim to change that narrative.

The TRUBLUE iQ+ is the first auto belay that allows climbers to stay on the wall after falling, rather than immediately lowering. We call this the “catch-and-hold" feature. In climbing terms, what the TRUBLUE iQ+ is doing is giving you the option to take.

It works like this: when a climber comes off the wall, the TRUBLUE iQ+ catches them, preserving their progress. The device then proceeds to hold them there for up to 30 seconds. For seated climbers, catch-and-hold provides a chance to rest before continuing to climb or to restabilize before lowering.

“I think the TRUBLUE iQ+ is actually an amazing tool for paraclimbing because different athletes with different abilities climb at different speeds.” -- Maureen “Mo” Beck, 2x gold medalist at the Paraclimbing World Championships and National Geographic’s 2019 Adventurer of the Year.

Beyond the advantages for seated climbers, Beck called out the catch-and-hold feature of the TRUBLUE iQ+ as being particularly useful for visually impaired climbers.

"I think it's going to be huge, especially for our VI blind climbers because they're always stopping to hunt for holds. Right now, if they let go, they have to start the entire route over and they're at a loss. But with the TRUBLUE iQ+, they can stop, feel for the holds, and then continue on their way, which is amazing! And to be able to do that, without having a belayer, gives our disabled athletes even more independence to be just a climber." -- Maureen “Mo” Beck

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2x Paraclimbing World Champion, Maureen “Mo” Beck, explains how the catch-and-hold feature of iQ+ can help make training more accessible to more climbers.

When you think of Chris Sharma, the first thing to come to mind probably isn’t falling. He was, after all, widely considered the best sport climber in the world for over a decade.

So no, when you think of Chris Sharma, the first things to come to mind are probably his sends, rather than his falls. You probably remember how he was the first person to redpoint Necessary Evil, Biographie, and Jumbo Love. You probably remember those crazy deep-water solos he pulled off in Mallorca and how he worked La Dura Dura with Adam Ondra until both climbers finally made it to the top of the hard hard.

You probably saw him in Reel Rock. You probably watched him on YouTube.

You probably thought to yourself, “I wish I could climb like that,” without considering the thousands of falls he took along the way. Like this one (check out what happens at 2:03). Or this one. You get the idea.

The point is that even the best climbers fall. In fact, the best climbers fall a lot (sometimes more emphatically than others).

Climbers fall. And then they get back up and try again.

When you’re climbing on auto belay, you won't be taking any whippers like in the videos above. But that doesn’t change the fact that falling is an integral part of climbing. You climb, you fall, you brush yourself off and try again. Who knows? Maybe you’ll fall slightly better next time.

Whether you’re the best climber in the world or you’re just starting out, that’s the order of operations: climb, fall, repeat. Because the truth is, there’s no shame in falling. Falling means that you’re pushing yourself right up to the limit of your abilities. The more you fall, the better you will become.

Engineering a Better Way to Fall

At Head Rush Technologies, our goal is to give you the best climbing experience that you can possibly get on an auto belay. The way we see it, falling is a huge part of that experience. We engineer our TRUBLUE Auto Belays to give a smooth, consistent, comfortable descent, no matter how wildly you come off the wall.

When we designed the all-new TRUBLUE iQ+, we decided to take it a step further. Instead of lowering after a fall, with iQ+ you can skip straight to the “try again” phase. Or, as Sharma says:

“With the iQ+ you’re just able to stop there, rest, shake out, try to figure out the moves.”

In other words, TRUBLUE iQ+ climbers can fall as many times as it takes to finally power through a difficult move. That means spending more time pushing your limits and having more opportunities to finally make it to the top of your favorite routes.

Beyond being one of the best rock climbers of all time, Chris Sharma has also founded multiple climbing gyms. From a gym owner’s perspective, he sees the TRUBLUE iQ+ as more than just the next step in auto belay innovation, but as a way to actually attract more climbers.

“I’m really excited to have this new device in our gyms,” said Sharma. “It’s really going to help us just continue growing the sport.”

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The Role of Auto Belays in Self-Care

Even for an expert climber and adventurer like Sara Aranda, stepping into a climbing gym can be an intimidating experience. In her recent article, she reflects on the role that auto belays play in creating a more diverse, inclusive, and accessible climbing community.

Catch-and-Hold: What is it and how does it work?

Catch-and-Hold belay is the latest feature from TRUBLUE’s iQ Series Auto Belays. Available only in the TRUBLUE iQ+, Catch-and-Hold belay is activated and deactivated using two touch-sensitive on/off buttons. Read this post to learn how climbers use Catch-and-Hold belay.

Pro climber and gym owner Chris Sharma tests out the revolutionary catch-and-hold technology of the TRUBLUE iQ+ Auto Belay.

“If you’re keeping to yourself, you’re probably not the only one doing that,” said Ari Mendoza, the newly appointed Operations Officer of all Hangar 18 Climbing Gyms in Southern California. “Some people seem to prefer to climb by themselves,” Mendoza continued, “but ultimately they link up with other people.” Keeping to oneself isn’t exclusive to a certain mode of climbing, however, as is assumed for auto belays (many boulderers climb with headphones in), and despite this, a sense of community still thrives. This can be attributed to the spectrum of social interactions that take place within a gym setting, the bottom line being:

People are doing what they feel safe doing, and when people feel safe, conversations and even unspoken camaraderie are a welcome part of the experience.

Mendoza believes that the TRUBLUE Auto Belays found in Hangar18 gyms act as a gateway to allow people to become more comfortable with the climbing gym environment, and having that is invaluable. For myself, as someone who experiences social anxiety, interacting with people I don’t know can be terrifying. Gyms are inherently intimidating places for people like me: crowds, forced integration, potential judgments. Being able to enter a space and find avenues to nurture a personal need is an important foundation for community building. Auto belays can and have played a major role in that by occupying a niche in climbing autonomy.

Auto Belay Climbing at Hangar 18

Climbing on Auto Belay at Hangar 18 South Bay

How Auto Belays Differ From Other Climbing Disciplines

With auto belays, “you have to go and trust yourself,” said Mendoza. “They help work on technique, get yourself out of your headspace, focus on what you’re doing…There’s so many different stresses in life, who knows what you’re dealing with…” While this expands into the climbing experience as a whole, auto belays offer a specialized manner of being that is hard to come by otherwise. The ability to run laps non-stop or to hyper-focus on a specific route is both integral to training but also an act of self-empowerment at its core. This differs from bouldering by the simple fact of having longer routes, but more so, arguably, a heightened sense of access. Less eyes, maybe; less crowding than what can be often found in the bouldering arena; less perceived social pressures.

Mental Health Considerations

When asked about the relationship between auto belays and mental health, Mendoza replied, “Having an environment where people don’t feel judged is the biggest thing…and having space to themselves. Those with mental health issues can be around people which is good and not be forced to be out of their comfort zone.” The idea of having a tool to train with without the need for another person is self-actualizing not only for introverts and those with anxieties but for anyone, really. It allows for participation in an unavoidably social sport, but in a less intimidating way.

People naturally start to come out of their own bubble and be more part of the community because they’re interacting with the sport. They end up growing friendships. -- Ari Mendoza

It’s already known that auto belays help attract and retain new climbers, they create opportunities for solo climbers to connect, they enable skill honing, and they offer ways for third-wheel climbers to occupy time. So what Mendoza is really speaking about is inclusivity, how auto belays are easy to use, accessible, and how they create opportunities for growth.

TRUBLUE seeks to support a diverse climbing community and continues to innovate gear to help in this mission. Whether a climber wants to challenge their fear of heights or simply familiarize themselves with the sport in general, they can do it on their own terms first with TRUBLUE Auto Belays as a more private and internally-driven option. And we can’t forget that there are days when climbers simply want to be alone for a while, which shouldn’t be seen as a detriment to the community but rather a normal expression of self-care.

Sara Aranda at the Crag

Guest Writer Sara Aranda

About Sara Aranda

Sara is an avid trail runner and climber keen on adventuring for creative and physical input. With roots from both southern California and New Mexico, her freelancing and love for the outdoors keep her on the move with much of her time spent between Colorado's front range and Yosemite National Park. She is a creative writer by trade who loves to volunteer at Film and Climbing Festivals and dreams of becoming a semi-professional athlete. To help pay the bills, she occasionally works as hired lifestyle talent for outdoor brands.

Sara obtained her B.A. in Creative Writing, with an emphasis in Poetry, from the University of California, Riverside. Her writing has been published in Alpinist Magazine, The Climbing Zine, The American Poetry Review, Boulder Weekly, among others. She is also an ambassador for the No Man's Land Film Festival, a festival dedicated to un-defining and re-defining women in the outdoors. Prior to freelancing, Sara worked concession jobs in Yosemite National Park for five seasons — all for the joy of running and climbing.

Follow Sara on Instagram @oyesaranda

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As practiced by Sharma Climbing gyms

"Climbing is very safe when done properly. But, a climber always has to take responsibility for their safety—whether it’s their knot, their harness or, in the case of auto belays, making sure they’re clipped into their belay loop."
- Chris Sharma, professional rock climber and owner of three climbing gyms

1. Establish an auto belay zone

Setting aside an area exclusively for auto belays can result in a host of benefits and is worth considering if the layout of your gym allows for it. In terms of staffing, an auto belay zone makes it easy to monitor large numbers of climbers with only a few dedicated staff members. A separate auto belay zone also promotes safety, lowers potential risks, helps build a unique community, and improves the flow of traffic across the facility.

2. Give an auto belay orientation

Auto belays are such intuitive devices that many facilities skip the orientation stage altogether. Unfortunately, this gap in training can lead to unnecessary complications. Nearly all auto belay-related injuries are the result of human error, so it’s worth taking the time to make sure climbers are aware of potential risks, as well as how to avoid them.

Reviewing basic skills like how to tighten a harness, how to clip into a carabiner, and how to test for proper webbing retraction can prevent injuries and cultivate confidence in new climbers.

For more experienced climbers, auto belay orientation should emphasize the importance of always remaining aware of your surroundings. Experienced climbers are far more likely than beginners to become preoccupied with maxing out their workouts and forget to clip into the auto belay before starting up the wall.

For more information, check out How to Give a Proper Auto Belay Orientation.

3. Document auto belay competency

Just like top roping or lead climbing, gyms should have a system in place to document which climbers are auto belay competent. This requires two steps: orientation and assessment. After completing orientation, climbers should then be able to demonstrate their understanding on an actual auto belay.

4. Provide auto belay orientation cards

A simple, visual way of determining that a climber is certified as auto belay competent is to provide auto belay orientation cards. Color coding these cards allows staff members to easily distinguish between auto belay, top rope, and lead climbing certifications.

5. Use belay gates

With their bright colors, bold messaging, and expansive footprint, belay gates make it very difficult for climbers to forget to clip in before climbing. Belay gates also help to space out adjacent climbers along the base of the wall and warn spectators not to stand beneath active climbers.

6. Cover start holds with belay gates

One of the best ways to prevent human error is to cover the starting holds of a route with the corresponding belay gate. While this may require a few adjustments to your route setting, the configuration provides an extra layer of security against inattentive climbers.

7. Use gym monitors

All it takes is one or two people to lead auto belay orientations, answer questions, and ensure that everyone is following basic safety practices. Just as they do for other disciplines, gym monitors should receive specific internal training for supervising auto belay use and should feel confident giving an auto belay orientation.

8. Keep climbing disciplines separate when possible

Auto belays significantly increase the throughput of a given area, allowing for more climbs in a smaller space in a shorter amount of time. By keeping auto belays separate from top rope and lead climbing routes, you can reduce the traffic in those areas, as well as the chances for overlapping swings, falls, and collisions. Separating the different disciplines also removes any temptation for auto belay users to snatch at or clip into quickdraws.

Beyond safety considerations, separating the different disciplines also creates a better overall climbing experience. Beginners feel more comfortable in a controlled environment, while experienced climbers can take more efficient training laps with fewer breaks in between.

For more information

The Association of British Climbing (ABC) recently released a set of safety guidelines for the operation of auto belays. The guidelines provide a more detailed examination of many of the topics laid out in this article. You can download a copy of the ABC’s proposed auto belay safety guidelines here.

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Chris Sharma outlines eight safety measures that he has implemented across his gyms, ranging from simple solutions like installing belay gates to large-scale shifts like designating an area of the gym exclusively for auto belays.

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