What is an Auto Belay?

Traditionally, top rope climbing involves two people – the climber and the belayer.  As the climber ascends the wall, the belayer takes up slack in the rope through a belay device.  With a brake hand on the rope at all times, the belayer controls the descent of the climber and is also responsible for applying a braking technique in the event of a fall.

An auto belay eliminates the need for a human belayer.  In the case of the TruBlue Auto Belay, we use a patented self-regulating braking system, which is enabled by non-contacting magnetic braking technology.

The auto belay takes up the slack as a climber ascends and controls the descent when the climber reaches the top or in the event of a fall.  Rather than requiring one human belayer per climber, auto belay devices allows multiple climbers on the wall with one person as a supervisor.