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Differentiation of ropes course

Ropes courses, or rather rope elements, can be differentiated based on several criteria. The main ones are:

Height

Elements placed low over the ground (participants’ feet are no more than 1.5 m above the ground) are considered LOW rope elements. They often do not require any belay system; careful spotting provided by other group members is enough. These elements serve mainly as a participant’s first contact with rope elements.

 

In contrast, elements installed high above the ground (1.5 m and up) are considered HIGH rope elements. Completing them requires personal protection equipment and a belay system to ensure the climber’s safety.

    

Structures

Ropes courses with elements installed in TREES are often called Ropes Parks in this country. We believe that trees are an ideal location for ropes courses. Elements up in the treetops are very attractive to participants. In installing elements in trees we use technology that does not threaten the health of the trees and ensures their uninterrupted future growth and development. Trees adapt very well to built-in elements. During installation we do not drill or insert excessive iron pieces. So the process is minimally invasive and limited to tiny screws that in no way compromise the stability or health of the trees. Treetop ropes courses have a lifespan of over ten years and our goal is to extend that lifespan. We achieve this with careful regular maintenance of the elements as well as the trees themselves.

 

In addition to climbing on the elements, a forest environment is a natural environment for creating other group programs. The forest provides protection from the weather (too hot, too windy). It provides program participants with an excellent opportunity to spend their free time actively in the fresh air and a healthy natural environment.

 

If no mature trees or existing forest is available for installing rope elements, a ropes course on WOODEN POLES is the only option. Ropes courses built on poles have many advantages. One of the main advantages is being able to make our designs exactly according to the customer’s specifications regarding dimensions as well as design. With a perfected system for anchoring the columns, the long lifespan and low operational costs are advantages of these facilities. We have several dozen standard sample designs of varying size, but we can also prepare new designs on demand to match our customers’ needs exactly.

     

Belay

If the participants’ feet are higher than 1 m while on the elements, we must use a belay system to ensure their safety.

 

SPOTTING

It is a type of belay used mainly on low rope courses. Several group members stand immediately next to the climber on the element, stretch out their arms about 20 cm from the climber’s body and follow every movement so they are prepared to actively catch the climber in case of a potential fall. We can only use this type of belay on elements where the climber’s feet do not reach more than 1.5 m above the ground. Spotting is an effective method of ensuring safety on low rope elements only when performed consistently.

 

SELF-BELAY

Participants actively see to their own safety using belay sets they receive from the ropes course operator before getting up on the element. After completing each element they have to actively change their belay by “re-hooking” themselves from one belay point to another. This usually requires two carabiners (possibly also a pulley) with lanyards attached to the participant’s climbing gear in order to adhere to the main principle – the climber is attached at all times to at least one belay point (even when changing belay). The main belay point is usually a horizontally stretched steel wire rope that passes through the whole track at varying heights over the elements and that the participants use to belay. You will find different belay types in ropes courses, and they all have their own advantages and disadvantages, the most common of which are as follows:

1. Two carabiners, short lanyards

  • The most common type of self-belay, in our company we call it “French” because among other things it appears in pretty much all ropes courses built in France. It is obviously the simplest and is based on the Via-ferrata principle – two carabiners are hooked to a steel wire rope, zip wires use a pulley that is carried on the supplementary carabiner on the client’s gear and if necessary is hooked to the steel wire rope. The biggest advantage is simplicity and easy learning curve for the client. The biggest disadvantage is heavy wear and tear on the carabiners (pulling carabiners along the rope) and having to inspect them regularly and rigorously. The operational disadvantage is frequently needing to rescue participants who get stuck in the middle of an element because they lack the strength to complete it. The third disadvantage is that the belay rope in this system constantly interferes with the participant’s ability to complete the game; for this reason scrapes, scratches and bruises are a daily event in ropes courses using this belay system. With short lanyards, it is also possible to jam fingers during  zip wires and this does sometimes happen. 

2. Two carabiners, long lanyards

  • A simple and safe belay method. The belay wire ropes are placed over the participants' heads and so do not interfere with completing the element. However, they must be high enough that people of different heights can safely reach to change the belay over on the platforms. The risk of injury is much smaller in this case, and the fall factor is also better, as the climber will simply stay hanging in the wire rope without actually too much falling. Disadvantages in the form of wear and tear on carabiners and participants getting stuck in the middle of an element are the same as with the previous belay method.

3. Two carabiners with a pulley, long lanyards, varying lengths

  • A safe and operationally advantageous belay method. Carabiners with participants’ lanyards are attached to a rope through the pulley that runs along the rope and that participants carry with them. The pulley is secured to the shorter lanyard so that it won’t fall to the ground if the participant accidentally drops it. The climber places the pulley on the steel belay rope and hooks the shorter lanyard and carabiner onto the pulley under the wire rope. The climber hooks the longer lanyard and carabiner over the steel wire rope and places the carabiner at the top of the pulley so that in moving along the rope the carabiner does not wear down but rather travels along with the pulley. The advantage of this belay method is that carabiners don’t wear out by rubbing on the steel wire rope and if participants run out of strength in the middle of the element, they can just stay hanging on the wire rope and reach the other platform by simply pulling by their hands – which is easy. Intervention and rescue on the part of the instructor is thus usually not necessary. The belay rope is installed above participants’ heads and does not interfere in completing the game. Disadvantages include more difficult installation of zip wires (they have to be carefully calculated and tested, since participants can’t actively brake while riding and if they rebound after landing they can’t pull themselves back to the platform without help). This belay method has a higher learning curve than the belay using only carabiners and it requires a greater emphasis on thoroughly training participants prior to getting up on the elements. These disadvantages can be safely avoided, however, with correct installation and appropriate group organization by the instructor.  

4. Integrated pulley, carabiner, two lengths of lanyards

  • An excellent belay system, this has all the above described advantages (see above), but is simpler and with an easy learning curve thanks to the pulley integrated into the carabiner (Petzl Trac). Children may have trouble due to the more complicated workings of this pulley, so they sometimes require assistance. The pulley and lanyard are attached to the belay rope and the second slides along the rope after them. It is possible to brake on zip wires by pulling the lanyard with a carabiner, which of course causes wear on the wire rope and the carabiner. For children’s areas this system is suitable, though.

5. Continuous belay

  • An innovative and very safe belay method for ropes courses that enables participants to progress from one activity system to the next and that does not require participants to undo or change the connection to the belaying system. Practically speaking this means that participants set up the pulley (or “glider”) only at the very beginning of the track and travel through the whole track without ever disconnecting from the belay rope. It is possible to complete all the elements including zip wires in this way. The only place where you can take the pulley off the rope again is at the very end of the track. In ropes courses continuous belay is considered the safest belay method. Continuous belay for ropes courses generally comes from belay systems for ensuring safety in an industrial environment (work in industrial spaces, on roofs, in the energy industry) and not all such systems meet the norms for ropes courses. Everything has pros and cons. One of the main disadvantages is the high purchase cost and the main operating disadvantage is that participants moving more quickly on the track can’t pass up slower ones. The best systems have two parallel ropes side by side, but more often there is only one.

6. Smart Belay 

  • New in 2010. Smart belay ensures mutual communication of two carabiners by means of lanyards in such a way that if one carabiner is closed, it can’t be opened as long as the other carabiner is also open. Only when the second carabiner is safely closed can the first carabiner open. This way, there can never be a situation where the participant opens both carabiners at once and is therefore unbelayed while up on the element or a platform. The carabiners are specially constructed for ropes courses and even have integrated pulleys that can be used for all types of zip wires. For more information on this system please feel free to contact us, sales will be starting in spring 2010.

 

ASSISTED BELAY

A belay method used for instance by climbers on artificial rock climbing walls. The climber is belayed by at least one other person (or it can be more than one as well), using belay devices and a dynamic rock-climbing rope passing over the upper reversible points (reduction block). The best use for assisted belay is in the developmental ropes courses for schools and corporate groups. The principle is that while on the high elements participants are belayed by their colleagues or fellow students themselves without the assistance (but under the supervision) of the instructor, even though they have never done it before. Climbing on the elements itself follows thorough preparation by means of games, completing the low ropes course and belaying practice on a climbing simulator. Only then do the participants go up onto the high elements. The program is dynamic, takes place on more than one element at a time, and constantly rotates the positions of climber, belayer and backup belayer, so all group participants are always actively involved. We have developed a detailed method for programs with assisted belay that is suitable even for early elementary school students.

 

SAFETY NETS

The belay system we use for our children’s ropes course “Little climbers”. Safety nets are stretched under every element and in case of a fall, the climber ends up in them. This is our company’s original product and we are constantly working to develop and improve it. The greatest advantage is that the children don’t have to wear climbing gear, don’t have to learn belay methods and can pass each other on the track at will. The areas with safety nets are suitable for children 3 years and up.