Learn To Belay Clinic

Wellness and Recreation is running a series of Learn To Belay Clinics at the Carmichael Gym Climbing Center this fall, starting Friday, October 16. It's a beginner-friendly clinic for anyone who wants to learn how to belay safely. If you've been climbing but still need someone else to hold the rope for you, this is the way to get on the other end of it.

The clinic is straightforward: you'll walk through the fundamentals of belaying—the knots, the device, the movement—and then take a skills test. If you pass, you earn your belay card, which gives you independent belaying privileges at the Climbing Center. Once you have that card, you can bring your own partner and climb without needing a staff member to belay you.

They've scheduled six different sessions over the next few weeks, so you can pick the one that fits your schedule. There are midday slots on Fridays and evening slots on Wednesdays. The Friday sessions run from 12 PM to 2 PM on October 16, October 30, and November 13. The Wednesday sessions run from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM on October 21, November 4, and November 18. Each one is two hours long.

The sessions are open to students, alumni, staff, faculty, and postdocs, and they all take place at the Carmichael Gym Climbing Center, 2611 Cates Ave. in Raleigh. Each clinic costs $25.