Whats a running belay?
A running belay (note that this not a proper noun) is any lead belay. However, the term running belay is often used to mean the Stone Mountain Running Belay, a technique originated on the slabs of Stone Mountain in North Carolina. Stone Mountain is a giant granite slab, which means its angle is less than vertical. SMs other feature is its often confounding lack of holds. Luckily, its low angle makes it possible for climbers to almost magically stick to the rock with good technique keeping the weight over the feet and using balance to ascend. Back in the days when routes at SM were being developed, first ascenionists drilled bolts to protect the featureless rock. They drilled them by hand and on lead, which means they needed a stance good enough to do so. Those stances are few and far between at SM, and likewise the bolts, which means potential fall distances are huge. The angle of the wall, however, makes the actual falling speed relatively slow. So slow, in fact, it gives the belayer
