At Head Rush Technologies, our mission is to empower epic adventures. We work hard to provide our partners with the resources they need to create the most memorable climb, zip, and jump experiences for their guests. As a global leader in the adventure industry, we engineer our devices to the highest standards of safety and quality. Head Rush products are manufactured in the USA, at our company headquarters in Louisville, Colorado.

The original recreational auto belay had a problem: it wasn’t built for climbers. Instead of catering to the unique movements and challenges presented by the sport, this early model was repurposed from an industrial safety descent device. Very little attention was paid to how the device felt when someone was actually climbing. Climbers, especially lighter climbers, weren’t really moving under their own power. They were being pulled up the wall.

In 2009, our engineers at Head Rush Technologies went to work on a solution. We weren’t coming at the problem from an industrial background. We were just a rowdy bunch of climbers, skiers, and all-around outdoor enthusiasts, looking to make something we would want to use on our own adventures.

We designed the TRUBLUE Auto Belay from the ground up – an auto belay made by climbers, for climbers.

As the name suggests, TRUBLUE was engineered for a “true” climbing feel.

In climbing, feel is everything. Tiny shifts in weight or body position can make the difference between climbing and falling. Learning to read these subtleties and adapt to different challenges is what makes climbing such a unique, compelling, and addictive activity.

Our engineers set about creating an auto belay capable of protecting the nastiest whips, while still delivering that all-important true climbing feel.

We started by working on the ascent problem. Our goal with TRUBLUE was for climbers to only feel the presence of the auto belay on their harness when they needed it most (i.e. fall or descent). To do this, we developed a specially built retraction spring, carefully calibrated to react to a climber’s movements, without giving any unwanted pull. Our goal was to engineer the perfect belay.

The response was overwhelmingly positive.

Climbers of every size and shape were free to climb the way they had always wanted: unencumbered. Suddenly, climbers of all abilities had a new partner — a partner that always paid attention, never got tired, and still managed to provide the truest climbing feel possible.

What goes up, must come down.

For climbers, coming down can take on any number of forms, ranging from the routine (slipping, dropping, letting go) to the dramatic (falling, crashing, spiraling out of control). Our goal was to engineer an auto belay braking system that gave a soft, comfortable catch to everyone, regardless of how much they weighed or how hard they fell.

Before TRUBLUE came along, there were only two auto belay braking options: hydraulic and brake pads. Both were far from perfect. Hydraulics were reliable, but jarring and hard on falling climbers. They were also extremely heavy and difficult to transport. Brake pads wore out with regular use and did not respond well to the types of dynamic movements that were common in climbing.

There had to be a better way.

The answer was magnetic braking. By creating something called an “eddy current,” you can slow the velocity of an object in a controlled and consistent manner. This is the same braking methodology that can be found in elevators, high speed trains, and roller coasters.

With magnetic braking, everyone — no matter how big or small — is lowered at the same, consistent rate of descent. It might not seem like such a big deal on paper, but when you’re being lowered down from 60 feet, a little consistency goes a long way towards setting your mind at ease.

As an added bonus, magnetic braking systems are also extremely low maintenance and long lasting. Since no friction is created by the opposing magnetic fields, less strain is placed on the internal auto belay parts and there’s no need for wasteful sacrificial parts like brake pads.

After the initial success of the TRUBLUE Auto Belay, we started looking for other applications for our technology. By that point, we were so convinced that magnetic braking was the best braking system out there that we wanted to see it used in every corner of the adventure industry.

We put magnetic braking to work in the zipSTOP zip line brake and then again in the QUICKjump Free Fall device (later rebranded to the QuickFlight free fall device). In both cases, the soft catch and gradual stop went a long way towards improving the rider experience.

Zip liners no longer had to stop by slamming into the end of the line. ZipSTOP regulated the stop, bringing riders to a gradual stop on the landing platform. Plus, the slow down area was consistent for different sizes of riders, making the dismounting process easier and safer for zip line operators.

With QuickFlight, adventure parks could provide the type of adrenaline rush that thrill-seekers could previously only get through dangerous activities like bungee jumping or sky diving, but in a safe and controlled environment.