Belayed by a much lighter climber

[kneebar]

I have had the crap knocked out of me from big climbers during a fall. No need for me to jump up to give a soft catch. If I'm worried about the "destination" I will likely get to when fat-ass whips, I just tie-in from the belay loop to a tree or whatever with 2-3 feet of slack so I act as somewhat of a shock absorber. You need to project your launch path to be sure it dosen't get caught between your your legs, etc.

I have wanted to let the "big guy" belay sometime, tie a 55 gallon drum of sand to the other end and toss it off a cliff just to let them enjoy the ride!

Hope you heal up Yas!

[IndyRick]

Not to mention the multi-pitch trad climbers who still do it every day.

Do most multi-pitch climbers tie in with slings or do they use a clover hitch on their end of the rope (as well as a secondary sling for backup)? The one time that I actually did multi, I used the clover hitch.

If they are using the clover hitch on the dynamic rope, that would take up some of the shock. I'm assuming that nylon runners are more static.

Being a gentleman of girth (hehehe), I'm a little bit interested in not killing my belayers.

[ynot]

I almost always hook in with anything handy and belay off whatever anchor I'm using so I can move around and don't have someone hanging off of me. makes it easier to lead off again too. I only use the rope if the anchor is well away from where I need to belay and then I'm belaying off my harness.

[Pru]

To answer your original question, though, I don't think I would have let go, since everything tensed up and I was in the brake position, but perhaps since an ATC isn't auto-locking, the weight differential would've ripped the rope through the device and given me rope burn? I've never caught someone with that large of a weight differential on an ATC when their feet were at the 2nd bolt, so I can't say exactly.

I have, and I've caught lead falls plenty of times--normally without incident. However, the last time I did this, the much larger climber landed on my head and I have permanent neck injuries (yes, plural) as a result. I belay with a rappel device and I'm convinced I won't let go even if I die, but I'm not belaying heavier climbers on lead anymore. The ATC brakes and holds just fine so long as you are competent with it, but little bodies aren't designed to withstand those kinds of collisions.

[512OW]

Climbing is an inherently dangerous sport.

Period.

Even when doing things the best and safest way (which definitely does not include anchoring your belayer), bad things can still happen.

You're not playin checkers, people....

[kek-san]

Climbing is an inherently dangerous sport.

Period.

Even when doing things the best and safest way (which definitely does not include anchoring your belayer), bad things can still happen.

You're not playin checkers, people....

True. But, I think the idea of the thread was to inform people of an often misunderstood or unconsidered risk. As we all like to climb and would like to continue doing so we should make an effort to minimize our own personal risks.

For Yasi, this mean not belaying anyone in team FA (or at least without being tied down). For me this means not having anyone Yasi's size belaying me (without being tied down).

Period.

[caribe]

I think that anchoring the balayer will not be a problem on sport routes. ben kenobi's tests at muir quantitatively measure the force generated by a 50 foot fall and measured the distribution between the force on balay and leader. I can't remember what the numbers were, but I do remember that they were no where near the specs.

[Yasmeen]

Well said, kek-san.

[TradMike]

If you do have to tie in leave some slack in the tie-in; enough so you don't hit something and enough to cushion the fall. The loads do skyrocket when there's no slack for the belayer to move up during a fall. The less rope you have out the higher the load. A fall factor 1 low on the route is much worse than a fall factor 1 high on the route. Add a rope that hasn't recovered from a previous fall and it's much worse. Multi-pitch trad climbers even have room to move up a few feet from a belay unless they placed a directional to stop that. My old partner weighed 220 and I'm 175. We started popping trad gear and breaking rock when I tied in tight without any slack to move up if it was a fall low on the route. More than likely wouldn't fail a bolt though. It's not usually one thing that get's you but those perfect storms where several factors come together that are a bitch.

[Pru]

when I climb multipitch trad, the lead line is always redirected so the belayer doesn't withstand any fall forces. That's the way I was taught and it makes better sense than jerking your belayer all over the place on what might be a really shitty belay stance or hanging belay.