I agree... I don't like to have a loop of extra rope at all, really. I think it's a bad habit to get into, because it is a passive technique (as opposed to actively watching a climber and adjusting your 'hop' accordingly). Also, when there's a big weight differential (small belayer & heavy climber) you're setting yourself for huge fall time--unless you adjust that damn loop to the climber's weight.GWG wrote:Sorry if it wasn't clear. Toad857 interpreted my ramblings correctly, the belayer has provided some slack in order to prevent the slingshot effect into the wall. If the climber falls, the belayer either takes a step forward or does the jump thus providing the soft catch. After the catch, they then lower the climber down if they don't want to get back on the wall.toad857 wrote:
I think you may have misinterpreted what he was describing... From how I took it, I think he meant that the belayer would allow some extra rope (thus, extra fall time) to buffer the fall against a static catch. A static catch would sling a climber directly into the wall, breaking ankles. And, yes, I agree with you that anchoring into the floor while lead belaying is typically unwise. I've never seen a gym enforce something like that, though.
It can look as if it's one motion because the belayer provides the soft catch and then starts to lower almost instantaneously.
What I'm referring to is that for the inexperienced lead belayer who observes this, they may see it as starting to feed the rope during the fall. Couple that with their instinctive reaction to step BACK and not towards the climber, all sorts of possibilities exist. That's the problem!
At the gym that I climb, there are no anchors in the floor.
The bottom line that I'm trying to convey is that with all the new "participants" in this "activity", trying to imitate those around them without understanding what it is they're doing or why can certainly lead to a bad situation.
Things accelerate exponentially, and the human mind doesn't typically work that way--we think linearly. (In other words, the first 0.1 second of a fall may only drop a climber a few feet... but an extra 0.1 second tacked on to the end of an accelerating climber's fall can send them an extra 10 feet down. Yikes.)
Things accelerate exponentially.
If a climber falls from 10 feet, you have exactly 0.78 seconds before they collide with the ground.
If a climber falls from 40 feet, you have exactly 1.57 seconds before they collide with the ground.
1.57 seconds--and that's at maximum velocity. In order to totally prevent the climber from touching the ground, factoring in the rope stretch, and the dynamic belay, you have much less than a second to react. Less than one second.... and Bruce Lee does not belay.
So... what I'm trying to say is.... I don't really like to see a big loop of extra rope when I'm, say, 70 feet or less above the ground.
