Learn the autoblock or another suitable rap backup and use it EVERY SINGLE TIME you rap. It only takes a couple of seconds more.
If you are belaying a lead climber pick a stance reasonably close to the wall. This should be a no brainer but I see people #$% this up all the time. Better yet, anchor yourself and then you can escape the belay much easier (you DO know how, right?)
Ditto on the commands. Don't slack off on inspecting your buds, either.
Climbing Safety 101
On Saturday of Rocktoberfest, we (a bunch of us from Chicago, including Casamig and Merrick) had a way too 'thrilling' day at the crags. A guy got himself in a not-so-swift situation and blew while pulling up slack to clip and took a really, really long fall. He even got caught in a loop of the rope on the way down and got flipped over (along with some rope burns). Luckily, it was a slightly overhanging route with nothing to hit on the way down, because he was totally out of control and flipping because of how he fell.
It got all of us talking about saftey issues. First on our minds was the issue of falling while pulling up rope. The general consensus was that most of the time you're better off jumping than trying to make a really sketchy clip (speaking specifically about sport - for trad, it's usually better to try the clip.) I've heard about too many bad things happening with falls while clipping. One is the issue of holding the rope in your teeth while pulling up more rope, falling and forgetting to get the rope out of your mouth - the result is teeth being pulled out. The other nastiness is the issue of getting a limb or fingers caught in a loop of rope mid-air. There's a thread here somewhere about fingers getting looped in the rope and when the rope came tight the skin of the fingers was 'de-gloved', or ripped off. Tip: think through the implications of trying to make the clip, especially if it's way overhead.
One thing that came up was vocabulary. Some people just don't 'click' with climbing vocabulary. When it's the distinction between 'flash' and 'on-sight' it really doesn't matter, but when it's something like 'off belay!' that's a big deal. One really nice thing about climbing at the Red is that it's mostly single pitch cragging - you can almost always yell up/down to reconfirm what your partner is intending to do.
Speaking of 'take me off belay' - don't. In many situations, you as the belayer can keep the climber on and just feed slack. When you're pulling half the rope for a rapell, it can be a pain in the ass, but when you're cleaning anchors and lowering, just don't take the climber off - leave them on and keep your brake hand on. It will just take a minute to clean, you can wait before rooting in your pack for that energy bar.
It got all of us talking about saftey issues. First on our minds was the issue of falling while pulling up rope. The general consensus was that most of the time you're better off jumping than trying to make a really sketchy clip (speaking specifically about sport - for trad, it's usually better to try the clip.) I've heard about too many bad things happening with falls while clipping. One is the issue of holding the rope in your teeth while pulling up more rope, falling and forgetting to get the rope out of your mouth - the result is teeth being pulled out. The other nastiness is the issue of getting a limb or fingers caught in a loop of rope mid-air. There's a thread here somewhere about fingers getting looped in the rope and when the rope came tight the skin of the fingers was 'de-gloved', or ripped off. Tip: think through the implications of trying to make the clip, especially if it's way overhead.
One thing that came up was vocabulary. Some people just don't 'click' with climbing vocabulary. When it's the distinction between 'flash' and 'on-sight' it really doesn't matter, but when it's something like 'off belay!' that's a big deal. One really nice thing about climbing at the Red is that it's mostly single pitch cragging - you can almost always yell up/down to reconfirm what your partner is intending to do.
Speaking of 'take me off belay' - don't. In many situations, you as the belayer can keep the climber on and just feed slack. When you're pulling half the rope for a rapell, it can be a pain in the ass, but when you're cleaning anchors and lowering, just don't take the climber off - leave them on and keep your brake hand on. It will just take a minute to clean, you can wait before rooting in your pack for that energy bar.
Another note about double checking eachother - do it! do it! do it! I was an instructor at a small wall (about 22' high) where the climbs were obviously short, so I've tied in and/or set up a GriGri probably thousands of times. A few times in those thousands of times, I've screwed up (and, yes, you do too every so often). Sometimes I catch it myself, but no two ways about it, double checking helped alot.
And for all you beginner climbers - don't be afraid to question what more experienced (even 'expert') climbers are doing. Just ask: "That looks funny - is that how it's supposed to be?" Usually, it won't be a big deal, but once in a while you'll catch something serious.
And for all you beginner climbers - don't be afraid to question what more experienced (even 'expert') climbers are doing. Just ask: "That looks funny - is that how it's supposed to be?" Usually, it won't be a big deal, but once in a while you'll catch something serious.
Bacon is meat candy.
just skip this
I'm really new at this but I've got a great teacher(s) so here's one thing I can tell from being out the little bit I've been doing this:
If you're learning and the person you're with isn't giving you detailed instructions that you understand about EVERYTHING you're supposed to do on your climb, don't climb with them. If you've climbed up a little bit and they're shouting instructions to you that you don't understand, tell them to lower you and get off the rock until they either get a grip or until you meet someone that will teach you.
One of the things that makes rock climbing so amazing is that it is "death defying." If you don't do things right you can die very quickly. If you don't know how to do things you're very likely to do them wrong. If you are methodical, patient, and questioning you'll survive.
Kudos to whoever said, "Check everything twice two times."
Oh, yeah, make sure that the rope on the diaper-wearing-lizard-person side of the Grisgris (down in New Orleans that means a bag of spices and voodoo magic) is the rope going to the climber. That's important.
I would like to add that this is one of the best sports in existence and we should all always be looking out for each other. If the people climbing next to you are f***ing up, call them on it. Better to bruise some egos than have a broken body on the rocks.
If you're learning and the person you're with isn't giving you detailed instructions that you understand about EVERYTHING you're supposed to do on your climb, don't climb with them. If you've climbed up a little bit and they're shouting instructions to you that you don't understand, tell them to lower you and get off the rock until they either get a grip or until you meet someone that will teach you.
One of the things that makes rock climbing so amazing is that it is "death defying." If you don't do things right you can die very quickly. If you don't know how to do things you're very likely to do them wrong. If you are methodical, patient, and questioning you'll survive.
Kudos to whoever said, "Check everything twice two times."
Oh, yeah, make sure that the rope on the diaper-wearing-lizard-person side of the Grisgris (down in New Orleans that means a bag of spices and voodoo magic) is the rope going to the climber. That's important.
I would like to add that this is one of the best sports in existence and we should all always be looking out for each other. If the people climbing next to you are f***ing up, call them on it. Better to bruise some egos than have a broken body on the rocks.
[size=75]You are as bad as Alan, and even he hits the mark sometimes. -charlie
"Not all conservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill[/size]
"Not all conservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill[/size]
Being that not so swift guy who took that really really long fall with Tomdarch, I will not be offering any advice on safety.
However, if anybody is feeling like they are getting lazy in their safety, climbing with me seems to be a cure for a lot of people.
However, if anybody is feeling like they are getting lazy in their safety, climbing with me seems to be a cure for a lot of people.
Yasmeen wrote:
Hey Scaife-- why'd you capitalize Trad, but not sport? Are you trying to stir the shit pot or what?
Hey Scaife-- why'd you capitalize Trad, but not sport? Are you trying to stir the shit pot or what?
i picked up a good one this summer.
when letting your partner who is leading know that they have reached the halfway point on the rope, don't yell halfway. it sounds like off-belay. instead yell 100ft (if it is a 60).
and let me add some redundency by saying check everything twice!
when letting your partner who is leading know that they have reached the halfway point on the rope, don't yell halfway. it sounds like off-belay. instead yell 100ft (if it is a 60).
and let me add some redundency by saying check everything twice!
Back from the Dead!
Check, check again, recheck, check... one last check... check again......ok ready to go... check one more time.... go. So far it's worked for me. Far as others, I'm already in the habit of checking them by glancing over while their tying in and such. Do it enough and it becomes easy to spot errors. Checking everything multiple times doesn't take more then a few seconds and keeps you focused on safety. Obviously there are always chances to overlook things, but that's why you need reliable trustworthy partners so the chance of both missing something is slim.