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The person who tied the knot is responsible. I say this because if you take a bunch of kids out and tie them all in and the knot fails it was your fault.

But if the climber ties his/her own knot and the knot fails it doesn't matter what the belayer did. Ultimately we are all responsible for our ownselves in climbing. Fallen climbers should not sue their belayers because of a bad catch.If a person picked a bad belayer then once again, that was their responsiblilty to find a competent belayer. THey made the choice to climb. It's all about judgement and choices, not about finding who else is to blame.

That's not to say if you are a belayer you are absolved of responsiblilty, but a climber who gets injured should not go looking to pin blame on anyone unless there was malicious intent involved in the incident.

I also believe there are no accidents in climbing. All pilot error, if you get swept away by an act of God, you still chose to go into the path of potential danger. No one's fault but your own.

Where's the option for "Gravity's to blame"?

Crankmas wrote:I would blame Flubba Clinton because he could have checked the knot while he wasn't having sex with "that woman"

your trolling hard today.

The climber is not looking for someone to pin blame on. He's still somewhat in shock, doesn't remember falling, and can't seem to understand how he could have not tied his knot. He figures he got distracted by some "babe" while tying in and then proceeded straight to the wall. The climb he was attempting had given him problems last time he was on it so he was really focusing on the moves prior to starting up the wall.

Unfortunately, there is injury to his lower back but no paralysis. He hopes to be back in the harness in short order. Has some serious ice to tackle later this year.

this happen at a gym louisville? yipes! makes me cringe to think about!

Wow GWG, glad to hear you're getting outside but what a way to get introduced to your new partners. At least they were lucky enough to have you nearby. Glad nobody got seriously hurt; especially 'your' psyche.

My answer...it takes two to tango in this game of sport. There should always be communication between climber and belayer, each should check the other as well as themselves, and each should be focused before leaving the deck. And I don't believe you can place blame in this situation (or any similar). Read the rules, it's a dangerous sport that requires deligent observance, with a possibility of death every time we rope up.

PA or the Gunks?

GWG wrote:The climber is not looking for someone to pin blame on.

Didn't mean to say that in this particular case, just hypothetically...

I still think it's the individual climber's responsiblilty. If you notice that your belayer doesn't double check everything, then maybe you should talk to them. But even still, if you don't check your own knot, why would you expect someone else to do it for you?

Is this a trick question? Something like if a climber falls in the woods and nobody hears, do they make a sound?

I'll have to think it over.

ZSpiddy

i voted both when i first read the report. after coming back to it i think its the climber. yes climbing is about partnerships and double checking and blah blah blah but in the end its the climber that has to take responsibility for their own safety.

I realized I forgot to tie in all the way once. I was on party time and I'm glad it was a top out trad line instead of a sport route - oh and that i didn't fall or take on too. But it was totally my responsibility - responsibilty lies whith whomever is gonna end up ass-busted. That's a legal definition i think.