RRC Archives

I used an ATC all weekend and it was nice to have that attentive feeling back again......the way belaying should be. Like I had a grenade in my hand that would explode if I let it go. I can belay so much better with one too. I felt like I was always short roping with the gri-gri because the rope would curl up and refuse to feed through every once in awhile.

That rope curl is a major pain in the butt. I find myself having to pull the whole rope through the anchors every few climbs trying to get the twist out of it, and then it comes right back again. Don't you run into the same thing with an ATC?

ZSpider

Nope. I've never experienced the rope curl in all my years of climbing until I started using a gri-gri. I've never experienced a lot of annoying stuff until I started using a gri-gri.

I get that curl going using only an ATC. I think it is due to all the rapping in I been doing at Buzzards.It's annoying when you are belaying.

annoying stuff? like hemorrhoids?

I was almost dropped by a very experienced climber/belayer using an ATC type device. Sometimes I wonder if this person learned anything from this near disaster. I have never been almost dropped by anyone using a Gri-Gri. All things being equal, I think an experienced belayer with a Gri-Gri is the safest. It's like having anti-locking brakes. When they first came out drivers complained that their brakes weren't working properly. When they stepped on the brakes hard the brake pedal would pulse. Had they bothered to read the owners manual they would have learned that is how the system works. Most people don't read manuals of any kind. Also, I don't let gumbies belay me.

I almost dropped you with an ATC. That was the only time I've almost dropped anyone. I think the reason that happened was due to standing on that hillside trying to belay. In that case a Gri-Gri would've been a better choice due to the unstable stance I had.

Nothing has scared me more than almost completely taking my brake hand off while lowering someone using an ATC though.

Since you reminded me of that incident I'm thinking that maybe the best solution for me would be to use a gri-gri but try to treat it like an ATC. This would prevent me from developing bad engrams. Maybe that's what everyone should do? Use a gri-gri but use it as carefully as an ATC?

SCIN, this was what I was trying to suggest in my post earlier. I use the gri-gri exclusively for crag climbing but I treat it like an ATC. I treat the brake hand like a brake hand, I never got comfortable doing it any other way.

Getting slack out with that method is a pain.

Lateralus wrote:SCIN, this was what I was trying to suggest in my post earlier. I use the gri-gri exclusively for crag climbing but I treat it like an ATC. I treat the brake hand like a brake hand, I never got comfortable doing it any other way.

Cool. I think I'm gonna try that.