RRC Archives

Everyone hates being tight roped. But how does it happen? This has confused me for the longest time but I think I finally get it.

I've climbed with experienced belayers/climbers who feed me tons of rope when I fall but I still get tight roped. - Tons of rope out during a fall does not mean the climber won't be short roped.

I used to think if I was on a steep route that I couldn't be tight roped. - This is not true and I have been short roped falling on steep routes.

From my experience, the best way to prevent tight roping a climber is to jump when they fall at just the right time so that the swing force of their fall is lessened. By jumping up at the same time that they begin to weight the rope during their fall, the climber's momentum will fall directly down instead of swinging back into the wall.

What are your tips and tricks for preventing tight roping?

Okay, now I'M confused. In my experience, short-roping is when a leader pulls the rope to clip a draw and the belayer does not give him enough rope to pull/clip, therefore resulting in a 'short-rope'. I didn't know the term was also used during falls.

Losing 10lbs this summer helped me!

I'm glad you're bringing this up because I had the idea that if I had enough slack out (at a point I knew my climber wouldn't deck), I thought I would give a soft catch.

HA! I'm confused too!

I guess it's used to describe different things. What I'm talking about is when you fall and slam your feet into the wall.

i think more rope out usually does mean you don't get short roped due to the increased amount of force on the belayer, which pulls them up in the air some and decreases the abrupt stop of the faller...unless the belayer is fat.

Okay, then in that case, here's my advice. Climb with someone who weighs more than you do. On a steep route, belay using a gri-gri. Watch intently and when you see your climber fall, lock the gri-gri and hold on for the ride, WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Oh wait, that only worked on top rope in the gym.... nm.

I think "tight roped" is the phrase you are looking for, Arstay. Short roped is when the belayer doesn't give you enough rope to clip with.

Jumping is OK, but the timing is hard. I just try to "make myself light", by getting my weight on the balls of my feet, and letting the rope pull me up as the leader is falling. If the leader is really light, then I give a little jump as the rope start to pull me.

Wes

If the belayer stays on the ground during a fall, the leader will almost always hit the wall, end of sentence. On super steep rock, extra slack will keep you from hitting the wall but it does not give you a "soft" catch, especially if you are climbing on a big beefy rope with little stretch. It just puts you so far away from the rock there is no chance of hitting it, but it will still feel like your spine is poking through the top of your skull and your kidneys are in your ears. Slack in the rope does not equal a soft catch. The belayer has to leave the ground to dissipate the force of the fall and kill the swing. I actually TAKE IN rope when Corey is going to fall because I know that when he hits the end of the rope, I am leaving the ground and he gets a soft catch.

Mj

I think if the belayer has enough rope out to give you a softer catch, so that you don't deck, it's mainly up to the climber to fall "properly". Knowing when a climber is going to fall and timing a jump at exactly the right time won't happen very often. If you push off or kick off the wall with a lot of force when you fall, there is a greater chance of coming back into the wall when the rope comes tight. Is this something that you consciously do when you are off a climb that is forecfully pushing off? As mentioned, I've referred to short-roping as belayer not giving enough slack when needed, which is different than what you are talking about.

so, what do sport crag people do when doing multi-pitch... with hanging belays?