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boork
Mountain climber
El Cerrito, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 16, 2012 - 10:55am PT
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... at a local sport crag this weekend (the grotto, CA, Sierra foothills)
While my group was packing up, three guys showed up to climb. I didn't realize it at first, but there was one leader - who looked like a really competent climber - and two guys who seemed like they had never climbed before. So far as I could tell - and I wasn't paying that close attention at first - the leader rigged one of these poor guys with a bucket and started climbing. He didn't really explain any belay technique until he was already past the second bolt, and then he tried to explain it from up on the wall. This didn't work so well, his friends didn't really get it, so then he yelled out at the rest of us at the crag: "Hey, can someone teach him how to belay?"
My first response was to yell, "No!" and get the hell out as fast as possible; we were already done for the day and were getting ready to leave. But one of my friends, who is either kinder than I am - or maybe just more tolerant of crazy - went over to help, so we belayed the guy to the top. When he came down, I told the three of them that I personally would never lead climb with someone who didn't know how to belay (and working with the guys on the ground it was clear that they didn't even know how to belay a top-rope). The leader responded with: "Well, I basically free-solo this." Admittedly, it was an easy route for him (a 5.9 sport, and softly graded at that), which must have made the whole thing ok in his mind I guess.
Personally, I think this is kind a crappy thing to do - first by putting your buddies in a position of responsibility for your life without giving them any tools or knowledge, and then second, by asking someone else to take on that responsibility when you're already halfway up the wall. I don't care how good you are, that seems at best inconsiderate, and at worst, lethal. But then again, I'm relatively new to climbing, and I'm really cautious, so maybe I'm over-reacting?? Regardless, it seemed like a situation that was gonna end in disaster, so we left quickly after that.
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WBraun
climber
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Jan 16, 2012 - 11:51am PT
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I used to do it all the time.
I hand the rope to some wannabee belayer (anyone off the street) and tell em to just feed it out of the stacked rope on the ground.
No need for a belay device just grab the rope with your bare hands if something goes wrong .....
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murcy
Gym climber
sanfrancisco
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Jan 16, 2012 - 11:55am PT
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Isn't that called "guiding"?
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jfs
Trad climber
Upper Leftish
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Jan 16, 2012 - 12:19pm PT
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Isn't that called "guiding"? Ha!
Yup.
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boork
Mountain climber
El Cerrito, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 16, 2012 - 12:37pm PT
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I don't know his name - we left as soon as we could after that. The "competent' fellow also made some vaguely rude comments to my friends, so we weren't in a hurry to stay. He didn't seem like a very likeable guy.
Haha, yeah, the thought did occur to me that guides will run up stuff on questionable belays. Although I've never personally had a guide that acted like this guy (then again, I don't have much experience with guides either)
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jfs
Trad climber
Upper Leftish
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Jan 16, 2012 - 12:40pm PT
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Well...to the extent that a guide would have been able to successfully instruct the students and not involve bystanders unnecessarily...then yeah...
although...by "successfully"...i mean just not doing anything that actually kills the guide.
#1 rule: client is always trying to kill the guide
#2 rule: client is always trying to kill themselves
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| Messages 1 - 6 of total 6 in this topic |
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