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Jay
Trad climber
Fort Mill, SC
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 8, 2014 - 01:34pm PT
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I’ve been climbing for 20 years although I've had some close calls, this was a first for me. I decided to write this up to get it off my chest and talk about it with folks who understand, can help me (and others) make sense of it, maybe make better choices, be more proactive and ultimately safe.
I was 35 feet up a sport climb with my beloved 15 year old son belaying me with an ATC. I fell, the rope jerked out of his right hand from the belay device being affected by the forces on the rope, he vainly tried to hold the rope flowing out of the device with his left and I hit the deck. Lucky for both of us all I got was a slightly sprained ankle, bruised heel, couple of scrapes and a good jarring of my back. My feet hit first and my rear hit my heels as I rolled backward on (what felt like) soft dirt. Seriously I didn’t know dirt was so soft until I hit it hard! There were some boulders at the base, but I missed them entirely. Turns out that his injury was more debilitating than mine as he got a pretty good rope burn on his hand. He couldn’t climb with it but he could belay, albeit painfully. Switching the ATC out for a GriGri2 that someone let us borrow he belayed me back up the climb and I made it to the top.
The reason that I fell to the ground is simple, he just wasn’t paying attention.
Before this I hadn’t taken a "real" lead fall with him on belay as I usually climb well within my limits when he’s my partner, but this time I decided to try something harder. He has belayed me for the last 18 months fairly regularly and hasn’t had a problem, but this was the first time he dealt with a lead fall outdoors and not in a controlled fall setting (like taking the lead belay test at the gym). He’s only 15 and not yet completely out of the age when a boy think’s his father is invincible. Did he think I would never fall? If you asked him he would say “no”, but the fact is he had never seen me fall, until now.
Maybe I was being naïve, but I thought he was prepared. After what just happened I realize he wasn’t. As a father I feel horrible I didn’t give him more training and apply more rigor to his learning process. I look at this as a learning experience for both of us. You simply must have absolute trust in your belayer, not because they desire to keep you safe, but that they have the necessary skills AND that they will be 100% attentive to your safety. After all belaying is not a feeling, it’s a combination of skills and action. It kills me (and him too) that he was simply not paying attention. As a father and climbing mentor it is MY responsibility to do everything within reason to instill attentiveness in him. If things had turned out worse I don’t know if he would have been able to forgive himself. Not only that but my wife and rest of the family (had I died or became disabled) would have been devastated. Let’s face it I got LUCKY and so did my son.
Before the climbing started I asked him to watch me as there was a higher chance on this climb that I would fall. I also communicated to “watch me” as I climbed above my 3rd clip, but I was not 100% sure that he ‘heard’ me. Now that I know he was ‘off in space’ it’s clear to me that he didn’t really hear me.
What have I decided so far?
1. Train and drill him for belay attentiveness and awareness
2. Confirm communication more rigorously with him (or anyone) as I climb
3. He will use a GriGri for lead belaying from now on which will take some getting used to
My question now is, what can be done to avoid belayer boredom to instill more attentiveness and more safety into this rather dangerous sport? All thoughts on this subject are welcome.
As a side note, I’m pissed that I didn’t get the on-sight. I fell because I got off-route and into a tough stance. 2nd time up I did it differently and it didn’t need to be as hard as I made it.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Something we practiced often back in the Sixties as beginners and intermediates, was actually setting up dynamic belays from tree limbs and jumping on the belayer. something like five to ten feet of slack out, top point at one's feet. It really made clear what the situation was all about.
No better lesson than an object lesson.
Note that those would be approaching Category 2 falls.
As much as people bitch about GriGris here, I certainly differ and advocate them and use them. Especially with a less experienced partner or a light partner.
And no matter what, the leader is the leader and has to also be checking out what the belayer is up to whenever possible. It is a basic.
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fear
Ice climber
hartford, ct
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Well, Thank God this was a tough lesson with an excellent outcome.
I think many people don't understand the gravity(pun intended) and responsibility of belaying. It really is a loaded gun that can, and has, killed both.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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I climb a lot with my 13 year old son and have done a lot of trad and ice. I worry about the same thing at times and used to have him use a gri gri. He does not like it and when on multi pitch it does seem to make things more complicated when the ledges are small. We also use twin ropes a fair bit so a gri gri is not an option in this case. Ultimately your partner needs to be trained to hold on no matter what. I put a link to this on his facebook page and hope that he reads it. Glad everyone was OK thanks for your honesty. Mike
Also I think if you can push yourself on routes where the Crux is up high with better gear you lessen the impact forces on someone smaller than you, but you don't always have that choice.
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dirt claud
Social climber
san diego,ca
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Thanks for the story Jay, good reminder to keep us on our toes. Can't really say I have anything to add except to maybe review and talk about some of the climbing accidents that have happened so your son is aware of how often and how easily it can happen. Make him aware that experience is not everything when it comes to safety in climbing, it's being attentive 100% of the time. Glad you and the kid are alright.
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Mtnmun
Trad climber
Top of the Mountain Mun
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I'm glad you are ok as well. I had a similar thing happen when I trained my daughter to use a Gri Gri while teaching her to ice climb in Ouray. I skipped the step of taking practice falls with her. When I reached the top and she was to lower me, she forgot to take her hand off of the lever. I fell about 15 ft and then the device engaged before I decked. She was launched in the air and we met face to face. I learned an important lesson that day about taking the time to make sure every safety step is clear and double checked.
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Firstly, glad you are OK. Second, if this hasn't taught him to never be bored as a belayer, I don't know what would.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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This is a good reminder for me, with a 12 year old son taking belay duty on occasion. I've backed off of moderate stuff when I thought I might fall, not wanting to test him and me at the same time. Next few years will be that critical time when I might be tempted to push it more, not fully respecting the maturity level and distractabity of teens, especially when the basic skills of belaying become familiar.
Thanks for sharing-
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Magic Ed
Trad climber
Nuevo Leon, Mexico
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Using a gri-gri would have probably (no 100% guarantee) prevented both the ground fall and the rope burn. But, it's important for every climber to be proficient with an atc and the munter hitch as well.
Gotta keep drilling in the basics: 100% attention on your leader at all times.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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I think another thing that has happened is skinnier ropes take more strength to hold onto. Put any belayer on a fuzzy 11mil and not much rope is going to go through.
Also I don't like using a gri gri when ice climbing. I think it does funny things on iced up ropes.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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big top rope falls with him locked off and you just a foot above a sandy landing area can generate a lot of force to at least get the idea. Then up the ante with short falls where he's ready to take it. Then big air clean falls.
Agree with Peter above.
My mentor tested me with short falls and I've tested my SO.
And we still use gri gris.
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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I wouldn't give up on the ATC completely. Like Peter says above, figure out a way to practice how to catch a fall.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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I was wondering about the whole practice falling thing. how would one set that up? I like going up not down. Like Jay I have been holding onto the leader must not fall routine with my son, but you never know just like Jay found out.
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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+10 being glad you are both (mostly) OK. Falls happen, or we would only use ropes to rappel. My 2c is not exactly the same as other posters above. True, it would be ideal if no belayer were ever bored or inattentive, but that is unachievable. For me, climbing would lose a lot of its enjoyment if I couldn't enjoy the surroundings while the leader dithers. On a longer climb, you can't waste time eating and drinking except while belaying, so 100% attention to belaying becomes a safety hazard by delaying the climbing.
What is easily achievable is to lock off the rope instantly when finished paying out rope. Then, the belay will hold even if you're inattentive, and maybe even if you've dozed off. For that moment when you pay out some rope, you're automatically attentive. Right after, your son can get back to the vitally important teenage job of scoping the chick in lycra (well, BITD) on the next route over, or protecting lunch from the next party's dog.
A Grigri is a great solution for half-pitch climbing, but you have to have an ingrained habit of using an ATC or equivalent correctly and not have to think about it. Locking it off at all times is easy to get used to.
Back in the hip belay era, the belayer had to be more on the job than with devices, but the leading happened faster and not many falls were taken. Doesn't matter; that's history except for momentary use in alpine settings.
Edit to add: true, practicing catching falls is useful, but it is a totally artificial situation, because the belayer is totally attentive and knows what's about to happen. Wouldn't have helped a bit with the anecdote the OP started with.
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Roxy
Trad climber
CA Central Coast
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YIKES!!
your bored belayer may have had what alcoholics call a moment of clarity.
Glad you're ok, and thanks for sharing your story.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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As President For Life of the Terrephobia Club let me extend our heartfelt
thankfulness that you learned relatively cheaply. I can't add much to the
wisdom already expressed so I'll just extend an invitation to our therapy
sessions at sundry bowling alleys and pool halls.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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I'm really glad you are mostly ok. You have done the climbing community a service by telling your story.
I think most newer climbers have no idea how easy it is for someone to deck. Everytime I'm in the gym I see Situations where I know that if the climber fell, he/she would hit the floor. Sad and frustrating.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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It's developmental....attention spans aren't, and never will be, great at that age. If we had a teenager (boys in particular) on a climb when I guided for Exum, we put him at the end so he only had to climb and daydreaming, nose picking and sessions of pocketball didn't create dangerous situations.
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dave729
Trad climber
Western America
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forcefully remind the belayer that it is his/her punishment
to do their best imitation of a crash pad if they screw up
and let the rope slip.
Anchoring them in such a way that they cannot dodge
to the side helps to.
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