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G_Gnome
Boulder climber
Sick Midget Land
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Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 6, 2007 - 01:30pm PT
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Should I have been scared? I had a red camelot and sat on a ledge to belay. I could have been pulled off except for the size of the feet I was standing on. Oh, and the chance of my second falling was about 0.000000000000001. Was this safe?
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scuffy b
climber
The town that Nature forgot to hate
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What if you'd been hit by a comet?
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Out on the sand, Man.....
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thrillseeker!
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Was it a hip belay? Not really much of a thrillseeker if not...
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
Arid-zona
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If you were drunk then this sounds perfectly safe.
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
St. Looney
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The only problem I see with this set up is that you used the RED cam. Everyone knows red means danger. Next time go with the green. You're welcome.
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JuanDeFuca
Big Wall climber
Stoney Point
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I once belayed off a single #4 Friend 1200 ft up 1/2 Dome and my partner had a cow.
He had no understanding of the term Bomber Placement.
JDF
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pc
climber
East of Seattle
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Probably easier to set up the equalette that way, eh?
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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He had no understanding of the term Bomber Placement.
I hate when that happens, 1200 feet up Half Dome.
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dirtineye
Trad climber
the south
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How can you be standing on feet and sitting on a ledge at the same time?
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jstan
climber
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Even though your post appears facetious, it is a very good question.
Because it is easier to do so, I will violate some statistical principles here. If you have never been pulled off a sitting belay and you have done it 1000 times then on average your risk is something like 0.1%. If your goal is to climb every day for thirty years and die only once, then your average risk per day has to be something like 1/(30*300) or 0.01%. So the question you have posed is, is the risk of the camelot pulling less than the additional factor of ten you need? Is the average risk of it pulling less than 10%? I would suggest you throw in another factor of ten (since you use protection more than once a day) and ask if, on average, you think you could fall on your placement 100 times without it failing. After you have made a few thousand placements that have borne weight you have some data. But I found when looking at a placement, it was helpful to ask if I thought I was willing to fall on it 100 times. Now counting on your partner has a built-in trap. While you are counting on him not to fall, he may be counting on you to catch him. I suggest leaving that factor out of your calculation.
Direction of pull is an important variable when assessing security. Anytime a piece HAS to be good and particularly if you are not positive about how the force may change direction, you need to make it omnidirectional. It is not optional.
OK. Now you folks can go back to the more interesting replies.
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G_Gnome
Boulder climber
Sick Midget Land
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 6, 2007 - 02:11pm PT
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I was hip belaying in the gym the other night and they made me leave. Cowards. Just because they never learned good skills is no reason to penalize those of us who did.
And of course I was drunk. I strive to be drunk on life at all times. Silly question!
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G_Gnome
Boulder climber
Sick Midget Land
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 6, 2007 - 02:15pm PT
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Well Jstan, you bring up some interesting points. I have been climbing over 30 years and am not dead, that I know of, so my pro must generally be good enough. In this case my partner was a she and she didn't care if I only had one piece in. I would fall on this piece a million times and it would never fail so that ups the odds considerably. I was worried about that comet hitting me though.
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JuanDeFuca
Big Wall climber
Stoney Point
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I have also rappelled more than once of single 1/4" Rawl.
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jstan
climber
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Great! I have found the best way periodically to assess whether I am still alive is always to carry a small mirror. If it fogs up you are good to go.
Oh and JDF. Have you left a supply of posts in your safe deposit box that can be sent in after you are gone?
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scuffy b
climber
The town that Nature forgot to hate
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Because it is easier to do so, I will violate some statistical
principles here
This sentence is beautiful. It glitters, it gleams, it revels in
its shininess. It's probably worth stealing.
G gnome, I climbed the OW in the gym with a bowline-on-coil a
while back. Seemed appropriate.
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wootles
climber
Gamma Quadrant
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I hope you were using a locking carabiner because if that cam pulled you could have come unclipped.
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JuanDeFuca
Big Wall climber
Stoney Point
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I have also climbed with a very high blood alcohol content.
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JuanDeFuca
Big Wall climber
Stoney Point
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But I draw the line when it comes to climbing with Locker.
JDF
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