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Re: [jipstyle] What can a belayer do?:
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jajen
Aug 26, 2010, 1:37 AM
Views: 9137
Registered: Jul 6, 2006
Posts: 81
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jipstyle wrote: USnavy wrote: In three separate occasions I have preformed a running belay because the climber fell while clipping either the second or third bolt. In all cases a running belay was the only thing that kept the climber off the ground. In the most recent case the climber was clipping the third bolt when he slipped off with a hand full of rope out. I was using my Trango Cinch to belay and I was standing directly under him less than two feet away from the rock. I yanked in a full armful of slack and ran backwards. I was able to get back about eight feet, or about 2.5 steps, from my original position before he hit the end of the rope. He ended up stopping with his feet on the ground. Had you been right and I only had a chance to take one step backwards, he would have hit the ground. However I noticed he was climbing fairly sloppy up to the third bolt and I was ready to run backwards thus I was able to react almost as soon as he came off the rock. That is very impressive. Since your climber falls at 9.8 m/s^2, it took him or her no more than half a second to hit the ground. Assuming you have the reflexes of a cat on meth, you still managed to run 2m backwards while hauling in rope more quickly than Usain Bolt. There is a reason that people like Jay (jt512) have strong, definitive opinions: they've been climbing for many years. Not only has this given them considerable practical experience, but it teaches quite a bit about basic physics.
Actually, do the math. If his climber was clipping the third bolt, I would assume he was well over 16 ft off the ground which means USN had over a full second to pull in rope and run before his climber decked and that's if he waited until his climber was in the air - quite often I've seen leaders lose their grip and start to fall BACKWARDS before they start falling down. This gives you even more time to reel in slack and move. Usain can move 10M in a second. If you are watching and paying attention to your climber you can see this happening and preemptively take out all slack, prepare to pull in an armload, AND prepare to run/dive backwards. All of which may be required to keep your climber off the dirt. JT is correct, between 2 & 3 there is little chance of moving far enough back and dropping to the ground will do 90+% of the work. That still doesn't mean you can't move that direction in addition to pulling in slack and hitting the deck.
oooops - GU'd
(This post was edited by jajen on Aug 26, 2010, 1:39 AM)
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Post edited by jajen
() on Aug 26, 2010, 1:38 AM
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Post edited by jajen
() on Aug 26, 2010, 1:39 AM
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