One of my climbing partners scared the shit out of me last week. He was between the first and 2nd bolt just out of reach of the 2nd bolt and told me he was about to fall and asked if he was hitting the deck.

He indeed was so I told him he HAD to hit that 2nd bolt. Everything turned out fine as he was able to clip the 2nd bolt and support his weight on the draw until he clipped in.

My question is this, what can I do to help if he does fall in this situation?

I got as close to the wall as possible, ready to move backwards and drop down to take as much slack out as possible. My only worry is with rope stretch he could still possible deck.

The only alternative I can think of would be to use both hands to spot the climber as you would before belay is on. This of course wouldn't be wise without a gri-gri as the rope would not do anything to slow his fall

There are also places on some routes where the climber pretty much can't fall. your partner needs to recognize these places either before getting on or while on route and know that screwing up will likely hurt.

What about if you know you will be climbing something like this and you use static rope and make sure to keep slack in like others said?

What about if you know you will be climbing something like this and you use static rope and make sure to keep slack in like others said?

Totally thought we were talking about TR. Indeed, belay my last.

Forget spotting?

This year I had the privilege of lead belaying a junior USAC regional sport climbing competition. I was belaying 13-15 year old girls on a 12+ where most of the girls fell off between the 2nd and 3rd bolts. Although somewhat nerve-racking, it was easy to keep them all off the ground. I did, however, drop my gri gri twice when two girls fell between the 1st and 2nd bolts. In both cases I was able to spot them and "guide" them safely to the mats. If I had tried to belay, they would have hit the ground hard.

There are only 2 explanations for why you thought this was regarding TR.

1) You did not read the original post.
2) You are a brand new climber, only have experience toproping and are not even sure what lead climbing is.

In either case, you are new to rc.com. So, here is my advice. Spend more time lurking, because if you make a habit of responding without actually knowing what you are talking about, then you will be...

...like everyone else here.

Jay

Forget spotting?

This year I had the privilege of lead belaying a junior USAC regional sport climbing competition. I was belaying 13-15 year old girls on a 12+ where most of the girls fell off between the 2nd and 3rd bolts. Although somewhat nerve-racking, it was easy to keep them all off the ground. I did, however, drop my gri gri twice when two girls fell between the 1st and 2nd bolts. In both cases I was able to spot them and "guide" them safely to the mats. If I had tried to belay, they would have hit the ground hard.

There are exceptions to every rule. As a belayer, you need to understand the consequences of a fall and make your decisions appropriately.

To add to what jay said .. this was 13-15 yr old girls.. very small compared to most folks that i'm guessing most of us climb with. Hell, ive climbed with folks who outweigh me BY a 13 yr old girl's weight.

also there is no mat or pads outdoors gail you know this. Trying to guide someone to the ground outdoors is going to get both parties hurt.

taking in slack is much faster and more effective than trying to spot someone outdoors.

Outdoors, I would:
1) Keep the climber on a tight belay
2) Ask another climber to spot
3) Ask someone else to belay if I didn't think I could keep my climber safe.

Yes this was indoors where the climbs are short and the first two bolts are close to the ground. I weigh about the same as the girls I was belaying. I felt much more comfortable spotting rather than belaying when the two girls fell while clipping bolt 2.

Outdoors, I would:
1) Keep the climber on a tight belay
2) Ask another climber to spot
3) Ask someone else to belay if I didn't think I could keep my climber safe.

Keep minimal slack, stand close to the wall and slightly to one side. If the leader actually falls take in an arm-load of slack and sit down into it.

Despite popular mythology running backwards usually doesn't help much unless the first clip or pro was quite low (and multi-directional) -- the "X" component of running backwards just doesn't translate enough to pulling in rope (the hypotenuse).

Forget spotting once the first bolt is clipped. Once its clipped your job is to belay. Period. If another buddy is around they can spot.

Of course you can always provide verbal encouragement to the leader -- "breathe, focus, stay strong... good feet, you got it". Something like that. On the other hand, a question from the leader deserves an honest assessment, especially if they are still in a position to back down or reverse moves. And grabbing a draw beats broken ankles any day in my book, so what if you lose a few style points.

All good advice, but I would disagree in one regard to the usefullness of "backing up". You are correct, that in most cases running backward does little or nothing, since there is rarely enough time to "run" anywhere (especially from the first or second bolt).
However, taking a step back and dropping to the ground on a low fall takes a lot more rope than just dropping to you knees. It should be the difference in taking 2 or 3 feet of slack vs taking maybe 8 to 12 inches.
I'm not really disagreeing with you, just elaborating on this point.

As a leader, when decking is likely what is the best way to fall and minimize the damage done to your body? I'd guess land feet first, preferably not on a rock, take as much impact as possible by bending your legs then roll to your side spreading the impact to your hip then shoulder much like a Parachute Landing Failure.

It's not worth getting paralyzed over a sport climb.

Jay