I told myself that I wasn’t going to step back into this conversation and, after this, you can all rest assured that I’ll keep my trap shut.

It saddens me deeply that this seems to be the typical and pervasive mentality in the sport. IMHO it is a complete abdication of responsibility and is something that desperately needs to change. If you choose to take it upon yourself to train someone, your responsibility *begins* on that day and continues from that point. I’m not such a fool as to think you need to follow your ‘students’ around forever or to be there every time they send a climber off the ground. But, it has always been self-evident to me that people tend to be only as good as their training. Those who are merely shown a quick ‘what to do’ tend to be limited in their understanding of system-wide safety and tend to be unable to adapt and adjust quickly within the safety parameters of a given system. The people who tend to be the safest are those who are taught why they are doing what they are doing as well as system safety *and* are introduced to the critically necessary mentality of comprehensive safety. You should feel it is inherent in your responsibility to ensure that you have imparted a thorough understanding of all of those things. If you are unable to do so, whether from lack of time or lack of consistent interaction, send them to someone who is better able to provide that type of training. In short, take better care of your fellow climbers.

Further, I would argue that there is a significant difference between quickly showing someone how to do something and actually training someone. Just because you take a second to show someone how to load a chamber and pull a trigger doesn’t mean that you have trained a person in the appropriate use of firearms, firearm safety, or instilled in them a healthy understanding of the responsibilities and potential hazards of firearm use. Nor does it mean that you, as a self-appointed instructor, are free from responsibility after you say “It’s easy. All you have to do is…” If you believe that by simply showing someone a quick ‘what to do’ you have fulfilled your responsibility as an instructor, you’re incorrect. Nor should you assume that the person you have shown will seek additional instruction. You have placed yourself in the position of "expert;" they believe they have already gotten the necessary training. You should be seeking to give exceptional instruction not merely ‘adequate’ instruction.

That any individual in the sport would be continually seeking to improve their skills, on both climbing and belaying, should go without saying. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the climbers I’ve met have no qualms about wanting to get better at climbing, to snag a harder route or grade or sequence, but I hear frighteningly few climbers who seek to get better at belaying, who want to be safer. It seems to me like the focus is on the wrong end of the rope. As I said, we need to take better care of our fellow climbers. This includes ensuring that people get thorough and appropriate training. And, if you choose to instruct, it includes a necessity not only to provide thorough and appropriate training, but also to hold yourself accountable for those you train.

I know I'm probably not going to change many minds. Likely, I'm either preaching to the proverbial choir or you're firmly convinced that adequate training is enough and that the people you show how to belay aren't your responsibility. Hopefully, people will be more mindful of the instruction they opt to give and more mindful of the quality of instruction the person belaying you (go ahead and read 'protecting your life' here) has received.