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jpdreamer
Dec 10, 2004, 7:29 PM
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In reply to: Better idea would be to downclimb carefully, or you could have given a belay from the top. Lowering through a bare sling is ill-advised...
Yeah agreed, though in this instance the climb wasn't that tall (the climber was about 10 or so feet up). I basically said they should stop climbing and fix it for exactlly the reason you describe, though in retrospect I should have specified a downclimb.
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outdoorsie
Dec 10, 2004, 7:59 PM
Post #27 of 163
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In reply to: In reply to: My first trek into the rocky mountains at age 14, some fatefull quotes................"Marmots are nice" :shock: ...is not true???
No! It's not true! Marmots are horrible little creatures that will eat *through* your pack in order to gnaw on your thermarest! It ate a sleeping pad!!!
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bighigaz
Dec 10, 2004, 8:07 PM
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Registered: Sep 30, 2002
Posts: 696
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1. back clipping
2. bad gate direction when moving out left or right (IOW, gate is NOT opposing direction of travel... dangerous)
3. cross-loading/levering of a belay biner
NONE of these three were made clear to me when I first started climbing. Luckily I had some excellent partners teach me the safest practices before it cost me.
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plund
Dec 10, 2004, 8:09 PM
Post #29 of 163
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mmmm...closed-cell foam......(see marmot references..)
common mistake? Not treating belaying like the life-or-death affair that it is...
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karmaklimber
Dec 10, 2004, 8:26 PM
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There was an article in Urban Climber Magazine that mentioned items on the same subject. To sum it up, some mistatkes that new climbera make area:
-Not taking a break/having enough rest
-Climbing too fast and forgetting to slow down and breathe.
-Climbing with people of similar styles/not climbing with people who have different styles than yourself.
-Being afraid to try other boroughs of climbing, or sticking to one aspect, ie. just bouldering, sport climbing, climbing trad, etc...
-Trying to learn too much too soon.
-Getting lazy about belay set-ups, commands, and double-checking
-Buying shoes too tight
-Believing size matters
-Forgetting to have fun
Others that I've noticed are:
-Not being open to beta or advice from more experienced climbers.
-Grade chasing/getting caught up in the numbers
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rocloco
Dec 10, 2004, 8:37 PM
Post #31 of 163
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In reply to: mmmm...closed-cell foam......(see marmot references..) common mistake? Not treating belaying like the life-or-death affair that it is...
Couldn't agree more. I have 2 close newbie buddies that I won't climb with anymore cause they won't listen and after 4 or 5 times out they were saying stuff like everyone has their own way man (in regards to belaying). I was stern but calm the 1st few times they took BOTH hands off belay, but after the 10th time and that "everyone has their own way" comment it had progressed to an all out screaming "F you, you're an a hole" match. The one buddy that had just been climbing on the most careless belay I have ever seen had the nerve to say I was just pissed because of ego. I promptly tossed my sunglasses in the nearby Potomac River, enraged...pulled my rope and swore I would never climb with either of them again. Still haven't either. I don't believe I over reacted. Any newbie that tries to tell me *how it is* when someone's physical well being is on the line won't be getting far with me or many other climbers I expect. I guess justice is the fact that they had just gone out and spent $ on shoes and harness etc and now have nobody to show them how to climb. One of them is my roomate and a great friend but I still won't climb with him.
I had just finished reading Accidents in N. American Mountaineering 2003 so I might have been a tad jumpy and eager, but safety is paramount and yes pratice makes permanent. You practice wrong long enough and it's gonna stay permanently wrong and you will bust someone's ass eventually if not not today or tomorrow.
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phillygoat
Dec 16, 2004, 2:54 AM
Post #32 of 163
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While cleaning a climb on rappel I kicked off some leaves and dirt. Knowing it was my responsibility to alert the folks below but not knowing what to say I shrieked (my throat was dry) "DEBRIS!". My friends got a lot of mileage out of that one.
ps- I know that I'm still a nOOb because I question the spelling of 'rappel' everytime I type it. :)
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simplesoul
Dec 16, 2004, 3:06 AM
Post #33 of 163
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At the gym tonight I was watching a father beley for his son. First of all he was beleying incorrectly and then when I took a glance at his son climbing I noticed that he only had one leg through the leg strap and he was hlaf way up the wall. When i told the father his son fell and was bairly held up...lucky all was well and they fixed the problem but gezz you have to be a really ignorant parent to not notice that...
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kman
Dec 16, 2004, 5:12 PM
Post #34 of 163
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In reply to: I think the most common thing I see is non doublebackers and peole when making an anchor only vlipping a biner on tope of the rope instead of tieng a bight or through the webbing so that if one bolt or pro fails the carabiner flies of the side resulting in certain death. I've rung out a few people for that one
:?: Am I the only one that can't make sense of this?
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j-tha-b
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Dec 16, 2004, 5:19 PM
Post #35 of 163
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falling
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crackmd
Dec 16, 2004, 5:21 PM
Post #36 of 163
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Registered: Mar 24, 2002
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In reply to: my first rock shoes was not so tight, now with my second pair i feel the difference when i climb.
Interesting. My first pair of shoes were way too tight. Despite popular opinion, I personally have not found a real benefit to unbearably tight shoes even at the harder grades. I can climb just about anything in snug but comfortable slippers including sport routes, multi-pitch trad lines and hard cracks.
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rangertau
Dec 16, 2004, 5:26 PM
Post #37 of 163
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I also bought into the super-tight shoes theory. My first pair, I was told, had to be so tight that they hurt to be right. Well...I can take alot of pain so I ended up with shoes so small I could wear them inside my regular shoes. What a load of crap. Snug shoes are good, but I discourage anyone from buying super-tight shoes.
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crackmd
Dec 16, 2004, 5:35 PM
Post #38 of 163
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In reply to: mmmm...closed-cell foam......(see marmot references..) common mistake? Not treating belaying like the life-or-death affair that it is...
From my experience, beginners tend to be more vigilant about safe-belaying than are experienced climbers. What they lack in experience they make up for by obscessive adherance to vigilant belaying (i.e. no slack in the rope, short roping etc.) Over at The Gallery (Red Rocks)it is not uncommon for a belayer to have a climber on while eating a sandwich, cheering on another climber and/or putting the moves on some member of the opposite sex. These multitasking skills really are honed in with experience; beginners tend to be too fearful to divert their attention anywhere but their climber. I am not necessarily saying this is a bad thing, but many of us non-newbies are guilty of this.
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lang22
Dec 16, 2004, 5:48 PM
Post #39 of 163
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Registered: Nov 10, 2004
Posts: 19
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here's what i've realized as my major mistakes, and i'm a bonafide newbie, only been rock climbing for about 8 months, ice for about a year.
1.not using my legs! the first couple months of climbing i would literally just campus up, my friends would show me how to use my legs, how to place my feet, but i didn't get the hang of it till recently.
2.not breathing. this is one that i thought would come naturally, but i kept finding after i'd pull off a couple of moves, i'd stop for a rest and realize that i had been holding my breath for about 10 seconds and let out a huge exhale. now i've done most of my learning with boulderers, and i always thought it was kind of funny when they'd pull off a big move, and literally scream, or grunt, or yell. but it's the way they exhale and force themselves to take in more air. now on my wall in my basement, my family wonders what the hell is going on downstairs when i'm messing around trying out some moves!
3.just going for holds and not thinking. when i started, i would just look for the next hold and go for it, not thinking about where i'd place my feet in the process. this led to a lot of torn skin, flappers, when my hands would peel off the rock. i'm learning to think about placement a lot more now, and think ahead one or two moves of the one i'm making.
i'm sure there's more, but these are the BIG 3! the only advice i can give to other newbs is practice, practice, practice! it doesn't come overnight, but when you realize you are having less of these mistakes, it's a great feeling!
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healyje
Dec 16, 2004, 5:51 PM
Post #40 of 163
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Registered: Aug 22, 2004
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Beginners:
1) Shoes too tight
2) Not climbing outside on real rocks
3) Not climbing with someone with experience
4) Never practicing downclimbing
New [Trad] Leaders:
1) Not climbing outside on real rocks
2) Not learning by seconding (cleaning for) multiple experienced lead climbers
3) Not establishing good omni-directional first pieces of pro
4) Worrying about climbing the same difficulty of trad as they do sport before they are really comfortable and competent at placing / cleaning gear
5) Not getting exposure to multiple types of rock/areas
6) Never developing downclimbing skills
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usmc_2tothetop
Dec 16, 2004, 6:00 PM
Post #41 of 163
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Registered: Dec 18, 2002
Posts: 661
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Free Soloing shale rock :shock: WTF was I thinking.
"roping" into a buddy with Home Depot rope. Then holding on to something in case he fell.
Camping in an Ice storm with a regular sleeping bag.
Not thinking about the down climb. (Many of times)
"Ice Climbing" with a knife to make holds.
Buying an indoor harness.
Not getting the right size shoes.
Fig-8 on my BELAY loop.
Buying mountaineering crampons for ice climbing.
Buying ice axes of the same kind. (no hammer on the back)
And as always.....packing too much.
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giza
Dec 17, 2004, 7:51 PM
Post #42 of 163
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Registered: Oct 22, 2003
Posts: 315
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This happened on my second multipitch route. I was in the process of going on rappel from the top of the first pitch of a climb and dropped my atc. My partner was at the top of the route and I had decided to rappel down after topping out to get our bags at the bottom of the route as it was the last climb of the day. So there I was at the belay with no rappel device and no knowledge of how to use the munter, how to build a biner brake, or even how to body belay. My partner wasn't within earshot so I was a bit freaked. I still can't believe I did this, but I rappeled off the route using a thin accessory cord prussik autoblock. That was it!! Just thin accessory cord on a 10ml rope. It was painfully slow and my hands were raw by the time I reached the bottom but I made it. Just as I got onto solid ground my friend showed up at the bottom of the route wondering what had taken me so long. He tore several strips off me (like any good partner should) for not, at the very least, knowing how to use a munter. As soon as I got home that night I studied the munter and biner brake in case I ever got into the same situation.
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hebeto
Dec 17, 2004, 9:16 PM
Post #43 of 163
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Registered: Dec 17, 2004
Posts: 13
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The first time I went bouldering, I was so excited to climb that when I got to the top, I didn't know how to get down.
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erisspirit
Dec 17, 2004, 9:48 PM
Post #44 of 163
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Hmmm I would have to say it was not taking into account the 50+ pounds the climber had on me at the gym, and needing to be caught as i was launched into the air :oops:
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maldaly
Dec 17, 2004, 10:43 PM
Post #45 of 163
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Registered: Oct 31, 2002
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The worst mistake I've seen, and I see it all the time, is people thinking they know how to do something because they took a course. The most guilty are those who have just passed their "lead climbing course" or "intermediate course" with the local mountain club. Club managers, presidents, safety committee chairs, take note! You shoud never, ever, tell someone that they have graduated or passed a course. All that does is set up the poor person to quit learning. I've been climbing 35 years and still learn something every time I go out. Maybe it's because I've never passed a test or graduated from a course but I'm always eager to learn new stuff. Take or give all the classes you can, but as soon as someone tells you that you've passed, learning (or un-learning) stops. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've seen a climber with their belay 'biner clipped through their leg loops and waistbelt because, "That's the way my instructor taught me."
Funny but sad (and very true) story is the worst I've heard:
Bubba goes out with a buddy drinking, shooting and rapelling and likes the rapelling so much he goes to the store and buys a rope and some rap gear. Then he takes his 7 and 9-year-old kids out rappelling. He spies a water tower in the woods but damned if it isn't surrounded by a chain-link fence. True to bubba-dom, he breaks out his bolt-cutters and cuts a hole, climbs the tower and sets up what he remembered he thinks he saw his friend set up to rap with. Sure enough, he falls, lands on his 7 year old daughter, paralyzing her. His wife got pissed and divorces him, so he does what any red-blooded bubba would do. He sues the company who made the carabiner. It got tossed out but it cost $80,000 to do it. WTFO? Every wonder why carabiners cost so much?
Mal
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crazyakclimber
Apr 17, 2005, 8:33 PM
Post #46 of 163
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Registered: Sep 27, 2004
Posts: 69
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"I can climb that bigazz boulder...HA! I'm at the top....oh sh!t, how do I get back down!?"
HAHAHA I've definantly done that before! I was in Cabo, Mexico and we went over to this one beach that's like the very tip of the Baja peninsula and I was climbing these huge monsterous boulders and of course... I freakin got stuck at the top of one and my friends had to stack each other to get me down! haha, yeah... good times
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chalkfree
Apr 17, 2005, 9:45 PM
Post #47 of 163
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Registered: Dec 27, 2004
Posts: 512
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About that getting stuck on the boulder....
At Kraft boulders in RR I thought I was doing a v1 up plumbers crack, a boulder with a walk offf, when in reality I was doing a v2 onto a boulder with no walkoff....
Just for reference I think I have the first descent on a v1 downclimb on that same rock now... After I got down I think I found an easier way down. Also having a pad would have been an excellent idea. Also my spotter had told me that there was no walkoff, but as i was in the middle of a move I said "of course there is" She was right I was wrong....
Sometimes it pays to listen,
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gowser
Apr 17, 2005, 10:28 PM
Post #48 of 163
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Registered: Nov 27, 2003
Posts: 94
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In reply to: In reply to: In reply to: My first trek into the rocky mountains at age 14, some fatefull quotes................"Marmots are nice" :shock: ...is not true??? No! It's not true! Marmots are horrible little creatures that will eat *through* your pack in order to gnaw on your thermarest! It ate a sleeping pad!!!
Beware the Marmots!! they also are known to ingest birkenstocks...however, that marmot must of had a deathwish to eat something that had touched my feet! :shock:
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karlbaba
Apr 18, 2005, 6:48 AM
Post #49 of 163
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Registered: Jul 10, 2002
Posts: 1159
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Most common mistake in actual climbing: not using the feet enough, not getting weight over the feet properly.
Most common safety problem:
Not actually comprehending the systems and not anticipating the consequences of changing elements of the systems.
Most common safety problem among all climbers:
Through being tired or because of a lapse in attention, spacing out on critical safety practices. Why do folks forget to double back the harness, clip in to belays, or fully rig their rappel devices before leaning back? Cause they bonked from being tired or just otherwise weren't paying attention.
Not paying attention kills climbers. It will kill you driving or crossing the street. Most of us get tired of paying attention but mindfulness is like a muscle, get used to paying attention at all times throughout your life and you be present (and safer) for the life that you lead.
Peace
karl
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blueeyedclimber
Apr 19, 2005, 2:05 PM
Post #50 of 163
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Registered: Nov 19, 2002
Posts: 4602
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Most common newb mistake...is trying to shed the newb label. New climbers get a little climbing under their belt and want sooo bad to show others that they are not a newb anymore and go into the "gumby newb" stage which is worse than being a newb. This is the most dangerous stage of all. You are much more likely to get in over your head. If you are lucky, this is also where a lot of learning can take place. Once past this stage, you embrace the newb label and realize you still have a lot to learn.
I am a newb again and proud of it!
Josh
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