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carrieruth
May 23, 2005, 3:57 AM
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I was leading a 35 foot route today at our gym, and was about to clip in to the top anchors. It was a bit of a reach to the side, so my belayer was feeding me some rope. I slipped and he didn't see me fall. It happened so fast that I didn't yell "falling" or scream or anything. He didn't realize what was happening until I was a few feet above him, and he managed to close his hand and stop the rope that was being pulled through the ATC when my feet were a couple inches from the ground. He had such a tight grip on the rope that I had to ask him to let me the rest of the way down so I could get my footing. I lead another route soon after so that I would keep my confidence up, and it was fine. We were both a little shaken but nobody got hurt. Our gym requires that you anchor in to the ground when lead belaying. Do you think if he weren't anchored in, he would have been pulled up sooner in the fall, realized what was happening, and stopped me sooner? Any other thoughts on this accident?
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mrtristan
May 23, 2005, 4:07 AM
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Moral of the story: don't climb in the gym. It's not safe.
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hosh
May 23, 2005, 4:08 AM
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I think your belayer should have been paying a little more attention. And I usually say "clipping" when I'm at a bolt (or clipping trad gear) just to be sure that my belayer is attentive and watching what's going on. As you've illustrated, you can fall pretty fall if you blow a clip. I'm glad that you weren't hurt and that you were able to get right back on something though... hosh.
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kman
May 24, 2005, 1:46 AM
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In reply to: He didn't realize what was happening until I was a few feet above him, and he managed to close his hand and stop the rope that was being pulled through the ATC Can you please go into this part in more detail.
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philfell
May 24, 2005, 2:06 AM
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Please answer Kmans question. If your belayer is doing their job no rope should be running through their ATC, It doesn't matter if their were anchored or not. My advice is get someone who knows how to belay properly.
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avalon420
May 24, 2005, 2:17 AM
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Smack the shit out of that kid and screen your next belayer a little mor stringently. No excuse for that crap
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saltamonte
May 24, 2005, 2:21 AM
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i agree with phillfell from the info you gave it sounds like your belayer wasn't doing his job right. yes no matter who belayed you, you would have had a whipper but the rope that was out when you started the fall should NEVER have increased (rope passing through the atc and his hands . and if the bolts are well placed you should not have stopped 2 inches from the floor.
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treez
May 24, 2005, 2:24 AM
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He was feeding you rope while looking the other way?!
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climbsomething
May 24, 2005, 2:25 AM
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In reply to: I slipped and he didn't see me fall. It happened so fast that I didn't yell "falling" or scream or anything. He didn't realize what was happening until I was a few feet above him Was he paying any attention at all? We've already established that he wasn't even looking up while you climbed/pulled slack. How much slack did he have out that he didn't notice you were falling until most of a 35-footer? Or was the amount of slack out besides the point because his brake hand wasn't doing much anyway:
In reply to: and he managed to close his hand and stop the rope that was being pulled through the ATC when my feet were a couple inches from the ground. Translation: he managed to get his hand on the brake end and actually, um, brake?
In reply to: Do you think if he weren't anchored in, he would have been pulled up sooner in the fall, realized what was happening, and stopped me sooner? I think if he has been watching you climb and clip, and had his hand on the brake instead of up his ass, he would have realized what was happening. Saving yourself from belay neck is one thing, but this sounds like another. Dump that belayer, and be more vigilant of your partner. It takes 2.
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vegastradguy
May 24, 2005, 2:34 AM
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see climbsomething's post.
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smellyferret
May 24, 2005, 2:40 AM
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In reply to: Do you think if he weren't anchored in, he would have been pulled up sooner in the fall, realized what was happening, and stopped me sooner? Any other thoughts on this accident? Why would he have been pulled sooner if he wasn't anchored. Your belayer is going to feel the pull at the same time, anchored or not. If anything the anchor kept him from being pulled up to much from your fall and not being anchored could have caused you to hit the ground.
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musicman
May 24, 2005, 2:48 AM
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see vegastradguy's post
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treez
May 24, 2005, 3:09 AM
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"Any other thoughts on this accident?" This accident sucks.
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sinshan
May 24, 2005, 3:13 AM
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I call total BS on this story. . .I mean, c'mon people. . . "he didn't realize what was happenning until I was a few feet above him" utterly unlikely. . . because, by then, the leader's fallen, what, 30 feet? Explain to me how the belayer could then "manage to get a hand on the brake" ummm. . .even if that were true (ignoring the obvious difficulty of catching a rope flying through a belay device at the speed gained by someone falling 30 feet. . .), slack alone would've resulted in a total decking. I've never really said this before, so it feels kind of. . .I dunno. . .momentous. But I'm calling it. . . . troll :twisted:
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micronut
May 24, 2005, 3:17 AM
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i don't understand why people "lead" in the gym. and that was 30' er with a bit of stretch.
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kman
May 24, 2005, 3:25 AM
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All this troll calling is getting f'n ridiculous.
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one900johnnyk
May 24, 2005, 3:28 AM
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all those people who are syaing drop the belayer are full of shit. sometimes you get distracted. those people are humongous pussies keep at it bro. i think it is the gyms fault for making that awesome dude lock in. i am being serious too by the way i kjnow it may sound sarcastic but i am never sarcastic
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nedsurf
May 24, 2005, 3:46 AM
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Yeah micronut, I don't understand why people lead in the gym either. Its like ...a role playing game or somehing. Can anyone explain the appeal?
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jeep4evr
May 24, 2005, 4:24 AM
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In reply to: I don't understand why people lead in the gym either. Can anyone explain the appeal? it's for that one day when aliens finally conquer the earth and encrust every rock in plastic
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saltamonte
May 24, 2005, 1:16 PM
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In reply to: Yeah micronut, I don't understand why people lead in the gym either. Its like ...a role playing game or somehing. Can anyone explain the appeal? people climb indoors to practice, or because the weather is too bad to climb out doors or because getting to the real rock is too far a drive for the time they have, or even because they enjoy the ambiance and proximity to a pop machine. the bottomline is if you are "OK" with any climbing in a gym then it is stupid to say it is ok to practice and learn toproping there but "thou shalt not learn or practice leading" the whole point of a gym is a place to train or practice for as close to everything you do on the real rock as possible.
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kubi
May 24, 2005, 1:25 PM
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Carefully evaluate your belayer's technique before you ever climb with them again. The belayer should have been paying attention to you, but at the very least they should have had the rope locked off while they weren't paying attention. I wouldn't feel comfortable climbing above that guy (or girl) in the future.
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corpse
May 24, 2005, 1:59 PM
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see musicman's post
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gottarock
May 24, 2005, 3:21 PM
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really no excuse for a mishap like that... it is a belayers job to pay attention to their climber... especially if the climber is on the sharp end... indoors or out.
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ucfrockclimber
May 24, 2005, 3:53 PM
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I know the girl who took the huge whipper. The reason we climb inside is becasue we live in florida and the closest carge is red river or foster falls. Oh yeah it sucks You fell that far carrie. Too bad he could not have just ran backwards.
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carrieruth
May 24, 2005, 8:23 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: He didn't realize what was happening until I was a few feet above him, and he managed to close his hand and stop the rope that was being pulled through the ATC Can you please go into this part in more detail.
In reply to: Please answer Kmans question. If your belayer is doing their job no rope should be running through their ATC, It doesn't matter if their were anchored or not. My advice is get someone who knows how to belay properly. I honestly don't know what went wrong, because I was the one climbing and I wasn't watching my belayer. Somehow he didn't have a good grip on his brake hand, and when I started falling I pulled rope out thru the draws, the ATC, and his hand, until he grabbed the rope hard enough to brake. I assure you all that this really did happen...
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