Jul 28, 2010, 3:15 AM
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Your gym's lead climbing policy?
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I was just wondering what the majority (if there is one) of gyms do. If you climb at more than one gym and there are different policies, you can choose multiple answers.
I've never seen a gym without fixed draws either. Stone Summit, in Atlanta, permits you to use your own rope or to check one out from them to climb with.
Most of the places I've climbed make you use their fixed draws and their lead rope. Only one gym that i've climbed at, Hanger 18 in so-cal, let you use your own rope on their draws.
Seems to me that the more control the gym has over what is used in their gym, the less liability they expose themselves to. ie, they know where their rope has been and they don't know if your rope has been sitting in a bucket of cat pee and battery acid, although if your rope breaks, it might be hard to argue it's the gyms fault... who knows.
i dont think i know of any gym in the US that would require you to use your own draws. seems like the liability on that may be a bit high for such a low cost item.
ropes seem to be a mixed bag. the gyms ive been to that allow you to use your own rope seem to be the ones with enough lead traffic that they cannot afford the rope bill to supply ropes. the only exception to this rule is r2c2 here in vegas- its a lead only gym and they supply the lines- but i guess thats what they feel comfortable doing.
it really comes down to what the gym feels comfortable with from a perceived liability stand-point.
although if your rope breaks, it might be hard to argue it's the gyms fault... who knows.
A lead rope breaking seems like a very, very remote possibility...
though making people use gym ropes could eliminate slippery <9.5mm ropes, reducing grigri accidents.
I don't disagree with you that it's a remote possibility, however, I do remember an accident a year or two ago in a gym that a lead rope broke. If I recall it was either a small fall, it wasn't the ropes fault entirely, seems like the rope got caught on the gate of the biner or some strange rough surface and cut the rope.
and you're right, I think the more control the gym has over the things in the system, the lower their insurance premiums will be because they can have safe guards against all sorts of accidents, like getting dropped by gri-gri's and all the other things that can go wrong in the gym.
I don't climb at the gyms here, but the gym I used to climb at was a mix. There were fixed draws on the lead-only routes, fixed draws at the anchors, but you had to place your own draws for the remainder. The gym didn't provide a rope, but it was usually pretty easy to borrow one if people knew your face there. You could borrow a grigri from the gym, but most people didn't.
Over here in the UK I only know of one wall that lets people borrow lead ropes, and people tend to think this practice is a bit dodgy. I'd have thought that the wall were increasing their liability by letting people use the wall's lead ropes. With regards to quickdraws, most walls have them fixed in place so you use them. One wall I know of makes you bring your own and another has an outside wall where you have to bring your own.
the gyms I climb at you have to use their draws but can either use their rope or your own, though it's simpler to use their rope so you only have like 15m to deal with as opposed to 60m. At one of the gyms you have to bring your own belay device to lead.
I voted for the second one, although i'm not sure must is the right word. They don't have fixed draws though. If you want to lead you check out the rope and draws from behind the counter. I don't think they'd mind if you brought your own, but i don't know why you would, since they're willing to let you put the wear and tear on their gear.
At the two local gyms here, it's their own fixed draws.
At one of them, they will lend ropes, although I don't know if it's official policy one way or the other. At the other, you bring your own rope and they won't lend you one.
We've got fixed draws for most of the lead routes in our gym. There is a section of Nicros A.R.T. wall, that only has hangers. If you want to lead it, I think they've got draws to lend, or they'll let you use your own. Not the most controlled environment I've seen. As for ropes, I bring my own, and I don't think they've got one to rent/lend.
In my gym, you must provide your own rope (or climb on a friend's) but draws are fixed to the wall. You must also have your own belay device (most Ontario gyms require the use of gri gri's. There is a policy that you must provide your own rope and gri gri in order to take the lead class and test as well.
fixed draws, their rope free to use, or you can bring your own in if you really want. Who doesn't have their own belay device if they are leading with any kind of regularity?
What kind of gym do you not need to bring your own belay device for any type of climbing? Oh yea, the ones that stick grigris on all the TRs for the noobs
Draws are fixed. You can rent a rope for $2, use your own, or buy one cut to a gym length and they will keep it for you to use when you come in, hung next to the front desk. Most people use the last option.
I have worked at 4 different gyms, 3 in ct and 1 in NY, and have climbed at many more on the east coast. From my experience most gyms arround here have fixed draws on the lead walls and have you use thier rope. O
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ne of the gyms kept close track to the number of whippers taken and retires them as needed. No gym requires you to hang your own draws, probably because it would make cleaning a bitch. One gym, has a lead wall that has top ropes hung on each route through quick clips. If you want to lead, you just pull the TR. I think this is the worst of the set ups I have seen since there is no monitoring of whippers, and more importantly, you have ropes falling from the top that can (and has) hit neighboring belayers.
I would also think that the liability would not be much different if someone got hurt using their own gear rather than gym provided. The fact of the matter was that you got hurt on the gyms premises doing something the gym has santioned as acceptable. The liability waivers are quickly thrown out too in the event of a serious injury since there are medical bills that need to be paid. From the gyms point of view, it would be best to provide the ropes and gear, since the biggest issue would be poeple using thin ropes with gri gri's. (If a rope breaks in a gym setting, something the gym did is probably negligent i.e. random sharp peices of metal sticking from the wall/draw).
Personally I would rather use my own rope, draws, and belay device since I inspect them regularly, and know their history, the feel/friction, and don't mind putting miles on my own gear. This is also why I do not let people borrow my gear.
The one thing I do find shocking at most gyms is how casual they are about certifying the belayer. I would rather climb on 30 year old button heads with a hemp rope and a solid belayer, than brand new modern gear and a noob belayer. the condition of your gear means nothing compared to the condition of your belay. (slightly sarcastic about the hemp rope and button heads, but you get idea, a good belay is way more important that how old/used the draws/rope is. Gear rarely fails, belayers fail too frequently.)
My home gym has one lead wall and has a weird setup. It's a 20ft high gym. The lead wall goes up 20ft then goes straight horizontal for ~20ft. The horizontal portion has fixed draws but the vertical portion requires 3 of your own draws. You have to climb the top rope there afterwards to collect your draws.
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