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xanx
Feb 20, 2003, 5:00 AM
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Ok, i know stuff LIKE this has been done, but i would like them all compiled here...
so lets have 'em... your WORSTE BELAYER HORROR STORIES!! hopefully from other people at the crag, not your own belayer...
lets hear those moments of incompetence characteristic of most human beings that would make philosophers like Nietzsche proud...
What are the stupidest belayers you have ever seen??
oh the worste i have seen would probably be the entire VR staff... lol j/k we know what we are doing. we just get lazy with 5 yr old parties :D
mike
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climbsomething
Feb 20, 2003, 5:46 AM
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Well, it involves a grape...
Jay, take it away! :twisted:
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jt512
Feb 20, 2003, 5:59 AM
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Climbsomething is referring to the well-known SoCal No-Handed Grape Belay, developed at Williamson Rock. The technique involves letting go with your brake hand to eat a grape as your partner reaches, but does not clip, the anchors, and takes a pre-planned practice lead fall. It doesn't count if the belayer is using a Gri-Gri. This is strictly an ATC technique.
-Jay
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kcrag
Feb 20, 2003, 6:12 AM
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Registered: May 27, 2002
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Oh boy, climbsomething and jt, you guys are scaring me! I suppose if the grape belay was done on Shroomin', then I guess it's okay. At least the climber didn't have far to fall.
Hope those grapes were good (the big, crunchy red ones, without seeds, of course).
cheers,
-kelly.
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jt512
Feb 20, 2003, 7:05 AM
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Kelly,
Unfortunately, it wasn't on Mushroom. I wasn't there to see this, but my friend, a nurse-practitioner was the first responder. The victim suffered multiple compound fractures.
Jay
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kcrag
Feb 20, 2003, 7:35 AM
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Jay,
Ouch. Sorry to hear there was an injury. I thought y'all were joking.
Going back to the thread topic (which has been discussed before), my worst belayer story would have to be when my leader on a multi-pitch climb said, 'on belay, climb when ready... just don't fall'. This scared the pee out of me, because I knew my climbing partner was experienced (over 20 years) and wasn't joking around. I wouldn't say this was 'stupid'. It was a situation we were forced to deal with. We had been engaged in the climb for at least 12 hours (over 15 pitches), were tired and looking for a good bivy spot, and the rock was ROTTEN as hell. The pitch that had just been climbed was easy, and the leader had thoroughly looked for an ideal place to anchor (which was minimal, at best). That's what you get when you climb the NW buttress of Capitol Peak (CO). Needless to say, I made sure I did not fall. I certainly hope to never hear those words again from my belayer.
Other than that, the climb was absolutely incredible... my best climbing experience to date.
-k.
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beckerw
Feb 20, 2003, 10:10 PM
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i was moving dynamically to the next hold (skipping a few) because i felt on good ground. i miss judgd the dead point and started falling back. i had only clipped the first bolt and was at the second. i realized quickly the rope was not taking me up. my belayer had a euro belay out for me and thought i was solid, he was also not looking at me while skooting the rope off the trail for others coming though. the back of my arm started taking up the slack between the grigri and 1st bolt by the time my belayer cupped my head in his hands (about 6 six inches from the dirt).
watch those euro belays
:shock:
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boardcrazzy
Feb 21, 2003, 4:13 PM
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While toproping in a gym my belayer got her nipple caught in the ATC during a fall. She didn't tell me about it and let me finish the climb. After she lowered me and got back from the washroom, she told me, "I was in so much pain, I just about passed out." Thanks for letting me climb then, eh?
The same belayer also let me take a 10 ft toprope fall outdoors because she wasn't paying attention. At 12 ft I would have bounced off a ledge. I don't climb with her anymore.
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baldguy
Feb 21, 2003, 4:27 PM
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In reply to: watch those euro belays
beckerw, what's a euro belay? i've never heard the term, and it's not in any of my books.
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cloudbreak
Feb 21, 2003, 4:59 PM
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Registered: Jul 15, 2002
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How about "worste" speller stories?
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rockpossum
Feb 21, 2003, 5:43 PM
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At least it wasn't wurst. I have some great bratwurst belaying stories.
Though this can't compete with the "nipple wedge belay" I was merrily (ok tensely) leading a 5.11 in the Boulderfields here in Kelowna. A beautiful area by the way. My wife on belay, I'm at the crux of the route having some difficulty when I happen to look down at my wife.
She has that face that I can only mean; "Why am I doing this? I hate my husband and would just as soon let him drop to his death." I ask if she is ok and get no reply. I politely remind her that communication is the key to safe climbing. Again no response. I begin calculating the lunar cycle and determine that I'd just made a potentially life threatening scheduling mistake. I bribed her into lowering me so I could soothe her frayed nerves and in the process possibly save my neck.
A half hour discussion revealed that in her opinion, I was 20 lbs heavier (just some winter fat ahem...) than she felt comfortable with (I'm 200lbs she's 120). Of course she was delusional but we set up a nice belay anchor for her anyway.
I hope y'all appreciate the risk I've taken to share this story.
Mike
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xkyczar
Feb 21, 2003, 5:58 PM
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3 quickies
At the base of Werks Supp (Eldo) a belayer bouncing from leg to leg explained to me he had to piss and was unable to tell the climber (about ¾ of the way up) because of river noise. I put the climber on belay and the belayer took off for the parking lot at a run. About half way there the screaming started from above.
A friend of mine, several pitches up, was leading out a thin traverse about 30 ft from the belay. Feeling a little wigged he glanced at his belayer (a Chech he had just met who spoke very little English) and said “watch me”. A flash of movement caught his attention. He looked back at his belayer just in time to see him in mid-air before he was ripped off the rock. The belayer had jumped to take in slack.
Walking the base at North Table Top, my brother and I came across a woman standing on a very small ledge half way up a climb. She was tied in on top rope and the belay end was lying on the ground with no belayer in sight. She explained (as I put her back on belay) that the rope had jammed and her boyfriend had gone up to free it. My brother went up and freed the jammed rope (boyfriend was unable to) and explained to him why we don’t take people off belay half way up a climb to go do things.
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texasclimbers
Feb 21, 2003, 7:42 PM
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Several years ago i saw a 5.11 climber trying to onsight a very bouldery 5.12. His partner who was also an experienced 5.11 climber was belaying him with an ATC (this was pre-gri-gri days). He dropped his brake hand and mimicked the moved that the lead climber was doing. :shock:
He didn't even realize that he had done this. I told his climbing partner later and never let that guy belay me again.
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texasclimbers
Feb 21, 2003, 7:47 PM
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In reply to: 3 quickies At the base of Werks Supp (Eldo) a belayer bouncing from leg to leg explained to me he had to piss and was unable to tell the climber (about ¾ of the way up) because of river noise. I put the climber on belay and the belayer took off for the parking lot at a run. About half way there the screaming started from above.
That's funny! :D
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misfit4lf
Feb 21, 2003, 8:28 PM
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Registered: Jul 15, 2002
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I was at the gym in CT. and the girl who was belaying me let go while she was lowering me. Nice 20 ft drop to the floor. Lots of bruises and aches but nothing broken. Guess I got lucky.
I think she quit climbing.
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beckerw
Feb 21, 2003, 10:22 PM
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Registered: Nov 23, 2002
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bald guy,
euro belay (slang) - noun. A substantial amount of slack fed out unnecessarily, and potentially the belayer not paying attention (smoking, looking at women, etc.
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therealbovine
Feb 21, 2003, 10:31 PM
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Registered: Jan 10, 2003
Posts: 270
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Simply fell early on a route, belayer was standing a little too far away from the rock, racked the holy-b-jesus out of me with the rope!
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dangermonkey
Feb 24, 2003, 7:12 AM
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Registered: Jan 15, 2003
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Fell asleep... yawn... Read a book. Smoking. Had food poisoning and had to crap. Thats about it.
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blackstripe
Feb 25, 2003, 5:58 AM
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My friend who works at the gym w/ me told me this story, and I know its true because you can still see the blood stains.
It was late one night as he was closing, a girl came in and said she had climbing experience and proved to him that she could belay, so he let her belay her boyfriend. My friend turned away and started putting all the gear away when he turned around and the guy was falling right in front of his face and smack hits the floor! He ended up getting a bunch of broken bones, head problems, massive bleeding and all that good stuff, and the gym is getting sued. It turns out the girl clipped her bf into a gear loop and when he took a fall the thing just broke off and he went down.
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waggas
Feb 25, 2003, 6:36 AM
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I had a mate and his younger brother come climbing one time... First time for the younger brother. Now, my friend is 6'4", and about 260lb at the time... not someone you want angry at you...
Anyway, his brother was belaying for him, and wasn't paying attention when he fell from about 6' up...... Rope hicked in, and has justenough stretch for him to bounce of the (rubber) floor, and then end up hanging, flat backed, about 1/2" off the ground. The look he directed as his brother was priceless..... I rekon if he hadn't been tied into the ground strap, that kid would have been out the door like the road-runner..... :lol:
EDIT: acrophobic pointed outthat type in the wieght..... 160 lb would be a beenpole.....
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elvislegs
Feb 25, 2003, 7:09 PM
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For Valentines day I took my wife climbing at a local gym. We walk in to the (rather small) gym to find about 25 junior high girls and maybe two boys. Nothing but noise and chattering and alot of "MORGAN will you do a "belay" for ME!!!".
So basically none of them knows how to belay, they all say they know, and there is one poor frazzeled girl working the place who just kind of made sure they were doubled back and then let them have at it (stupid).
I lean to my wife and say "somebody is going to get DROPPED tonight."
As we climb I watch as the ignorant instruct the more ignorant. I try to gently give advice, but there are just too many kids doing rediculous things.
The best, was this young mack daddy trying to impress one of the girls, he puts her on belay using the middle bar between the two sections of the ATC, clips the cable to his belay loop (all the while telling her EXACTLY how to do all this correctly like he is frickin Royal Robbins) Then he says, in his coolest climber voice, "climb on". Well before I can say anything the girl who worked at the gym comes up and says to the climber (five feet off the deck) "Are you gonna let this dumbass belay you?"
"He has no idea what he's doing and you are going to get hurt"
The climber gives him a death stare and promptly unclips to go find another bad belay, while the kid just sits there looking like a chump.
Ahhhh junior high angst, is ther anything more comical?
Somehow, nobody got dropped that night, I don't know why.
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kman
Feb 25, 2003, 7:20 PM
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I got to the top of a lead once and was setting up an anchor on a little ledge, and I looked down to see what my belayer was doing just in time to see her taking the rope out of the belay device. "WHAT THE F__K ARE YOU DOING?" :shock:
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acrophobic
Feb 25, 2003, 7:44 PM
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6'4" and 160lb ??? that's a damn beanpole, nothing to be afraid of :lol: !
I'm 5,11 and 160 and I'm pretty slim.
Anyway I was in the gym yesterday and a new couple was there lead climbing.. it was obvious that they had no idea what they were doing... the belayer was taking in slack rather than giving out, always pulling the guy short. The climber backclipped twice and tied into his belay loop. I finally went to the staff who was busy with a group and told her to get them off the wall and give them a lead test.
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hroldan
Feb 25, 2003, 7:56 PM
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Ok, this is a good one:
I was belaying my friend at the gym one night with a kinda old rope. It wasnt thin anymore so i has trouble taking rope and lowering him.
Then he insisted in changing the rope for a new one (thin). Ok, let's do it...
He is like 20ft on the wall and says I can climb no more!!!, I'm going down!!
Ok!! I got you!!! then he says, ok (top rope hanging) lower me!!
- ok!!
When I opened the grigri, by instinct, used to the old rope, I opened wide to lower him down but this time with a new rope so guess what?
The next second I just hear cabummm!!!!! :x he's on the floor!!!!
Yeah. My mistake, and I'm sorry. But then it was his turn to belay me on a roof and an overhanging :twisted:. He let me fall in both routes with just enough rope just to not hit the floor. I barely touched it with my feet. But it was really scary.
but the scariest fall was from the roof. Yea, I had to pay. :roll:
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sunsation
Feb 25, 2003, 8:07 PM
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Sport climbing at Rogues Gallery with two friends of mine. It had just spit rain so the rock was a tiny bit wet. One moment I'm about to make my first clip and the next I'm gasping for air, lying flat on my back. My belayer and other climbing partner had been chatting amongst themselves, not paying attention, and were stunned speechless as I zipped between them and decked. I'd fallen 6 feet and narrowly missed bashing my head open on a nearby rock. :shock:
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