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icarus_burned
Sep 20, 2004, 4:27 PM
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my girlfriend and i were at the climbing gym today, and i was climbing, she was belaying quite a long overhanging route, which has about a 60 foot straight drop away from the wall from the top anchor, anyway im being lowered at a moderate pace when the guy belaying the route next to us stood on our rope, locking it off and sending my girlfriend who is considerably smaller than me shooting up in the air beside me, it was funny to see the 2 of us suspended in mid air about 15 feet from the ground, with her locking the rope off in the belay and me almost upside down in the harness laughing. in the end up i managed to swing back on the wall till she hit the floor and i could continue with my descent.
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mother_sheep
Sep 20, 2004, 4:32 PM
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Yeah, this happens to me often, especially when I climb with FLAMER!!!!! In the gym, it's funny. But outside, that's another story. Once my partner fell, lifted me off the ground and slammed my face into the rock. 2 things I learned. 1. Stand closer to the rock while belaying. 2. Anchor yourself in when there is a chance that your partner's falls will send you flying. But really it's a judgement call. Sometimes being anchored outside and be restrictive. You never know when you're gonna have to run to save your partner's a$$.
But yeah, I get a good laugh every time I pull plastic with flamer.
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berkly
Sep 20, 2004, 4:36 PM
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In reply to: anyway im being lowered at a moderate pace when the guy belaying the route next to us stood on our rope, locking it off and sending my girlfriend who is considerably smaller than me shooting up in the air beside me
How the hell does this happen? Shouldnt have the person standing on the rope have anchored her to the ground? I can understand in a fall, she could be lifted, but while lowering?
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musicman
Sep 20, 2004, 5:04 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: anyway im being lowered at a moderate pace when the guy belaying the route next to us stood on our rope, locking it off and sending my friend who is considerably smaller than me up in the air beside me How the hell does this happen? Shouldnt have the person standing on the rope have anchored her to the ground? I can understand in a fall, she could be lifted, but while lowering?
i couldn't quite figure it out either
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bumblie
Sep 20, 2004, 5:18 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: In reply to: anyway im being lowered at a moderate pace when the guy belaying the route next to us stood on our rope, locking it off and sending my friend who is considerably smaller than me up in the air beside me How the hell does this happen? Shouldnt have the person standing on the rope have anchored her to the ground? I can understand in a fall, she could be lifted, but while lowering? i couldn't quite figure it out either
He stood on the other end of the rope, essentially creating an anchor.
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maculated
Sep 20, 2004, 5:21 PM
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It's happened to me. I sometimes get my tippytoes off the ground lowering on low-friction gym routes.
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killclimbz
Sep 20, 2004, 5:38 PM
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More like "Mildly amusing climbing incident."
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nmoroder
Sep 20, 2004, 5:49 PM
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Happens to me all the time. My two climbing partners each outweigh me by 100+ pounds. Outside I anchor in, always. Inside, we don't have that option. A good way to help this is by wrapping the rope around itself once while toproping. That provides enough friction for me to stop a fall without shooting up in the air.
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andy_reagan
Sep 20, 2004, 6:33 PM
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In reply to: A good way to help this is by wrapping the rope around itself once while toproping. That provides enough friction for me to stop a fall without shooting up in the air.
If I understand you correctly what you are describing is unhealthy for the rope. Shortens the life and could possibly create a dangerous situation if enough friction/heat was generated.
As to the OP I might think it was amusing or silly unless my belayer lost control and I hit the deck. Best to not joke around when other people's lives are in question. Your own is, of course always, fair game.
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icarus_burned
Sep 20, 2004, 7:10 PM
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to clear up when the guy stood on the rope he momentarily jammed it causing the upward tug that got her off the ground in the first place, when she was in mid air she locked off herself to stop the 2 of us from falling. when leading in the gym there are anchor points at the bottom of every route for a convenient long sling and biner to be clipped to, outside well thats a whole new kettle of fish........she hasnt been outside yet, were still workin on that,
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nmoroder
Sep 22, 2004, 7:28 PM
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In reply to: If I understand you correctly what you are describing is unhealthy for the rope. Shortens the life and could possibly create a dangerous situation if enough friction/heat was generated.
Yes, this may be unhealthy for the rope, but our ropes are replaced quite often and the gym recommends it. It's only a 30 foot wall and we only do it on TR. I am confident that a dangerous situation could not happen in my situation. I wouldn't do this outside or a wall much higher than that.
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robmcc
Sep 22, 2004, 7:33 PM
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Gotta agree with Andy. Doing that to the rope is a bad idea whether your gym recommends it or not. There's no natural law that prevents gyms from being stupid.
Simply put, it damages the rope and solves no problem that can't be solved without damaging the rope.
Rob
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corpse
Sep 22, 2004, 8:00 PM
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I think what this means:
In reply to: A good way to help this is by wrapping the rope around itself once while toproping. That provides enough friction for me to stop a fall without shooting up in the air.
The gym I go too also does an extra wrap of rope for their TR's.. To further explain..
They have large round steel beams for their anchors, they are ~4" wide.. The rope simply goes around the pipe one extra turn. The added friction works well enough where my daughter can belay me - I'm ~170lbs, she is ~90lbs. Perhaps they replace the ropes often, but none of their ropes are (overly) fuzzy.
If you are talking about an extra wrap thru just the biners, I would agree that this would NOT be good, since there is extra heat being generated in such a small area, tight rope bends, etc.
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nmoroder
Sep 23, 2004, 4:29 AM
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I am in the same situation as corpse. We also TR off the 4" steel bars. I should have clarified this...
EDIT TO ADD: I am sure that this is safer than flying up the wall all the time. I don't really have any more options either, for we don't have floor anchors.
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musicman
Sep 23, 2004, 4:34 AM
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In reply to: I am in the same situation as corpse. We also TR off the 4" steel bars. I should have clarified this... EDIT TO ADD: I am sure that this is safer than flying up the wall all the time. I don't really have any more options either, for we don't have floor anchors.
that sounds a lot like the gym i go to, it has double rapped bars at the top, not sure how big, but they nice and burly.
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sabu
Sep 23, 2004, 6:07 AM
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at my skool wall we don't hav any anchor points in the ground. as a rule inexperienced belayers (with a backup) or lighter climbers belay each other. however it's no problem if the belayer lifts up as long as they are experienced enough to lock it off and slowly lower themselves down. on many occations i've lifted and had the climbers feet in my face. we've had no injuries with this and hopefully never will.
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prufrock
Sep 23, 2004, 6:48 AM
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This happens to me (or did, when I was a gym-rat) all the time, to a lesser degree (3-6 feet).
It's funny in the gym. It could kill somebody outside. I see sport climbers standing off-balance ten feet from the wall all the time. Unless they seriously outweigh the climber, they are getting thrown if the leader takes a whipper. Especially if it's a 5' 100 lb. person belaying a 6' 200 lb. person.
I also see climbers standing in terrain where they could easily loose their balance and fall 5-15 feet if something happened. That might piss the leader off or even kill them (if they were dropped), but at least falling over while belaying is less likely.
Mother_sheep was lucky and talented to hang on to the rope when her face was smashed into the cliff. I wonder how many people I see doing this would drop the leader if they took a whipper and they got a nice rock sandwhich for lunch.
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thewyseclimber
Sep 23, 2004, 7:03 AM
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In reply to: Happens to me all the time. My two climbing partners each outweigh me by 100+ pounds. Outside I anchor in, always. Inside, we don't have that option. A good way to help this is by wrapping the rope around itself once while toproping. That provides enough friction for me to stop a fall without shooting up in the air.
Doesn't using a munter hitch inflict similar forces on a rope? I mean, with this belay/rappel hitch you still have rope rubbing on rope. That's the purpose of it. I would imagine it would rub to a lesser degree than wrapping the rope around an anchor a couple times, but can somebody tell me if the rubbing forces would be at all comparable?
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dmon
Sep 23, 2004, 10:47 AM
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In reply to: in the end up i managed to swing back on the wall till she hit the floor and i could continue with my descent.
All she had to do was let rope go through the belay device. She would go to the ground, then you would. Getting pulled off the ground is nothing new. Not done much outdoor climbing huh?
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icarus_burned
Sep 23, 2004, 11:55 AM
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In reply to: In reply to: in the end up i managed to swing back on the wall till she hit the floor and i could continue with my descent. All she had to do was let rope go through the belay device. She would go to the ground, then you would. Getting pulled off the ground is nothing new. Not done much outdoor climbing huh?
nope, hardly any at all, but when something like that happens and you have momentary lapses of zen like calm and reasoning, you just do what you think is best, which i did by grabbing the wall again
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