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Allie96
Aug 18, 2007, 4:45 PM
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Registered: Aug 18, 2007
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I saw something the other day at the crag that I thought I'd share...no judgement intended here. A mother and father were climbing with the mom belaying while carrying their baby in a baby backpack. The dad was leading the route and fell unexpectedly above the third bolt, yanking the mom and the baby off the ground. The weight of the backpack and baby turned the mom upsidedown. The baby did not fall out of the backpack, but because the dad was only at the third bolt his feet were low enough to clock the baby on the head. Clearly this was not something they had considered because when the dad got back on the route, the mom was belaying but baby was on the ground, not in the backpack. Just wanted to let folks know about this possibility as I've read about other climbers belaying with babies this same way.
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overlord
Aug 20, 2007, 9:19 AM
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Registered: Mar 25, 2002
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well, my guess is they were inexperienced climbers.
most experienced climbers know that a leader fall can lift oyu off the ground and that a backpack can flip you upside down.
anyway, they shoudlve thought about it earlier and left the baby on the ground. im glad they learned their lesson without too much pain.
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granite_grrl
Aug 20, 2007, 12:05 PM
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Registered: Oct 25, 2002
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Hard to say if they would have been experianced or not. I have no experiance of getting flipped upside down while wearing a back pack while belaying....because I've never worn a back pack while belaying (probobly for other reasons than just getting flipped, I guess I've never considered wearing a larger pack while climbing).
Point is, it looks like the two climbers that day learned their lesson, and it probobly scared the crap out of them too. Glad everone was okay (especially the baby!).
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lena_chita
Moderator
Aug 20, 2007, 5:45 PM
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Registered: Jun 27, 2006
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I am glad no one got hurt! Lesson learned, hopefully. I guess they were really desperate for some climbing--and I can relate to that...
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Allie96
Aug 20, 2007, 7:14 PM
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Registered: Aug 18, 2007
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They were actually really good climbers and they seemed to be really good, caring parents. This was clearly just something that they hadn't anticipated.
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