Falling and Forgetting

August 2012

Climb



Hi Steph. My name is Mary, I admire your boldness and serenity you show on the wall. I started lead climbing a few weeks ago after a few months of just top roping. As you well know I am going back on my ratings with leading , just getting comfortable . Yesterday I took my first big fall on a 9 , it was about a 30 foot fall, landing only a few feet from the ground. I kept leading after but for the most part my fear is blocking my ability to actually forget about falling and just climb. It is something I really cherish as a part of my life and I hope to do well in. Thank you for sharing your stories and helping others along the way !

Ps.. I’m midway through High Infatuation and have half the book highlighted !

Hi Mary,

It’s definitely hard to get back on the horse when you’ve had a close call, an accident or an injury. I am wondering why you came so close to the ground. Was the climb really run-out, or did your belayer give you too much slack?

I climb with a lot of different people, and I notice that it does affect your confidence. My friend Lisa has instilled in me a habit of standing to the side and watching people belay others before walking up and asking them for a belay myself.

Recently I saw a very good climber in Rifle using a Grigri and almost never putting his hand on the brake end of the rope while his partner was both climbing and hanging. Obviously it was working okay, but to me that is an unacceptable method when holding someone else’s life in your hands–you should actually use your hands. Mechanics do fail, obviously, and there’s no reason not to hold the brake end of the rope loosely even when the Grigri is engaged.

I also see way too many climbers belaying with the “sport loop.” This is where the belayer allows a big loop of rope to sit on the ground, while the climber is leading. Apparently the idea is that the leader will never get short-roped when going to clip, and the sport loop will contribute to a soft catch in the event of a fall. I also see light belayers jumping up when their heavier leader falls, with the result that the leader comes close to the ground.

If you are lighter than the leader, you will get pulled up naturally, and it will be a plenty soft catch: more important is keeping the person off the ground if they’re not way high up. In fact, if you are much lighter than the leader (a scenario I have a lot of personal experience with), you should be stationed directly below the first bolt or piece of gear in case of a fall, as you will get yanked way up and forward if you are standing back, which could add up to the leader hitting the ground. If you are heavier than the leader, you can step forward in one smooth motion as they fall, and the fall will be both dynamic and controlled. It used to be the cardinal rule of climbing was “the leader must not fall.” Nowadays my cardinal rule is “no one should be hitting the ground.”

An attentive and motivated belayer does not need a sport loop to throw out slack immediately for a clip, and unless the leader is much lighter than the belayer, the natural force of the fall will create enough of a soft catch and should not be added to, especially if the leader is close to the ground.

A few weeks ago, a belayer next to me was belaying with the biggest sport loop I’ve ever seen. I had the urge to say something to him, but didn’t want to be that annoying rude person who tells strangers what to do and who overreacts at other people’s methods because they are different. So I just watched and worried. Ten minutes later, the leader fell from thirty feet up, with the bolt at his WAIST, and hit the ground, but fortunately did not get hurt. I should have said something.

So I’ve learned that you can see a lot about people’s belay prowess, or lack thereof, just by observing for a little bit. When you are climbing with someone you trust, who belays as though it’s the most important thing in their life while you are climbing (as it should be), you will find it dramatically affects your confidence on lead.

Also, it does just take time. When you’ve had a close call and had your confidence shaken, it often takes a long time to gradually get past it, mentally. But you will.

Steph