So I decked in the gym yesterday.

I was 5 clips up a route (probably about 30 feet). I was going for a 6 foot dyno out of a horizontal roof onto a headwall. My last clip was dead center between the two holds. .... My belayer misjudged the amount of slack to give me and I decked.

So I hit the ground..... I don't think the belayer caught me at all, when I looked up at him the rope wasn't even taunt ...He just misjudged the slack.

.

So I decked in the gym yesterday.

I was 5 clips up a route (probably about 30 feet). I was going for a 6 foot dyno out of a horizontal roof onto a headwall. My last clip was dead center between the two holds. As far as the clips were concerned, there was no way I should have fallen. My belayer misjudged the amount of slack to give me and I decked.

Time didn't stand still or any thing like that but I had time to realize I was falling faster than I should have, that something in the system wasn't working. A scary feeling.

So I hit the ground and - I shit you not - literally bounced two feet in the air. I was lucky, I came down totally horizontal so impact of the fall was distributed across my entire body and not any one point. If I hand landed on my ankles, or put an arm behind me to stop the fall, it would have been ugly.

I don't think the belayer caught me at all, (maybe maybe 1/5 of the force of the fall), when I looked up at him the rope wasn't even taunt.

I immediately look up and the entire gym is dead quite. All eyes are on me. I scream something to the effect of "I'm okay" and wish they would stop staring at me. They don't. The next 5 minutes are very awkward.

Bottom line is I was ok, a little shaken up, but ok. But here's the thing. I have always expected "the system' to work. My style has always been aggressive- i push hard and am willing to take falls - but that has been predicated on the belief that the system is gonna work. If I'm on dodgey gear or in a precocious position I reel it in a bit but now that I've seen the system fail in the safest of circumstances, I gotta think twice. If I was outside and fell into a talus field, I'd be pretty busted.

So basically now I have some headgames to deal with. I've seen good climbers take nasty falls and have it stuck with them. I don't want that to be an issue for me. I'm foolhardy to a fault so I think I'll get through it, but its a strange position to be in. I made a point of climbing the rest of the night and doing a few dynos. Trying to get back in the saddle and all. I was tense but all things considered, I did ok I guess.

A little background. I have been climbing for about 7 years and am a damn good belayer/leader. My belayer has been climbing for 10 years and is also - normally - a good belayer. He knew I was going for a dyno so I had his full attention. He just misjudged the slack.

So for whatever that's worth.

I was going for a 6 foot dyno out of a horizontal roof onto a headwall.

he was using a gri gri

he was using a gri gri

Not completely sure from your post, but how far were you above the last clip? It sounds like you had a clip at your waist or something (the two holds yo mention are the ones you dynoed from, correct? This was a bit unclear). If this the case, your belay was out to lunch...

If you were level with your last clip, your belayer would have had to have paid out 30' of slack for you to deck if you were 30' up!

Something is wrong here....

Not completely sure from your post, but how far were you above the last clip? It sounds like you had a clip at your waist or something (the two holds yo mention are the ones you dynoed from, correct? This was a bit unclear). If this the case, your belay was out to lunch...

If you were level with your last clip, your belayer would have had to have paid out 30' of slack for you to deck if you were 30' up!

If you were six feet above your last clip, thats 12 feet plus stretch plus slack for the dyno...you could see how it might happen. But if I'm interpreting you correctly, you were dynoing from two holds with your last bolt at shoulder level or something, which would necessitate a ton of ton of slack to make decking from 30' a possibility.


Something is wrong here....

Not that it matters, but what gym were you at? ET? Just curious....

he was using a gri gri

WTF happened to his brake hand?

the thing that gets me is that you said when you hit the ground the rope wasnt even tight which says your belayer was put out at least 35 feet of slack for you to deck and have the rope be loose. sounds like you need a new partner because he is preoccupied while he belays you

But I think part of giving a dynamic belay is knowing that you have to sometimes prepare yourself to give a tighter catch in some cases (will the climber hit the deck if he falls?), softer in others (will the climber clear this roof if he falls?).

I understand your desire to defend your climbing buddy, but him dropping you in this situation removes him from the "capable belayer" category.

Things are confusing because the 1st hold was on a severe overhang and the second was on a vertical headwall 2 feet up and 4 feet to the right of the first hold. The clip was between the two holds on the vertical headwall between each hold - three feet above my head.

Also, to be fair, paying out slack for a horizontal overhanging dyno move, isn't that straightforward - its hard to tell how much to pay out without restricting the climber. I am not saying that he should have dropped me, but i AM saying that he was paying attention and made an error.

Truth be told, I still would let this guy belay me. He made a mistake, but I don't think its one he would make again. And he is a better belayer than a lot of people I've seen out there. It just goes to show you that you'd be surprised what can happen even in the hands of a capable belayer.