Lots of good stories. Thanks for posting them!

I've only really fucked up once.

It was the end of a long day and I was leading the crux last pitch of Book of Solemnity. I was pretty zonked and it was a long and very difficult lead for me. I had never been on it before, and was hoping to onsight.

Adding to the complexity, I had two seconds I was planning to bring up, and I was leading on double ropes. So I was putting a lot of thought into where to put gear both to protect me, and also each of the two seconds. And if any of you have done the climb, you know there are some spots on the pitch that are very dangerous for the second.

(EDITED to add that in all the pictures, the second rope is removed for simplicity.)

Anyway, I had made it to the top, clean, and was tired but happy. I thought I had set everything up perfectly for both my seconds so they would be protected at the crux, and also at the top of the climb, where there's a very tricky move just to traverse over to the belay slab.

So up starts second number one. He gets to the crux and I realize that I've done something really stupid. Here was the situation:

[IMG]http://i55.tinypic.com/zinmn5.jpg[/IMG]

I had extended myself ten feet down a steep slab from the anchors so as to be able to see over the lip and keep track of my seconds. The belay rope was going over five feet and up ten into a piece I had placed to protect the second for the final traverse move to the anchor. Well I'm sure you can see as well as I how dumb that seems. If the second were to fall anywhere on the pitch and that piece were to blow, the second would fall 20+ feet, plus rope stretch!

And, at the crux of the route, 50 feet below me, the second fell! The piece held, but I got really nervous. As the second was hanging on the rope, I decided I didn't care any more about being able to see him, I cared more about that 20 feet of slack in the rope if the piece were to blow. So I hiked myself up to near the piece, pulling in slack as I went.

Here's how it looked now:

[IMG]http://i55.tinypic.com/9sguup.jpg[/IMG]

My second continued to try the crux move, and fell several times. Each time the piece held. And then he fell and I heard the pop. There was a moment of slack and then I was flipped over backwards and dragged upside-down to the bottom of the slab.

[IMG]http://i52.tinypic.com/29c9uz5.jpg[/IMG]

He had only dropped the ten feet I'd been dragged down the slab, and fortunately it was steep below him, so he hadn't hit anything. But I felt like such an idiot. To endanger yourself, as a leader, is one thing. But to needlessly endanger your second like that is so much worse.

I sure as hell learned my lesson about directionals that day.

GO

Lots of good stories. Thanks for posting them!

I've only really fucked up once.

It was the end of a long day and I was leading the crux last pitch of Book of Solemnity. I was pretty zonked and it was a long and very difficult lead for me. I had never been on it before, and was hoping to onsight.

Adding to the complexity, I had two seconds I was planning to bring up, and I was leading on double ropes. So I was putting a lot of thought into where to put gear both to protect me, and also each of the two seconds. And if any of you have done the climb, you know there are some spots on the pitch that are very dangerous for the second.

(EDITED to add that in all the pictures, the second rope is removed for simplicity.)

Anyway, I had made it to the top, clean, and was tired but happy. I thought I had set everything up perfectly for both my seconds so they would be protected at the crux, and also at the top of the climb, where there's a very tricky move just to traverse over to the belay slab.

So up starts second number one. He gets to the crux and I realize that I've done something really stupid. Here was the situation:

[IMG]http://i55.tinypic.com/zinmn5.jpg[/IMG]

I had extended myself ten feet down a steep slab from the anchors so as to be able to see over the lip and keep track of my seconds. The belay rope was going over five feet and up ten into a piece I had placed to protect the second for the final traverse move to the anchor. Well I'm sure you can see as well as I how dumb that seems. If the second were to fall anywhere on the pitch and that piece were to blow, the second would fall 20+ feet, plus rope stretch!

And, at the crux of the route, 50 feet below me, the second fell! The piece held, but I got really nervous. As the second was hanging on the rope, I decided I didn't care any more about being able to see him, I cared more about that 20 feet of slack in the rope if the piece were to blow. So I hiked myself up to near the piece, pulling in slack as I went.

Here's how it looked now:

[IMG]http://i55.tinypic.com/9sguup.jpg[/IMG]

My second continued to try the crux move, and fell several times. Each time the piece held. And then he fell and I heard the pop. There was a moment of slack and then I was flipped over backwards and dragged upside-down to the bottom of the slab.

[IMG]http://i52.tinypic.com/29c9uz5.jpg[/IMG]

He had only dropped the ten feet I'd been dragged down the slab, and fortunately it was steep below him, so he hadn't hit anything. But I felt like such an idiot. To endanger yourself, as a leader, is one thing. But to needlessly endanger your second like that is so much worse.

I sure as hell learned my lesson about directionals that day.

GO

Nothing really crazy yet...

Once I tied my figure 8, only tieing into the loop at the leg loops, and not the one at the waist. Luckily my boyfriend who was newly returning to the sport was pretty paranoid about double checking each other, so he caught my error before I left the ground.

You wouldn't by chance have been on Apparition Rock?
http://www.mountainproject.com/...ndian_cove/105720846

I had nearly the same exact thing happen there. I was belaying up my second, fretting over what I'd heard was an iffy descent, when this ~10 year old's head pops out above me asking if I'd seen some gear.

Bill L

P.S. I still found the descent an eye opener.

ClimbSoHigh wrote:I have a suggestion for gri gri's that I do not see many climbers do, that will help mitigate gri gri failures. Everytime I lead a sport climb, I double check the knots and set ups like most people do/should. As most posters have hinted to, even with this double and tripple check, we all get distracted once in a while and glance over things and a back threaded gri gri doesn't jump out like "dude, your not tied in" does. My advice before every climb with a gri gri belayer, is to do your check on knots, biners, belay device, and harness, then do the tug test. I simply grab my tie in (to make sure I am tugging on the right end, and to tripple check that knot after making a knot mistake years ago), walk my hands along the rope to where it is connected to my belayer, then I give it a yank to verify the gri gri is threaded correctly, and is not gummed up or frozen. It gives my physical proof the device is working and will lock in a fall before I leave the ground.

Ugh. See above for this. Stop tugging your partners.


In reply to:And for my 2 stories that come to mind...

1. A bunch of years ago I worked out the moves to my first 5.12a climb but was too weak at the end of the day to send. The next morning I ran to my climb, tied in, threw my shoes on, and started rehearsing my moves in the air while my buddy caught up and set up the belay. After a quick safty check, I was off, and flashed it. Totally psyched I clipped the quick clips, yelled take in excitement, leaned back into my harness once I felt the rope go tight, and suddenly started to invert. Shocked I quickly grabbed my rope and corrected myself, then looked down and saw that I had only tied in to my leg loop tie in (the 8 was well dressed though!). Wouldn't have decked or anything, but could have had a nasty inverted helmetless whipper into a block had I blown the final crux. I went from pure excitement and joy, to ashamed and disapointed with myself, before I even got back to the ground. So my first 12a is actually an embarasing memory, not a triumphant one, and I flashed it none the less.

Wanna make a bet that you flashed it?


In reply to:More recently really hung over, I went trad climbing with a buddy. He was on something well within his abilities, but was rehabbing an injury. Tired with a stiff neck i sat down on a natural chair that angled my head up, like I do for TR'ing often, still paying attention and locked off, but clearly not belaying as well if I was standing. My buddy got into the crux and got hung up for a minute, he looked down and yelled at me to get my ass up. I still feel embarased about this as I really should not be sitting for any belaying (although I still do for TR), nor climbing/belaying very hung over which I know plenty of climbers do even though we know we shouldn't, even the pro's do it... Just ask Jason Kruk how hangover went...)
http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/...r-for-the-weekend-56
You sat down when you're belaying? That's a stupid "choice" not a stupid "mistake," which is what this thread is about.

Got me thinking about sitting for a TR belay... Can't dodge falling rock as well, can't move to position rope out of climbers way, limited range of motion. Bringing up a second though I usually try to find a good seat when possible, but then again I usually set up my belay off the anchor in autoblock. I am now currious if others elsewhere belay single pitch TR sitting sometimes, as I know many people that do where I live. Also do people ever TR belay by feel to avoid belayers neck? (just feel for the slack rather than crank your neck up all day, particularly when the climber wants a tight belay and communication is great).

Then they weren't visually verified, were they?

this strikes me as a tautology. it's like saying, "visual verification works, therefore if it didn't work, it wasn't visual verification." if normal people look at their setup twice and still fail to perform "visual verification" because they're not thinking and are on auto-pilot, doesn't that mean it's an incomplete protocol?

maybe the problem lies with going on auto-pilot and not with the procedure, but it does happen.

btw I don't jerk others and I agree it's kinda rude, but I'm always looking for ways to prevent my inherent absent-mindedness from killing me.

btw I don't jerk others and I agree it's kinda rude, but I'm always looking for ways to prevent my inherent absent-mindedness from killing me.

So, since I'm comfortable belaying by feel, yes, I will not watch my climber full time. However, if I can see them, and they are at a sketchy point, I will certainly focus on them with multiple senses.

You're criticizing a minor point I was making. Like I said earlier, a "yank check" of the grigri should always be performed, but by the belayer, not the climber.

Jay

despite the potential rudeness of tugging your belayer, it does have the advantage of making sure the grigri is threaded on the correct side of the rope. do you do anything special to check this? (I thread it by following it from the tie-in, but I'm all for improving things.)

Within my circle of climbing partners we have evolved a system whereby the climber looks at the belayer when he is ready to start climbing, and when he makes eye contact, the belayer "yank checks" the grigri and pushes on the gate of the belay carabiner so that both partners know that it is locked. If a new partner doesn't do these two checks upon eye contact (many do—apparently there is convergent evolution), I'll ask them to.

Jay

+1

with a grigri, I'll grab the rope and lift it up to visually see that it is threaded the correct way. I do that as a climber and as a belayor, too, just to be consistent. If my belayor holds the rope up for me to see then that is fine for me.

I have reached over to check that a locker is locked before. I don't like doing it, but I've had partners who I've asked if it was locked and they simply said "yes." Often times I'll ask again as if I didn't hear them, and if they still don't physically check with their hand squeezing the gate, I'll slowly begin to reach over. Most often this will cause a reaction where they reach down and do it themselves, but there was once when I checked and...it was unlocked.

So even though I don't like to do it, I don't have a problem doing it if my partner hasn't shown to me that it is locked.

I give my belayer a complete pat-down before I climb. In addition to checking the belay device, biner, and harness, I want to make sure that they are not concealing any drugs or weapons. You can never be too safe, IMHO.

Josh

I'm not convinced that's what that was, considering your grin.

Was that a big bro in your pocket or were you just happy to see me?

Was that a big bro in your pocket or were you just happy to see me?

I have reached over to check that a locker is locked before. I don't like doing it, but I've had partners who I've asked if it was locked and they simply said "yes."

This would bother me. When my climber turns around to ask if I'm prepared, I honestly don't know if I verbally respond. I show them. Yank the gri-gri, squeeze the gate. They assume I've already checked myself, and what they really want is too see for themselves that I'm ready.

If it was the size of a big bro then it was a big bro.
Indead if it was even noticable, there was something in his pocket.