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amarius
Dec 15, 2014, 3:24 PM
Post #1 of 3
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Registered: Feb 23, 2012
Posts: 122
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Most people climbing at a gym accept that rules are there to provide multiple safety factors. We also find it acceptable that employees are there to make sure that clients stick to the rules.
None of us find it acceptable when a gym employee decides to interrogate and question lead belayer while the climber is on the wall and climbing.
If the employee feels that belaying is unsafe, they should consider providing back up belaying, or communicating to the climber that s/he should stop climbing and come down. Once the climber is safe on the ground, all the technical and bureaucratic details can be sorted out.
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brinosaur
Dec 16, 2014, 7:56 PM
Post #2 of 3
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Registered: Oct 25, 2010
Posts: 46
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What gym was this, just out of curiosity? This is coming from the perspective of a former gym employee/supervisor, so forgive me if the tone comes off as a bit a**hole-ish:
Sure, the staff member should have asked you to lower your partner or provided a backup before the lecture or 'interrogartion'. But why didn't they?
-Perhaps they were concerned about your ability to lower your partner safely?
-Perhaps they have had unpleasant exchanges with you or other customers in similar situations in the past, and they felt more confrontational because of the bad experiences?
-Perhaps the employee in question hadn't needed to call out someone for bad belaying in the past and made a poor decision?
If anyone appears to be less experienced with climbing and belaying OR is experienced but attracts lots of attention with safety habits, they should be prepared for lots of:
a) Unsolicited, perhaps rude, safety tips from more experienced climbers at the crag
b) Unsolicited, perhaps poorly delivered safety tips from gym staff and management
c) Unsolicited, perhaps rude and poorly delivered safety tips from internet forum posters
(This post was edited by brinosaur on Dec 16, 2014, 8:22 PM)
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amarius
Dec 17, 2014, 8:38 PM
Post #3 of 3
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Registered: Feb 23, 2012
Posts: 122
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Let me emphasize the following - chatting up lead belayer while the climber is going up is the largest safety concern.
I was the climber, my belayer did not have card showing lead belaying certification, since the staff did not prepare the card. The employee in question asked her to spell first and last name in order to check on the computer. We are not talking about "Jane Doe" spelling here.
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