Re: It's official - we're all bad belayers


"Lord Slime"
> This case (in Rifle) is actually interesting, since no obvious
> mistakes were made. The climber was well above the ground,
> the belayer (using a Grigri) had a "good" loop out and jumped at
> the right time. BUT... the loop and jump was not enough and
> she swung into the wall below the roof.
>
> Standing under the route and visualizing what happened,
> I have guessed that a good belayer with a passive device
> might have been able to let rope through the device until
> her swing stopped. But it would be a tricky thing.
>

I've seen this type of fall happen once after multiple falls were taken and
the climber hung to rest after the falls. Each successive fall was harder,
and the fourth ended with a nasty sprain. Obviously the rope was less and
less able to absorb the energy. The falls were pretty hard to begin
with--20 feet with 40 feet of rope out. Allowing much more slack or jumping
distance seemed contraindicated with the ground so close.

Will Niccolls


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