Are you afraid of falling?

@zvasic - 104 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

@PaulO - 895 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

That one fall looked really bad... where the rope appeared to come out from the only QD he'd clipped... then the guy hit the rock at the bottom and bounced part way down the hill.  I wonder if the rope was back-clipped.

@cramhead - 28 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

I'm wondering if that piece pulled. It's pretty hard to tell.

@zvasic - 104 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

It is blurry video but i think it was back-clipped. Another fall after that, at 2:28 is terrifying. 

@Ryl - 17 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

That one at 2:13 is my eternal fear when it comes to belaying outdoors and weighing next to nothing. 

@Marty - 7 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

Overhangs are starting to look real nice :P

@wernerg - 156 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

Most of those seemingly COOL guys are real IDIOTS - NO HELMET!! Nothing to bragg about! Maybe they lost their brain in previous falls...

@FrancisStPierre - 319 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

The fall at 2:03 looks to me like it was back clipped and using 2 'biners to clip into a bolt hanger, but I don't see a QD... It's pretty blurry but I think I managed to stop on a frame where it looks like the gate was partly open with full tension on the rope & 'biner, so I don't think that it unclipped. Looks to me like the 'biner the rope was going through broke. 

 

Hey Werner, the first clip shows the guy leading without a helmet, but his belayer was wearing a helmet!!! A bit bizarre!

@Marty - 7 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

Francis, Werner...you know what's funny? In my personal experience, I've actually been thankful for wearing my helmet more times because I hit my head against a protruding feature rather than a rock falling and hitting my head. Sure, I've had falling rocks hit me helmet too. But more times it's the other scenario that happens to me. So when people climbing with me say, "Oh I don't need a helmet here...there are no loose rocks," I still wear one. They also look really cool and hardcore, haha!!

@BrittanyZ - 0 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

On the helmet comment, there's a well written piece by a woman who nearly died from unexpected rock fall while belaying.

 

Wear a helmet folks. :)

 

http://cruxcrush.com/2014/05/20/the-climbing-accident-that-almost-killed-me/

@zvasic - 104 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

I was under impression that helmet is a MUST only for not very good-looking climbers!? Tongue out

@zvasic - 104 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

Carolina was climbing "Jenga" at Birdsboro, PA - a rough climb, and a rougher fall! Thank goodness for helmets.

 

 

@JustinBennett - 34 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

I do like the fact that near the end of the video they start getting into the truth of the matter.  The early falls are "cool" overhanging ones.  The later ones you start seeing guys taken out on stretcher.   The reality is 90% of our climbing will be on less than vertical and any serious fall is going to involve hitting the rock numerous times on the way down. There is a reason for the saying "protect early, protect often".  Go hard when it makes sense, but be knowledgeable and know when it doesn't make sense. 

@iegres - 89 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

Thanks for posting! This one brings up again a sobering point: "..the bulk of present-day climbers learned the ropes in a climbing gym, not on the rock..in a gym, the anchors and protection are fixed in place and bombproof..the problem comes after a gym climber acquires blazing licks on plastic, and expects that prowess to translate directly to the outdoors..in the old pre-gym era, from day one climbers were obliged to set anchors and protection..it often took several seasons for an active climber to start leading routes approaching the 5.9 grade. " - Climbing Anchors by John Long et al

This reasoning makes a lot of sense, as rock safety and not climbing techniques should be planted in one's brain on the very first class. For that matter, to people wishing to learn alpine I advise to avoid gym training because of bad habits (no helmet? no idea about fall factor? no rappel backup prusik? no clue how to escape belay? etc. etc.- c'mon!) , the path "gym climbing" -> "outdoors rock" -> "alpine" is wrong, should be: "alpine formal training" -> "alpine seconding" -> "alpine leading".  ( An old infamous accident  on Eiger North Face when a climber died only few meters above safe ground just because he didn't know how to pass the rappel knot belongs to the same sad category )

@telestix - 17 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

IEGRES - fyi the eiger it was not that he didn't know how rather his hands were too cold. He couldn't even operate a knife later on to cut himself down. There is a great film (avialable on netflix) that goes over that attempt. 

@telestix - 17 Posts

Created: 11 years ago

My mountain biking friends talk about the art of the fall. That is just because you and your bike are now seperated doesn't mean you are done "riding" A good mountain biker knows how to land to reduce the impact when possible. I get this video is a compilation but the number of rock climbers I come across who don't realize a fall on slab should be treated very differently than a fall on vertical rock vs overhanging always surprises me. Also just a personal rant but today's gym climbers are raised on the go ahead fall no biggie. Where as an outdoor climber I was raised on "that piece SHOULD hold but lets not find out" You fall a lot less with this belief and that in itself avoids some serious situations. 

Finally I will talk about this with anyone who will listen but my grandfather climbed on hemp ropes which meant as a leader you didn't fall because fall meant death. Knowing that history and thinking like he must have, leading and falling take on a much greater significance. Just something to think about as you slid a Cam into a slot and clip your dynamic rope through the biner.