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what happens when yr leg gets behind the rope and u get a static catch on an overhung climb ...

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bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065
BigFeet · · Texas · Joined May 2014 · Points: 385

Ouch! That guy is lucky he was not knocked out or worse.

John Walters · · Webster Groves, MO · Joined May 2013 · Points: 0

Odd...the belayer is wearing a helmet.

Benjamin Chapman · · Small Town, USA · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 18,818

Wow...that was a nasty fall. Glad the leader was okay, but another great argument for wearing a helmet. The irony is that the belayer was wearing a helmet.

Ryan Palo · · Bend, oregon · Joined Aug 2006 · Points: 605

WHERE'S HIS HELMET!!?!?!?!

Russ Keane · · Salt Lake · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 392

Not pleasant to see! Bad bad whipper. Did he spin/twist because of the rope behind his leg?

I can't believe he went climbing with the cast on, and they filmed it. Pretty ridiculous I think.

Joy likes trad · · Southern California · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 71

The belayer also did not "static" catch the fall he actually took in an entire bite of rope and made the fall harder. Not that it matters much in this situation.

slim · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2004 · Points: 1,103

man, that SOUNDED awful. uggghh.

csproul · · Pittsboro...sort of, NC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 330
gription wrote:The belayer also did not "static" catch the fall he actually took in an entire bite of rope and made the fall harder. Not that it matters much in this situation.
I'd say it matters quite a bit.
Joy likes trad · · Southern California · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 71
csproul wrote: I'd say it matters quite a bit.
would not change the fact that the climber lacks the savy to stay behind his rope. still would have flipped.
Mark E Dixon · · Possunt, nec posse videntur · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 974
Russ Keane wrote: I can't believe he went climbing with the cast on, and they filmed it. Pretty ridiculous I think.
What's wrong with climbing in a cast?

Technically he was actually in a splint which provides less protection. It looks like a Bennet's fracture on the xray, which I think is going to need surgery anyway, no matter if he climbs in his splint or not.
Thomas Beck · · Las Vegas, Nevada · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,025

The comments on the Vimeo page elaborate on what other people think happened.

From a developer/equipper's point of view I try to place the clips slightly to one side of the climbing route. From what I can see the leader is climbing directly over the bolts. This will set you up to clip the rope in a fall.

I talk to beginning climbers about tie your waistband in as high as you can; above your navel. That helps to keep your center of mass below your tie in point.

As the leader fell he did not tuck. That the leader clipped the belay line during the fall seems to have accelerated his rotation. Course he was already falling outward. At 0:27 you see the leader attempting to grab the lead line above his tie in, but the belayer's position was keeping the line out in the air and making it easy to clip. At 0:42 in the slow motion you can see the leader's right legs beginning to engage the rope after he has been jerked and rotated.

You see the belayer suck in some slack at the moment of fall. As others have said the hard catch may have contributed to the leader's uncontrolled fall and his injuries.

2013 I took a very similar fall. Lower angle to a short headwall. I was bolting on lead and had just placed a hook on the headwall. I was going to drill over my head. I leaned back on the hook and it held but as I was reaching for the Bosch the hook popped and I went over backwards, landing on my ass. My highest bolt was at my ankles. I fell about 15 ft but had a soft catch. Ii firmly believe due to the soft catch I was not injured and able to continue finishing the pitch.

justgoodenough · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 41

Definitely a very hard catch. Flipping upside down is one thing, but slamming into the wall was the belayer's fault.

csproul · · Pittsboro...sort of, NC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 330
gription wrote: would not change the fact that the climber lacks the savy to stay behind his rope. still would have flipped.
True, but he probably wouldn't have slammed into the wall so hard either. So instead of breaking an arm, he would have just stayed upright and broke an ankle instead.
Nick Stayner · · Wymont Kingdom · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 2,315
slim wrote:man, that SOUNDED awful. uggghh.
Yes, my first thought too.
FrankPS · · Atascadero, CA · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 276

No helmet, even after taking the first upside down fall, and climbing with an injured arm in a cast/splint? Not too bright.

bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065
gription wrote:The belayer also did not "static" catch the fall he actually took in an entire bite of rope and made the fall harder. Not that it matters much in this situation.
thats what i call static or hard ... basically what folks do on a "take" ... its not like the belayer ran back

the belayer not giving a dynamic catch likely aggravated the situation ... on an overhanging climb a good catch would have dissipated the sideways force

on another note its hard to tell from the angle if this happened here ... but a belayer pulling in the rope fast can increase the chance of the leg getting caught behind the rope as the rope gets taught much quicker than a dynamic belay

you can see this here, but in this case the belayer had no choice but to give a hard catch due to the nature of the climb

youtube.com/watch?v=gRmEukG…

personally ive flipped off an overhanging route, not due to any leg behind the rope but because of the nature of layback moves when you fall sometimes of em ... a dynamic belay from my experienced partner meant that i ended up bouncing in mid air rather than smashing into the rock
Joy likes trad · · Southern California · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 71

he wasn't static he was dynamic in the wrong direction. ouch!

Thomas Beck · · Las Vegas, Nevada · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,025

Good point!

"on another note its hard to tell from the angle if this happened here ... but a belayer pulling in the rope fast can increase the chance of the leg getting caught behind the rope as the rope gets taught much quicker than a dynamic belay"

Joy likes trad · · Southern California · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 71

thats what i call static or hard ... basically what folks do on a "take" ...quote>

Thats not static it's dynamic in reverse

Eli Buzzell · · noco · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 5,507

I'm always saying I'd rather fall farther and hit nothing than smash into a rock sideways from a too tight catch.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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