Best Climbing Pranks?

What are your favorite climbing related pranks that are fun (and safe; YGD)  to pull on your buddies? Y'all have any good things to send your new gumby friend into a climbing shop for, similar to the classic "blinker fluid" prank. 

Some construction dudes at my work gave me a big ass locking carabiner and I'll pull it out every once in a while to belay with or on my PAS.  Usually good for a chuckle.  

[Edited to add: When swapping leads on a single pitch, second climber using pre-placed draws - ] skip a bolt on easy terrain without telling them (when you know your partner can handle it / it isn't opening up decking potential)

When bringing up a second through a crux, yell down "Don't fall there, my anchor won't hold!"  

the mega classic

My old friend and climbing partner Brent Inghram has a way with words, and climbing humor. For example, at the start of a pitch he might say "on delay," or maybe he'd be well off the deck with no pro and say "watch me here." 

But the best came when the two of us got the hair brained idea to climb A Good Day to Die on Saddle Rock in Josh. I led the first pitch, a kind of whacky deal where at one point peeling is not in the program. Brent led P2, a long dicey slab with no pro. By the time he reached the belay he was out of my sight. Then I heard the well spaced cries "AHH!    ...AHHH!!   ...AAAHF BELAY!!!" 

For a moment I expected to see him fly past me. When the third cry came down, and I picked up on the gag, I knew that revenge was in order. But I could never top that one. He took me from sheer terror to total relief to hysteria in a matter of seconds.

Since then I've used the same gag in similar situations with equally satisfactory results.

one time i told my partner off belay, and once they took me off I whipped, hit the deck and died. those were good times

We got lots of  mileage out of the rubber  snake that  I  bought  at the  dollar store.  Eventually we  left it on a  shelf  above  a bolt  with a  clean  fall.  Watched several of my  friends  scream and  jump on to the bolt. 

Had a great day at the crag and want a souvenir rock to remember it by but dont want to lug it out yourself? No problem, that's what the bottom of your partners pack is for   

Swapping belayers on a chill top rope is a good one.  Have someone else clip onto the brake strand and then have the new belayer hit them with a fist bump or "nice climb" when they get back down.  Works best if they are on a ledge or out of sight.

J P wrote:

Skipping a bolt on easy terrain without telling them (when you know your partner can handle it / it isn't opening up decking potential)

How is this a prank? 

Marc801 C wrote:

How is this a prank? 

Edited: Sorry, I left out key details

Marc801 C wrote:

How is this a prank? 

I don’t know if I’d call it a prank but I do have a running gag with a regular partner of trying to find the silliest pro we can on terrain we would otherwise just run out.  Stuff like threading a rock bridge next to a bolt you skipped on a sport pitch (we did this a bunch in Potrero), or clip the relic piton instead of the bolt added to replace it.  Mostly just a way to add some interest to pitches that would otherwise be a little more forgettable (and try and one up your partner the next chance you get.) This probably violates the “safety” rule though

Chris C wrote:

If Marc is picturing this prank the same way I am, do you mean you skip a bolt while leading to prank your second? I think we just don’t get it..? 

single-pitching it, both leading. thanks for pointing out how it didn't make sense without more context, doh

so your friend is dumb enough to lead without an extra draw or two on their harness? 

Another classic: pack a couple summit beers in your partner’s pack. Everyone ends up winning. 

The first time I climbed Pinnacle gully our fearless leader Jud asked me. " how about one of those beers?"  Me "what beers?"  Jud. "the beers in your pack " 

Jud is in the rugby shirt. I am in green cotton jacket and  blue jeans, metal frame backpack and borrowed clunky 80's AT boots with fancy Foot Fangs. Our barmaid/ waitress Gail took the photo. Right when I finished coiling the rope Jud informed us of the Beer break ;) 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

The first time I climbed Pinnacle gully our fearless leader Jud asked me. " how about one of those beers?"  Me "what beers?"  Jud. "the beers in your pack " 

Jud is in the rugby shirt. I am in green cotton jacket and  blue jeans, metal frame backpack and borrowed clunky 80's AT boots with fancy Foot Fangs. Our barmaid/ waitress Gail took the photo. Right when I finished coiling the rope Jud informed us of the Beer break ;) 

The real question is did you draw the line on hauling ice?

Locker wrote:

Load your partners pack up with a bunch of rocks... Especially at the end of the day

I slipped a watermelon in my buddy’s pack one time while packing gear in the lot. He complained on the approach how tired he was and pack was heavier than the day before. The look on his face was priceless once we got to the crag and he found the watermelon in the pack.

hope you filled it with Vodka. 

Back in the day, whenever my friends and I got new gear, we would leave the tags on it, pull it out first at a crowded crag, and then loudly argue with each other about how to use it. “The guy at the store said…” “Well the BOOK says…” “That’s not how they used it in the movie!” Etc.

One time we were renting avalanche beacons at REI for a trip up Rainier. My buddy looked at his thoughtfully and said, “huh… so this thing can really detect when an avalanche is coming?” Led to some over-explaining by the alarmed guy running the rental counter.

When I get dragged to a popular sport crag, I go around checking people's belay cards.