THE ART OF TAKING A LEAD FALL! NO LEAD-HEAD!
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- Опубліковано 12 жов 2019
- Alex heads to Central Rock Gym Rochester and meets with Head Setter Jordan and community member Seann to go over the art of taking a lead fall and getting over lead-head.
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In the fall at the 3:52 mark, the climber is 7 clips high. That's a really far fall for being above so much protection. Had the climber been only a clip or two lower, he would have likely hit the deck.
Due to the camera angle, it's hard to see exactly how much slack the belayer has out, but it looks to be about an arms length. The climber is only a few moves past his last clip. So the reason for such a long fall isn't because there was an abnormal amount of slack in the system. Instead, what I see happening is that there is too great a weight difference for a soft catch.
Both of these guys clearly have experience climbing and belaying, but unfortunately that fall in particular is a bad example of how to catch someone heavier than you.
The fall would've been a bit shorter if the fall was lower though, due to less rope being used and therefore less additional fall-distance due to stretching.
We practice and train climbing, but we don't practice belaying and falling!
My partner and I have taken over 130 falls of various distances and complexity over a months time. Taking a fall with a pendulum component (complex fall ) is a totally different animal than one that is strictly vertical. A fall on a less overhanging or vertical wall is also a different animal!
There are situations where you MUST stop the climber immediately and possibly spike them into the wall: if they are going to hit the ground or a ledge.
I weigh 178 and my partner weighs 142, a significant difference! Here's what we learned;
He doesn't need to jump to give me a soft catch because I just pull him off the ground. If he jumps it just makes my fall longer and increases the risk of him impacting the first draw or us colliding.
When I belay him falling, I give a little jump when I feel his weight and this provides a soft catch. I don't know if I would call it a jump, it's more like giving a little help to the fall to lift me off the ground.
I see belayers providing a lot of slack thinking this provides a soft catch - it mainly increases the distance the leader falls. With a short fall, a little slack provides me (a heavier belayer) a little more reaction time to judge when to do the little jump, which provides the soft catch. More slack doesn't seem to help my lighter belayer provide a soft catch no matter the distance.
A pair of our friends with a similar weight difference have taken about 60 practice falls. The lighter person tried using a weight bag to equalize the weight difference but didn't like how it restricted their movement. The lighter belayer switched to the Edelrid Ohm and liked that better. The same "rules" as described about my partner and I seemed to apply.
On a fall with a pendulum component on a vertical or slightly overhanging wall, it's easy to catch a foot on the rope as you are swinging past the bolt line since the rope is tight and the draws are pulled away from the wall. It's important when falling like this to look where you are falling and keep your feet from contacting the rope. Also look to avoid any large holds or absorb them with bent knees.
I'd encourage people to safely practice catching and taking lead falls!
It is an old video, but since it is still online i have to comment: the fall at 3:50 is really bad. the climbing is down about three draws before he even loads the rope. unnecessary slack doesn't make the catch any softer, quite the opposite.
This is a terrible instruction video. The climber fell a long way and pulled his belayer into the first draw even though the climber was BARELY above the last draw clipped in when he fell. If the climber fall while clipping the next draw, this would be a guaranteed ground fall.
The mistake here is that, when the belayer is considerably lighter than the climber, the belayer should brace for the impact rather than worrying about giving a soft catch. Avoiding ground falls should always be a priority over soft/hard catches.
All in all this video gives unsafe advice and should be taken down.
The guy fell 5 clips and would have fallen more if the belay device didn't jam into the first clip...I think that's way too much for a lead fall unless they're going for a dyno and you need to give them slack. I think weight difference considerations need to be emphasized more. If you weigh less than your climbing partner, then trying to give a softer catch is going to result in what you see in the video. The lighter person should probably be bracing downwards instead...Music is cool, video clips are cool, but instruction is subpar in this video.
That was just a really bad example. If the guy in the green shirt would have fallen just a clip before he would have slammed into the floor. Please, please, please do belay properly.
that second fall was nuts when he started flipping thats why i keep the belt tight lol
pretty awful advice to talk about the considerations of weight difference and then immediately go on to say "when you're catching the last thing you want to do is sit back or sit down" - NO, if you are considerably lighter than you're climber thats EXACTLY what you should do, as much as possible - to avoid exactly what happened here! Clear misunderstanding of the principles of lead belaying with a weight difference...
oh god it just gets worse, why would you spring into the fall if your climber is heavier, no wonder he almost decked
a lighter belayer should not only sit back/down, but also keep slack to a minimum (unlike shown here). climber and belayer should also consider uncliping the first draw/skiping it to give gravity more space to work its magic, can be risky though, because it would have made the fall in the vid even worse.
don't want to smartass, just wanted to add that
How bout when your not on an overhang!?
Are you going to learn how to lead soon?
I was always taught not to grab your rope when falling and to have your hands out in front of you, why does everyone here grab the rope when falling?
I took a lead fall and suffered a sprained knee about a month ago... my rehab therapist says I'm about 2 months put from bouldering and 3-4 months out from lead climbing again.
😪😫
Wish me luck
How did that happen? I've taken hundreds of big lead falls throughout my climbing career, including 2 times decking from 20' when trad gear ripped out and i've never been injured lead falling. It's a lot to do with having a good belayer.
@@alpinejonny hit the rock at an awkward angle I guess. No equipment fail, just a freak accident.
@@alpinejonny now that you mention it tho... I might have gotten a softer hit on the wall if there was slightly more slack on the line... hmmm
I took a 20 foot whipper, where looking back there were a lot of things I learned, but I learned the hard way by braking all my bones in my ankle and leg. I pulled up a bunch of slack to clip and a weird position and also I fell on a ledge above the ground. So extremely important to have no ledges below you.
My girlfriend has good lead head. Lol
I’ve used this song in an edit too lol
mee too lol
That fall at 4:00 is an awful example for a lead video...
pretty sure it is the usual misunderstanding that unnecessary slack makes the catch softer, when in fact it is just a sign of bad or lazy belaying technique in most cases.
(no offense to the people in the vid)
No art needed, just let it happen and relax, indoor whippers? I dont think so, try a 15 meter runout using natural gear on friable limestone 😅