We have alot of warriors(hard/good climbers) that have a risky relationship with slack where i live, and they sadly advocate for it towards newer climbers. "It's ok, once they have clipped the third bolt just let it rip" . I'm afraid it might come to R.I.P at some point. With proper technique and focus/attention from the belayer, there's no reason to give out miles of slack, no matter how high the climber might be on the wall (there will always be situations where more or less might be needed, depending on the rock/route, "obstacles" for lack of a better word, ledges etc.). Instead of telling them to just give out alot of slack, they should be telling them to pay attention to the climber, and teach them proper belaying, if they even know how to themselves that is.
I just started top rope climbing after bouldering for a few months. Your climbing safety content is making me feel much more confident in my abilities to not only protect myself but also protect others. I have gone outdoor climbing with two different groups so far, and both times I was told different advice. It’s nice to come here to see a true professionals opinion and the footage of it actually happening. Thanks!
Have any more episodes planned for this series? You do a great job, and I was hoping you would have a video on advanced techniques for belaying a lead climber. When to shorten the fall as much as possible (near the ground or ledges). When to jump to give a soft fall. How a heavy belayer needs to jump more. How to time the jump. How a soft catch is often a safer catch, reducing swing if you are out to the side of your protection, etc. Even without that, great series, and thank you for making it. I've been climbing for 32 years, mostly sport, and you are spot on with your knowledge.
I can sadly tell you that the Grigri used as shown at 3:42 will not block! The reflex is to grab the device when your climber falls. I was the climber, 15m fall to the floor, I was lucky I just exploded one vertebrae 😅 now I'm going well, and back to climbing but this was a long journey ^^ Anyway, thanks for this amazing initiative , we need to educate people about belaying! And no, the Grigri will not save you if you don't know how to use it 😬
Thanks for sharing the story - I have separate episode already filmed on this GriGri misuse... Hope it's gonna make a difference... Glad you're back in climbing, I guess if you write this comment on GriGri video once it's out I'll pin it
I'm not an expert or perfect belayer, but as I know this technique is not bad if you use it in the right conditions. As Petzl says in the grigri manual, this technique must be used only for giving slack really really quick when the climber wants to clip on the quickdraw, using just enough force on the big toe so that the grigri doesn't lock when giving the slack, but in the event of a fall it still locks (this means using minimal force, almost without squeezing) and removing the finger inmediately after that. The problem is when people use a lot of force to do this and in case of a fall they don't let go of the toe, or, as in your case, they hold the whole grigri because of the shock. EDIT AND ADD: I didn't realized that he's not grabbing the life rope in the photo at 3:42. As he says, this is very dangerous because the rope will start to fall, and if you try to catch it, not only will you not brake at all, but you will also burn your hand as shown in the video just after that part. ALWAYS HOLD THE LIFE ROPE. How do you learn to use the technique? First of all, by training at home with the help of someone who will take rope and when you least expect it, pull on it. This way you will know how hard the grigri locks when you give the rope and when the climber falls, or when it doesn't lock when the climber falls. In my case, I never use this technique on the first 2 or 3 clips for safety reasons. For the rest of the route, I prefer to give slack quickly rather than precisely (not 1 metre of rope, but a few centimetres) to remove the finger as soon as possible from the grigri, and if necessary to pick up the little rope left over as soon as clips. PS: I hope you are now better from your fall and can climb without any problems :)t
@@jonathanh1048 The problem is not to use your thumb for bypassing the auto-locking system, but to not have the life rope in your hand when you are doing this ;) This is indeed well explained in the grigri manual. To summarized: - one thumb on the grigri + life rope in your hand (as describe in the grigri manual) -> no problem! - your entire hand grabbing the grigri, without the life rope in your hand -> the floor can come very quickly 😅 I personally don't have any grigri, I do prefer the smart from mammut ;) But I know how to use a grigri when I just have this in hand, and I always read every belay device manuals before belaying any real person. But this is not always easy to check if your partner know or not how to use his belay device, and the grigri give you this dangerous confidence (as a climber, I didn't pay more attention to the belay technique, because of the extra safety of the grigri, I was wrong! Let's learn from my mistakes ^^) PS: I'm doing good, the titanium vertebrea is a nice addition to my body 😅 I'm slowly getting back to shape, ready for sending my next projects! 🤘
@@FabienBernard0102 Of course! I didn't realized that in the photo he's not grabbing the life rope hahaha I'm always talking about the correct technique from Petzl, grabbing the rope, i'll edit and add that in my message to prevent misunderstandings :) I think that everyone should learn how to use the grigri correctly, mainly because it is the most widespread device in the world and, as you say, it gives a false sense that everything is going to be fine, no matter what the belayer does. One of the last videos that Adam Ondra uploaded comes to mind, where at one point one of his friends is resting, or hanging up analysing the route, and Adam has the grigri locked but has no hand on either the life rope or the grigri. PS: Good to hear that! Now you can say that you are a bit more cyborg that the normal people 😅
1:38, this is why you don't get distracted. I was at the gym belaying for my first time today, was super fun and I can't wait to do more. Luckily neither me or the other person I was climbing with had any falls, but I never allowed myself to get distracted and even with my neck feeling cranked I would keep my attention on them. It really should be common sense when you have another person's safety in your hands that you give them your full attention.
TBH, I'm not sure what I would do in the situation at 1:24. It looked like they took all the slack in that they could, and any softer of a catch and she'd have decked. She really should have just climbed a bit higher instead of chicken clipping.
I don't climb. I never have. I don't have the money to afford starting and learning. I still love these videos and what they teach me about life and problem solving in general. One day i hope to be able to afford this hobby.
This makes me incredibly grateful to be able to do these sports and be part of this community. And I believe that you can find a way to become a great climber if you have an inquisitive mind like it sounds to me. You don’t have to start with lead climbing though, give bouldering a try. I’m not sure where you live but look for any bouldering clubs or gyms where you can get some second hand climbing shoes and soon you’ll be part of the community too. Just go bouldering for a while since it teaches you basics of climbing technique without extra complications of ropes and stuff. But soon you’ll meet someone who has gear and then they’ll probably invite you to join for a trip to the closest crag. Not long and you’ll have a harness and then between friends you can slowly collect all the gear. Heck, I don’t even have quickdraws and my friend doesn’t have a rope. So we go together and then we’ve got everything we need. Best of luck to you! You’ll get to the top of the mountain, just keep looking for entry points! ⛰🧗♀️🤘🏻🗿
@@Its-Waldo you just cant afford this thing when you are living in a third world country, where every equipment is imported by U.S. dollars, 1 U.S.D = 55pesos
I was climbing not too far from BCN last week, and I can tell that many belayers were taught the same bad technique. We were afraid of telling them because they seem so confident, and climbing harder than us... I really got surprise that you brough it because it is so true, I just shared the video with my colleagues, they are going to freak out, it is so accurate!
Thank you so much for this series! I have started climbing with my two kids and have found it to be a great bonding experience. However, safety is my greatest concern going into this venture. Although we are beginners and started training at our local gym, I found the series to be a great way to augment said training and re-enforce good climbing habits. Found the content to be worthy of my support and joined the channel.
I just started climbing, and I found your videos to be very informative, extremely well produced, and overall a great source of information for beginner like me. Thank you.
I'm just starting out serious climbing, and I'm so grateful for this masterclass. I'm practicing all the techniques you teach before trying it on actual people.
thank you so much!! I started climbing indoors a year ago and I wanted to go rock climbing, but due to covid there weren't courses that explained nothing about safety and equipment, so I was unmotivated. However, I will attend courses as soon as it's possible!!
As climbing instructor, I really appreciate your work for this video. What I noticed: since last lockdown where gyms were closed, belaying techniques are becoming worse and worse. Lots of new climbers w/o any proper training trying to rocking the walls. Oh man....☠️☠️
I noticed that too! My bf introduced me to climbing and i still cant do many many things but when i saw those new covid climbers, idk if it made me mad or sad. Behaving like in pub in that rock area🙈
@@HardIsEasy bot laughing and a bit crying… August will be over when I’ll be ready to wear again my climbing shoes! So much time to watch your videos, though! Do not let us wait too much for the new episodes😎
Thank you so much man, climbing world it's hard to get in in a proper way, a lot of stuff is handed down by friends and "expert people" just verbally; people like you, that put science and words in video and pratical demonstrations, it's a miracle!
I went with my brother and family for the first time. I fell on the first holds and he caught me every time. Very good techniques on his part. I have no clue what to do. Thanks for these. I need it. Those intro videos are very enlightening and scary.
I've just started top-rope climbing after having done bouldering for 2.5 years. Thankfully, I've had professionals teach me how to belay and I've had a partner learn with me. Someone fell from the top of a giant wall and required an airlift to get medical attention because the belayer relied on their equipment rather than good practice. The driving analogy is perfect. Some people think it's okay to use parking assistance just because they never learned to park properly without it.
I just found this series. You see - I must go for a run now. But dont go away, I will continue watching right after I get back. And I am not even a climber for gods sake. Funny - how videos made with honesty and passion reach outside the inner circles out to the totally uninterested bypassers. What would Hollywood give to have that?
One of the hardest parts of climbing is, let's face it, finding a belayer who we completely trust. This is even worse when sites such as Facebook have pages for strangers meeting up to climb together. This approach is always like playing Russian Roulette. How nice would it be to actually have a formal belay certification where we know our belayer has undergone specific training and has a certificate to prove their level of competence. The number of shitty belayers I see on a regular basis blows my freakin mind!
Its not "russian roulette" to climb with a person you dont know. Just like with anything in life, learn to read people, see how they are. Also, where I climb we all are certified we went thru a course.
This is great stuff. I teach some weekends and I like to tell my students: If your habits are good, any device you use can be safe. If your habits are bad, every device you use is dangerous. If your attitude is bad, you're dangerous and not the device; I'll keep you away from me and everyone I know. Would love to see how you'll tackle complacency with an Assisted Braking Device.
Muchas gracias por hacer estos videos, tienen alta calidad de información y edición. Es algo que todas las personas que vayan a escalar, o sean principiantes, como yo, tienen que ver, al menos si no hace un curso por un profesional
Thank you so much for your work! Your videos clear up with many old or bad techniques. In addition, you are incredibly likeable and convey an admirable way of dealing with nature and resources. Manyyyyyy thanks for that :)
We need more of this on UA-cam! For every good belayer I've seen at least 20-30 very poor belayers and like you said they often have a very poor reaction to someone telling them they are doing a subpar job
Okay I’m gonna be honest about rope slack when lead belaying. Even if you DIDN’T take a class on lead belaying, how the hell could you not take a second and realize you’ve got so much slack that the rope is laying on the ground? Like, think that the amount of slack in the rope is proportional to how far they will fall (plus even more distance because rope stretches). You have to be completely oblivious to do stuff like in those videos he showed. Always treat belaying like somebody’s life is in your hands. Cuz it is.
amazing amazing amazing! as someone who has taken part in a lot of climbing courses and seen some very very bad belay, i can't thank you enough for this 🔥🔥🔥❤️❤️ joined!!
thank you for the great content, i discovered the sport recently at the age of 40! and instantly fell in love. but i kinda have this fear of belaying because of an incident in which i almost dropped a climber because he thought i was ready to belay!
I have climbed for several years. I was taught by an alpine mountain guide that worked for 25 years in Yosemite. He was a great reference and teacher. Many of the things he taught me are presented in this course. Years later I now have my alpine cert and teach people the same things that I was taught. In response to the question in the video, for several years I thought a gregre was fool proof. I did not believe you could drop someone while using it. However, while teaching I had had a student accidentally hold a Gregre + open and I fell 30 feet and broke my wrist! I am now super careful how I train someone to use a gregre.
I got non-displaced fractures in both ankles due to an excellent belayer, lol. He saved me from shattering my ankles on a high ledge when I took a lead fall. In my case, his decision to spike me was the best answer for that situation.
hahahah OMG.. the example of Barcelona... so accurate.. probably was the same climb gym I used to go ... been there a lot... and I've seen the "STAFF" guys doing horrible stuff while belaying... it was very disturbing.. BTW, love your videos!! I've been following since the beginning! Excellent material
I like your channel, it is very interesting. I'm an arborist, we are not supposed to fall, our kit is not fall arrest. I shudder to think of trusting someone else with my safety. We do lower waste, and it is amazing how many people get this wrong. When to hold, run, it seems like it should be obvious to me. My point is, that people have to learn this. I guess that's okay when they end up with a tree through a shed. But with belaying, it's a person's safety on the line. I'm really not sure I'd be okay with anyone tending my slack !
Im here because I’m new to climbing and the guy responsible for my life at the gym didn’t seem too trustworthy and when I asked how the gear worked and how it would protect me, he couldn’t answer me. So I stopped and just practiced the bouldering walls… About an hour later he walked by with ice on his face bleeding and I asked what happened and a guy showed me a cell video of him belaying someone and not paying attention and they came slamming down, whipped around upside down and slammed their helmet into his face. Basically he got pulled face first into a guy falling full speed upside down and got knocked the fuck out. Serves him right. The other climbers told me he’s a cocky jerk who thinks he knows everything and acts like he hates him job. I was extremely pleased with myself for recognizing his body language and leaving before that falling guy was me. So I’ll educate myself so I can keep myself and others as safe as possible…. Or just use the auto belays hahaha
did anyone else notice that Where is My Mind by the Pixies was playing when that dude decked in the gym? "With your feet in the air and your head on the ground..."
Belaying is such an easy task. I don't understand why it is difficult for some to grasp two simple concepts: 1) only give minimal and required slack, 2) keep the hand on the belaying device at all times in the "locked" position.
In Norway you have to get a certificate from a certified climber coach to be able to belay someone. Scary to see that it's not a normal practice around the world...
In the Netherlands you have to follow courses too. For top roping it's a 4 week course (I believe 6 or 8 hours total) and you can't even do regular lead belaying until you're able to climb 6a+ and follow an additional course of 4 weeks (8 hours total). This means that you've already practiced with top rope belaying for at least a year in practice.
@@MrLyckegard Absolutely. In the climbing gym I've never seen a bad thing happen. It's also very much encouraged to speak to others about safety when you see something (about to go) wrong. The mandatory courses may make the barrier to entry higher, but for sure it protects people. It's the same as with diving - you want to be safe first and then enjoy.
I once saw a guy climbing a multi-pitch, clearly for the first time. He was leader, and at the top of the last pitch was belaying the follower with an ATC and no redirect - directly into the pitch with no back-up. She was having to take, and he was struggling to hold her weight, so much so that he had to wrap his hand around the rope to hold on. My partner and I finished our pitch and were able to run over and back-up his belay with a grigri. After she finished, we basically yelled at him that he needs some serious training, and what he was doing was extremely dangerous. One of the scariest things I've ever seen climbing. We both thought we were going to watch someone die that day. Moral of the story: don't just trust someone that they know how to belay or do things safely. You should know how to do it as well, or at least have a basic understanding, to know when your partner is an absolute knob and you shouldn't limb with them ever again.
Muito obrigada!! tipo de videos que eu estava procurando, adorei que tem legenda em portugues, mesmo eu entendendo em ingles, posso mandar para minhas amigas.
Dude, those clips of bad belayers are terrifying. Thanks for making this video 👍
It gets even better if you regonise the pro climbers in the video. Like worldcup winning pro level ^^
a lot of them actually turned my stomach
Most terrifying is that the female belayer does right what he is warning from: Holding the brake dangerously far too up. 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮
We have alot of warriors(hard/good climbers) that have a risky relationship with slack where i live, and they sadly advocate for it towards newer climbers. "It's ok, once they have clipped the third bolt just let it rip" . I'm afraid it might come to R.I.P at some point. With proper technique and focus/attention from the belayer, there's no reason to give out miles of slack, no matter how high the climber might be on the wall (there will always be situations where more or less might be needed, depending on the rock/route, "obstacles" for lack of a better word, ledges etc.). Instead of telling them to just give out alot of slack, they should be telling them to pay attention to the climber, and teach them proper belaying, if they even know how to themselves that is.
I just started top rope climbing after bouldering for a few months. Your climbing safety content is making me feel much more confident in my abilities to not only protect myself but also protect others. I have gone outdoor climbing with two different groups so far, and both times I was told different advice. It’s nice to come here to see a true professionals opinion and the footage of it actually happening. Thanks!
Have any more episodes planned for this series? You do a great job, and I was hoping you would have a video on advanced techniques for belaying a lead climber. When to shorten the fall as much as possible (near the ground or ledges). When to jump to give a soft fall. How a heavy belayer needs to jump more. How to time the jump. How a soft catch is often a safer catch, reducing swing if you are out to the side of your protection, etc. Even without that, great series, and thank you for making it. I've been climbing for 32 years, mostly sport, and you are spot on with your knowledge.
Yeap, I'm working on continuation of the serries... it had many things coming ;)
@@HardIsEasy thanks a lot brow, i'm firefighter and this videos are help me and my workfriends in our technics , thanks again
I can sadly tell you that the Grigri used as shown at 3:42 will not block! The reflex is to grab the device when your climber falls. I was the climber, 15m fall to the floor, I was lucky I just exploded one vertebrae 😅 now I'm going well, and back to climbing but this was a long journey ^^
Anyway, thanks for this amazing initiative , we need to educate people about belaying! And no, the Grigri will not save you if you don't know how to use it 😬
Thanks for sharing the story - I have separate episode already filmed on this GriGri misuse... Hope it's gonna make a difference...
Glad you're back in climbing, I guess if you write this comment on GriGri video once it's out I'll pin it
I'm not an expert or perfect belayer, but as I know this technique is not bad if you use it in the right conditions. As Petzl says in the grigri manual, this technique must be used only for giving slack really really quick when the climber wants to clip on the quickdraw, using just enough force on the big toe so that the grigri doesn't lock when giving the slack, but in the event of a fall it still locks (this means using minimal force, almost without squeezing) and removing the finger inmediately after that. The problem is when people use a lot of force to do this and in case of a fall they don't let go of the toe, or, as in your case, they hold the whole grigri because of the shock. EDIT AND ADD: I didn't realized that he's not grabbing the life rope in the photo at 3:42. As he says, this is very dangerous because the rope will start to fall, and if you try to catch it, not only will you not brake at all, but you will also burn your hand as shown in the video just after that part. ALWAYS HOLD THE LIFE ROPE.
How do you learn to use the technique? First of all, by training at home with the help of someone who will take rope and when you least expect it, pull on it. This way you will know how hard the grigri locks when you give the rope and when the climber falls, or when it doesn't lock when the climber falls.
In my case, I never use this technique on the first 2 or 3 clips for safety reasons. For the rest of the route, I prefer to give slack quickly rather than precisely (not 1 metre of rope, but a few centimetres) to remove the finger as soon as possible from the grigri, and if necessary to pick up the little rope left over as soon as clips.
PS: I hope you are now better from your fall and can climb without any problems :)t
@@jonathanh1048 The problem is not to use your thumb for bypassing the auto-locking system, but to not have the life rope in your hand when you are doing this ;) This is indeed well explained in the grigri manual.
To summarized:
- one thumb on the grigri + life rope in your hand (as describe in the grigri manual) -> no problem!
- your entire hand grabbing the grigri, without the life rope in your hand -> the floor can come very quickly 😅
I personally don't have any grigri, I do prefer the smart from mammut ;) But I know how to use a grigri when I just have this in hand, and I always read every belay device manuals before belaying any real person. But this is not always easy to check if your partner know or not how to use his belay device, and the grigri give you this dangerous confidence (as a climber, I didn't pay more attention to the belay technique, because of the extra safety of the grigri, I was wrong! Let's learn from my mistakes ^^)
PS: I'm doing good, the titanium vertebrea is a nice addition to my body 😅 I'm slowly getting back to shape, ready for sending my next projects! 🤘
@@FabienBernard0102 Of course! I didn't realized that in the photo he's not grabbing the life rope hahaha I'm always talking about the correct technique from Petzl, grabbing the rope, i'll edit and add that in my message to prevent misunderstandings :)
I think that everyone should learn how to use the grigri correctly, mainly because it is the most widespread device in the world and, as you say, it gives a false sense that everything is going to be fine, no matter what the belayer does. One of the last videos that Adam Ondra uploaded comes to mind, where at one point one of his friends is resting, or hanging up analysing the route, and Adam has the grigri locked but has no hand on either the life rope or the grigri.
PS: Good to hear that! Now you can say that you are a bit more cyborg that the normal people 😅
I don't even like using grigris. I take a minimalist approach. Too much tech makes many people complacent.
Thank you for making this series. Let's make the climbing community even better than it already is.
can't wait to watch the entire series
Gonna try to publish 1 episode / week
👆👆👆
Thank you for this videos Ben, it's so necessary... I couldn't agree more with what you say in this intro!
My pleasure!
1:38, this is why you don't get distracted. I was at the gym belaying for my first time today, was super fun and I can't wait to do more. Luckily neither me or the other person I was climbing with had any falls, but I never allowed myself to get distracted and even with my neck feeling cranked I would keep my attention on them. It really should be common sense when you have another person's safety in your hands that you give them your full attention.
TBH, I'm not sure what I would do in the situation at 1:24. It looked like they took all the slack in that they could, and any softer of a catch and she'd have decked. She really should have just climbed a bit higher instead of chicken clipping.
I don't climb. I never have. I don't have the money to afford starting and learning. I still love these videos and what they teach me about life and problem solving in general. One day i hope to be able to afford this hobby.
Good luck, hope you get started soon, so much fun : )
I strongly believe if you want to start, no matter your finances you can
This makes me incredibly grateful to be able to do these sports and be part of this community.
And I believe that you can find a way to become a great climber if you have an inquisitive mind like it sounds to me.
You don’t have to start with lead climbing though, give bouldering a try. I’m not sure where you live but look for any bouldering clubs or gyms where you can get some second hand climbing shoes and soon you’ll be part of the community too.
Just go bouldering for a while since it teaches you basics of climbing technique without extra complications of ropes and stuff. But soon you’ll meet someone who has gear and then they’ll probably invite you to join for a trip to the closest crag. Not long and you’ll have a harness and then between friends you can slowly collect all the gear. Heck, I don’t even have quickdraws and my friend doesn’t have a rope. So we go together and then we’ve got everything we need.
Best of luck to you!
You’ll get to the top of the mountain, just keep looking for entry points! ⛰🧗♀️🤘🏻🗿
Man - go climb trees!
@@Its-Waldo you just cant afford this thing when you are living in a third world country, where every equipment is imported by U.S. dollars, 1 U.S.D = 55pesos
I was climbing not too far from BCN last week, and I can tell that many belayers were taught the same bad technique. We were afraid of telling them because they seem so confident, and climbing harder than us... I really got surprise that you brough it because it is so true, I just shared the video with my colleagues, they are going to freak out, it is so accurate!
I have a dedicated episode for this coming ;)
It's Ep.7 ;) Estimated launch early sept ;)
Yuhu! Great Ben, looking forward to watching it. Thank you!
I am Catalan myself and I also panicked after seeing how my national fellows belay!! It blew my mind.
Thank you so much for this series! I have started climbing with my two kids and have found it to be a great bonding experience. However, safety is my greatest concern going into this venture. Although we are beginners and started training at our local gym, I found the series to be a great way to augment said training and re-enforce good climbing habits. Found the content to be worthy of my support and joined the channel.
Wow that is amazing to read thank you for sharing and supporting, I can't wait to show everyone what I'm working on next ;)
I hope it's been a great journey with your kids! I love climbing with mine, though they're still a bit young for it.
Thanks!
I just started climbing, and I found your videos to be very informative, extremely well produced, and overall a great source of information for beginner like me. Thank you.
I'm just starting out serious climbing, and I'm so grateful for this masterclass. I'm practicing all the techniques you teach before trying it on actual people.
Damn those videos jumped my heart rate through the roof!
thank you so much!! I started climbing indoors a year ago and I wanted to go rock climbing, but due to covid there weren't courses that explained nothing about safety and equipment, so I was unmotivated. However, I will attend courses as soon as it's possible!!
As climbing instructor, I really appreciate your work for this video.
What I noticed: since last lockdown where gyms were closed, belaying techniques are becoming worse and worse. Lots of new climbers w/o any proper training trying to rocking the walls.
Oh man....☠️☠️
I can get funny (& dangerous) belaying examples at Spanish / French / Italian & crags almost every climbing day :DDD
Thanks for nice message ;)
I noticed that too! My bf introduced me to climbing and i still cant do many many things but when i saw those new covid climbers, idk if it made me mad or sad. Behaving like in pub in that rock area🙈
It's the ones that do the dangerous stuff with utter confidence that get me. Then come the ones with inflated egos.
Looks like a really interesting series. Looking forward to it!
you are a hero. thank you for supporting climbers all around the world. (brazil here)
Absolute treat that you post it.... such a genuine care for fellow humans, love it
Die Serie lohnt sich echt. Hab alle Videos gesehen und einiges gelernt.
Thank you for sharing. New climber and glad to have found this channel.
You are a humanitarian. Thank you for this series.
Sprained my ankle 3 days ago due to a hard fall… my belayer and I need to refresh some proper belaying technique!
You need to refresh the ankle now ;) But sorry to hear... happens...
@@HardIsEasy bot laughing and a bit crying… August will be over when I’ll be ready to wear again my climbing shoes! So much time to watch your videos, though! Do not let us wait too much for the new episodes😎
Move your leg as much as possible - heals faster ;)
And I'll be launching an episode per week until I can keep up and then we'll see
@@HardIsEasy thanks for your work 🙏🏻
Спасибо тебе большое за эти, безусловно, познавательные уроки!
Было бы здорово, если бы ты продолжил делать подобные видео!
This is so helpful for someone starting to climb. Thank you very much!
You're so welcome!
Thank you so much man, climbing world it's hard to get in in a proper way, a lot of stuff is handed down by friends and "expert people" just verbally; people like you, that put science and words in video and pratical demonstrations, it's a miracle!
Thank you for this, you're saving lives and many needless injuries
I went with my brother and family for the first time. I fell on the first holds and he caught me every time. Very good techniques on his part. I have no clue what to do. Thanks for these. I need it. Those intro videos are very enlightening and scary.
I've just started top-rope climbing after having done bouldering for 2.5 years. Thankfully, I've had professionals teach me how to belay and I've had a partner learn with me. Someone fell from the top of a giant wall and required an airlift to get medical attention because the belayer relied on their equipment rather than good practice. The driving analogy is perfect. Some people think it's okay to use parking assistance just because they never learned to park properly without it.
Great series, this is awesome for a climber starting out
I just found this series. You see - I must go for a run now. But dont go away, I will continue watching right after I get back. And I am not even a climber for gods sake. Funny - how videos made with honesty and passion reach outside the inner circles out to the totally uninterested bypassers. What would Hollywood give to have that?
One of the hardest parts of climbing is, let's face it, finding a belayer who we completely trust. This is even worse when sites such as Facebook have pages for strangers meeting up to climb together. This approach is always like playing Russian Roulette. How nice would it be to actually have a formal belay certification where we know our belayer has undergone specific training and has a certificate to prove their level of competence. The number of shitty belayers I see on a regular basis blows my freakin mind!
That is why I stopped climbing when I came from Germany. I was still a beginner and didn’t know enough to find a good belayer.
Its not "russian roulette" to climb with a person you dont know. Just like with anything in life, learn to read people, see how they are. Also, where I climb we all are certified we went thru a course.
Belay certification excists, at least here in Norway.
This is great stuff.
I teach some weekends and I like to tell my students:
If your habits are good, any device you use can be safe.
If your habits are bad, every device you use is dangerous.
If your attitude is bad, you're dangerous and not the device; I'll keep you away from me and everyone I know.
Would love to see how you'll tackle complacency with an Assisted Braking Device.
Thank You!
Ep.6 and Ep.7 I'll be showing a lot of interesting stuff related to belaying devices ;)
Muchas gracias por hacer estos videos, tienen alta calidad de información y edición. Es algo que todas las personas que vayan a escalar, o sean principiantes, como yo, tienen que ver, al menos si no hace un curso por un profesional
Thank you so much for your work! Your videos clear up with many old or bad techniques. In addition, you are incredibly likeable and convey an admirable way of dealing with nature and resources.
Manyyyyyy thanks for that :)
Thanks for all your videos brotha! They’re all super helpful and entertaining. Can’t wait to see this series in its entirety.
Big thanks! Still a relatively inexperienced climber and belaying is what I stress about the most.
Practice makes perfect and humility(with a touch of paranoia) will keep your climber safe. Keep learning safer methods.
So happy to see the serie at last !
sharing everywhere.... this is gold!!
Thanks for making this series I am just coming back to climbing and have learned a ton!
We need more of this on UA-cam! For every good belayer I've seen at least 20-30 very poor belayers and like you said they often have a very poor reaction to someone telling them they are doing a subpar job
Subbed, really looking forward to the rest of the series!
crazy such good quality video!
Wow! Thanks for the videos, I am learning so much :)
I'm already loving this. :D
You rule!!! Thank you so much now when I see sketchy belayers at the gym I know where I can refer them
What a great video!! We'll share it, of course. We are looking forward for the rest of the serie!!!
Okay I’m gonna be honest about rope slack when lead belaying. Even if you DIDN’T take a class on lead belaying, how the hell could you not take a second and realize you’ve got so much slack that the rope is laying on the ground? Like, think that the amount of slack in the rope is proportional to how far they will fall (plus even more distance because rope stretches). You have to be completely oblivious to do stuff like in those videos he showed. Always treat belaying like somebody’s life is in your hands. Cuz it is.
Super excited for this series !
You have excellent videos, Ty for sharing these
Wow, that's a great video. I will always cheer for you in Korea I'm looking forward to a great video. Have a nice day.
Boy was this necessary!!!! Awesome job dude!!!! Can’t wait to watch more videos
Awesome series. Thank you so much for your hard work.
Love your series.
looking forward to this
amazing amazing amazing! as someone who has taken part in a lot of climbing courses and seen some very very bad belay, i can't thank you enough for this 🔥🔥🔥❤️❤️ joined!!
Thank You so much, can't wait to show much more what I'm planning ;)
thank you for the great content, i discovered the sport recently at the age of 40! and instantly fell in love. but i kinda have this fear of belaying because of an incident in which i almost dropped a climber because he thought i was ready to belay!
Wow! Perfect timing for me!
you are making a safer world
That compilation of fails was crazy 😱😱😱
Since I have not done lead climbing since covid and looking to get back into it soon definilty gonna watch this
These videos are awesome! I don't even climb.... anything.
You're doing a great job. Your older videos were great as well especially the ones about falling.
Really good quality preciate this bro
I have climbed for several years. I was taught by an alpine mountain guide that worked for 25 years in Yosemite. He was a great reference and teacher. Many of the things he taught me are presented in this course. Years later I now have my alpine cert and teach people the same things that I was taught.
In response to the question in the video, for several years I thought a gregre was fool proof. I did not believe you could drop someone while using it. However, while teaching I had had a student accidentally hold a Gregre + open and I fell 30 feet and broke my wrist! I am now super careful how I train someone to use a gregre.
Wow this is great!
Thank you so much!
So glad I found you :)
These classes are so good! thank you for your efforts :]
Thank you so much good sir, I'm absorbing all of this while practicing knots :D
🏔 Obrigado por compartilhar! Saudações do Brasil!
For me there are 2 primary rules for belaying:
1. Watch your climber.
2. Anticipate your climbers next move.
Everything after build on these 2
Brave heart never ends....!
This is amazing. Thank you 🙏
Thanks for this course
This is amazing! Thanx
Dude, your videos are awesome! Keep at it! Plus I am part of your engineering geek viewers. Haha
Great video.
I got non-displaced fractures in both ankles due to an excellent belayer, lol. He saved me from shattering my ankles on a high ledge when I took a lead fall. In my case, his decision to spike me was the best answer for that situation.
0:30 was such a flawless example of proper technique.
hahahah OMG.. the example of Barcelona... so accurate..
probably was the same climb gym I used to go ... been there a lot... and I've seen the "STAFF" guys doing horrible stuff while belaying...
it was very disturbing..
BTW, love your videos!! I've been following since the beginning! Excellent material
Thank you for educating us more😍
Looks like a great course!
Thanks for your sharing
I like your channel, it is very interesting.
I'm an arborist, we are not supposed to fall, our kit is not fall arrest. I shudder to think of trusting someone else with my safety.
We do lower waste, and it is amazing how many people get this wrong. When to hold, run, it seems like it should be obvious to me.
My point is, that people have to learn this. I guess that's okay when they end up with a tree through a shed. But with belaying, it's a person's safety on the line. I'm really not sure I'd be okay with anyone tending my slack !
Amazing!
Damn, you are amazing!
Love your vids even though I don’t climb. Thank you
Wow, yet another awesome Video! Will you go to Tonsai again soon?
Im here because I’m new to climbing and the guy responsible for my life at the gym didn’t seem too trustworthy and when I asked how the gear worked and how it would protect me, he couldn’t answer me. So I stopped and just practiced the bouldering walls…
About an hour later he walked by with ice on his face bleeding and I asked what happened and a guy showed me a cell video of him belaying someone and not paying attention and they came slamming down, whipped around upside down and slammed their helmet into his face. Basically he got pulled face first into a guy falling full speed upside down and got knocked the fuck out.
Serves him right. The other climbers told me he’s a cocky jerk who thinks he knows everything and acts like he hates him job.
I was extremely pleased with myself for recognizing his body language and leaving before that falling guy was me. So I’ll educate myself so I can keep myself and others as safe as possible…. Or just use the auto belays hahaha
did anyone else notice that Where is My Mind by the Pixies was playing when that dude decked in the gym? "With your feet in the air and your head on the ground..."
Belaying is such an easy task. I don't understand why it is difficult for some to grasp two simple concepts: 1) only give minimal and required slack, 2) keep the hand on the belaying device at all times in the "locked" position.
I don't event climb but I find your videos so interesting and extremely well produced. I hope I can climb one day.
Thank You, and don't hope, just do it ;) Go to a local climbing gym ;)
In Norway you have to get a certificate from a certified climber coach to be able to belay someone. Scary to see that it's not a normal practice around the world...
Sometimes there is a certificate, but different places have from 30 minutes to 6 hours to learn how to belay.
In the Netherlands you have to follow courses too. For top roping it's a 4 week course (I believe 6 or 8 hours total) and you can't even do regular lead belaying until you're able to climb 6a+ and follow an additional course of 4 weeks (8 hours total). This means that you've already practiced with top rope belaying for at least a year in practice.
@@goldmund10 i really wish this puts down the number of accidents... Otherwise something is wrong
@@MrLyckegard Absolutely. In the climbing gym I've never seen a bad thing happen. It's also very much encouraged to speak to others about safety when you see something (about to go) wrong. The mandatory courses may make the barrier to entry higher, but for sure it protects people. It's the same as with diving - you want to be safe first and then enjoy.
I once saw a guy climbing a multi-pitch, clearly for the first time. He was leader, and at the top of the last pitch was belaying the follower with an ATC and no redirect - directly into the pitch with no back-up. She was having to take, and he was struggling to hold her weight, so much so that he had to wrap his hand around the rope to hold on. My partner and I finished our pitch and were able to run over and back-up his belay with a grigri. After she finished, we basically yelled at him that he needs some serious training, and what he was doing was extremely dangerous.
One of the scariest things I've ever seen climbing. We both thought we were going to watch someone die that day. Moral of the story: don't just trust someone that they know how to belay or do things safely. You should know how to do it as well, or at least have a basic understanding, to know when your partner is an absolute knob and you shouldn't limb with them ever again.
Been climbing for almost 30 years with the same partner (my brother) never had an accident, we trust each other completely😁
Great great great!
Muito obrigada!! tipo de videos que eu estava procurando, adorei que tem legenda em portugues, mesmo eu entendendo em ingles, posso mandar para minhas amigas.
thank you!!
As a member of a search and rescue team I really like that orange harness what brand and model is it? Thanks
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