Do You Suck at Belaying?

Recently, I was ripped off the wall while leading a climb in the gym. My belayer and I were strangers to each other. We met because I host a weekly MeetpUp group at an indoor climbing gym in Denver. It’s open to all abilities, with a basic requirement that you can top rope belay, and lower, safely. 

A new person showed up, let’s call them Dan. It was Dan’s first time attending this meet up and he seemed nice, if not a little over enthusiastic, but some people react that way when they’re nervous. As host it’s my job to make new people feel welcome and try to find a partner for them. He wanted to lead climb, and told me he had been lead certified for over 2 years and climbing for more than 5, but it had “been a while”. 

When a person claims to be solid, while at the same time making excuses for why they may not be solid, they raise a red flag. “It’s been a while” is such a red flag for me. Ego sometimes plays a part in climbing accidents. 

He didn’t have his own belay device, so I’d offered to let him use mine, an Edelrid GIga Jul. I’m a huge fan of the Giga Jul but the belaying style is a bit weird. The whole thumb-in thing takes a minute to adjust to.

We headed down and started warming up on some easy routes. It also gives me the chance to observe my belayer’s skills before they might be needed for real. I asked Dan if he was familiar with this particular device and its oddities. He said yes. Dan appeared attentive, managing slack just fine, and lowered me slowly. Nothing to worry about so far.

After an hour or so I was ready to tackle something hard (for me). A 5.11b lead, with a small steep section would be a good test that day and there was a more than small chance I’d come off. I double checked he was good to lead belay. He said he was. I asked about his ability to soft catch, as the swing in from a fall at the small steep section could be rough on a hard catch. He assured me he was totally good. 

The crux came at bolt 5, just as you exit the steepest section. It’s a clipping crux, with a small left hand crimp, and a whole lot of body weight hanging off it. I get into the best position I can and reach down to start clipping.

I want to clip fast, but I’ve learned to grab rope smoothly. It’s no use grabbing and yanking rope up as quick as you can. It’ll typically engage assisted braking on the belay device, and causes a slower overall clip. The belayer needs to feed slack too, so I try to give them the best chance to do so. It’s one reason I like the Giga Jul, it’s really easy to feed out a full armful of slack in no time.

I start pulling the rope upward toward the shoulder height draw. It stops short. Not uncommon to get a little resistance as the belayer works things out. I keep gentle pressure on the rope waiting for the slack to feed, but nothing. I shout clipping and give a little tug in case the background noise in the gym is fouling comms. Still no more rope. I look down and Dan is looking right at me, so I’m confused. I shout clipping again. Nothing. I shout slack. Nothing. I’m getting desperate, my left hand starting to pump. I look right at him and shout “Dude, I need slack, I’m clipping”. His response? To suck in all the slack so hard it left me fighting to continue to try to clip. My left hand is maxed out and I’m shouting “whoa, stop!” I lose the fight with the rope and the remaining slack is pulled out of the system. I look down again and see him sit hard on the now tight rope. My left hand rips off the hold and I fall. With zero soft catch, I swing and slam into the wall. I’m not injured, but ask to be lowered. The whole gym is staring. 

I asked him why he took me so tight when I was way above my previous bolt? He said “that’s what I thought you do, when you think someone is about to fall.” We chatted about the situation, and I tried to remain reasonable. But he then confessed, he was out of practice and “hasn’t lead belayed in over 2 years”, and even worse, had never used a Giga Jul. The guy looked me in the eye and bullshitted me about an important safety issue. We did see the evening out climbing together, but top rope only with a gri-gri from then on.

The takeaways from this should be clear. Don’t bullshit! Climbing is an unforgiving and dangerous activity. Yes, it’s safer now than it’s ever been,with improvements in equipment and knowledge, but saying you know how to do something when you don’t is a remedy for disaster. A few years ago a person attending a meetup in Colorado Springs was tragically killed when they said they could clean an anchor, and fell to their death from a mis-rigged rappel. They had never cleaned an anchor before. 

If you don’t know, just say. I’m far more likely to want to climb with someone that asks for help, then someone who tries to bluff their way through. I’ve been climbing for decades and still listen to comments about my techniques, and methodologies. I have adapted over and over, to be the safest climber I can. While I’m not impervious to the perils of ego, I do try to remain aware, and strive to not let it be a factor in life altering decisions  

So not only was the device unfamiliar, but as a fall looked more likely Dan took in slack and went as tights as he could. This might be appropriate with top rope belaying, or when a lead climber is clipped to a bolt above them, but is absolutely not how to belay a leader above their last protection.

Belaying a leader is a skill that requires practice. Managing slack and soft catching are necessary skills. I’m taller and heavier than most of my friends so have practiced better ways to soft catch. I keep one foot on the wall to aid spring up during a lead fall. 

If the rope runs from the climber to a carabiner above the lead climber and back down to the belayer, the climber is effectively on top rope, and if the climber starts falling, then, taking in slack to tightness can be appropriate. If the climber looks desperate but hasn’t shouted falling, only take in slack and be ready to go tight if a fall starts. A belayer yanking tight because they think the climber is about to fall, can knock a climber out of balance, causing the fall, even when clipped above.

The above or below point of the climber is measured where the rope meets the harness, relative to the last piece of protection. If the climber is above the last piece of protection, the line to the belayer becomes direct, so if you pull tight you are directly pulling on the climber, as happened to me. A lead climber may require slack to clip, but if they fail to clip that extra rope may need to be taken in quickly before the climber falls, only to be paid out again immediately as the leader tries again to clip. It requires full focus, and good lead belay technique. If you’re not sure, ask someone who you know has good technique, or even better, take a class.

There is another moment in belaying that requires thought, when the climber’s tie in point is really close to the bolt. It’s counterintuitive, but letting the climber fall a little further will prevent them body slamming the wall. A really short lead fall on a mostly tight rope can be super uncomfortable as it keeps you so close to the wall. If they fall a couple of feet, they have time to adjust and will fall away from the wall. This is particularly important if belaying a trad leader outside. Most gear is placed with a fall direction in mind and a very short lead fall caught tight can create an unwanted outward direction of pull, dislodging the piece.

Of course, any potential ledges, forms or other obstacles should be accounted for. It makes no sense to add slack, or soft catch, if that might result in a collision. However adding distance to a fall can let a climber fall further away from the wall avoiding an obstacle. Belaying well requires skill, experience and constant focus.

So am I faultless in my gym incident? No. I had a sense Dan was exaggerating his skill set, but I wanted to lead climb that day. I let that desire override my raised hackles, leading to a hard catch that could have resulted in injury. I could have chosen to top rope with this person I’d just met but I chose to trust them. I have a break assisted device, the floors are padded, it’s just indoor. All reasons for me to be comfortable in a less safe option. So if I accept these things, I have to accept some responsibility for what happened.

No-one was hurt, except Dan’s bruised ego. I offered to help Dan practice and acquire the skills to be a better lead belayer, but he declined and said he knew someone who would help him. I hope he chooses to ask for that help.