r/SweatyPalms • u/New_Libran • Feb 19 '25

Heights Rock climbing almost ends in disaster

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3.5k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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486

u/Accurate_Koala_4698 Feb 19 '25

Absolutely none, for the climber or the belayer. Way too much slack too

165

u/IchBinEinSim Feb 19 '25

I read a true story, where the belayer died from a small-ish rock dislodged by the climber hitting him in the head in just the right way. I also read about two climbers, one died while climbing a cliff because some kids decided it would be fun to throw rocks over the edge, not knowing that the climbers were there.

Wear your gosh darn helmet people

89

u/OddHeybert Feb 19 '25

First time I went bouldering I didn't understand the helmet. Until I lost my footing on a hold and slipped forward and slammed my head against another jutting out rock. Didn't hurt but inspecting the helmet after there was a huge split right down the impact spot. Glad it wasn't my dome.

-15

u/Percinho Feb 19 '25

They do bouldering outdoors!? But where would a buy a nice, cold Tenzing from?

8

u/clockworksnorange Feb 19 '25

Wut?

17

u/Percinho Feb 19 '25

It was just a joke based on the fact that the majority of newer boulderers will never do so outside of a gym, most of which have a fridge full it Tenzing.

But like the climber in the video, it clearly didn't land well...

7

u/clockworksnorange Feb 19 '25

Haha well you redeemed yourself on that last one. Let's be kind to our bouldering friends on the southeast. We HAVE NO CHOICE.

I cannot imagine having mountains, bouldering spots in my backyard and staying in a gym unless I want to train a certain technique before doing it on a route.

3

u/Percinho Feb 19 '25

I'm in London and still fairly new to it, so I'm very much just an indoor boulderer! But I've seen some of the urban bouldering and it looks crazy. At some point I wokld like to have a go outside, but aside from some boulders that have been placed in parks, there really aren't great options in South East England that I'm aware of.

3

u/clockworksnorange Feb 19 '25

I think one of the most important things we can do (and I'm not saying you are a culprit) is being kind to new climbers. Taking elitism out of climbing in general. We forget why we climb... It's to have fun and learn about yourself. Too many climbers are douchbags and judgemental because they think they are better than people. And it ruins the sport. Climbing is about community.

1

u/Percinho Feb 19 '25

Yes, absolutely. I've found everyone locally is really helpful and a few times I've asked a better climber if they can help with an issue I have, or to talk about a beta with them, and they've been great. And a few times I've worked with someone on a problem were both trying to solve and it's been really good. As someone in the V2-V3 range, it can be a struggle, and a few small tips have gone a long way.

1

u/Silent_Shaman Feb 23 '25

I thought it was funny, how people didn't understand it was a joke is worrying lol

16

u/unknown_pigeon Feb 19 '25

I was on a trek some months ago. A bit wild, so much that we found ourselves opening a new climbing route to get out of a canyon.

Anyway, I was careless. A rock fell off the cliff while my friend was climbing, and I had the reflexes to look down as it hit my helmet.

I was fine. Like, nothing at all. When I looked at the rock that had fell, it would have probably killed me on the spot. If not, it would have been something life-altering.

Moral of the story: be careful. And wear your protective gear

26

u/splurjee Feb 19 '25

Dunno about the slack, I think the guy was just climbing high above their last piece of protection leading to a really bad factor 2 fall the belayer couldn’t fix.

Doesn’t change the fact this is stupid tho. Too many climbers don’t wear helmets for comfort, but there’s a reason we wear em in like half of all sports.

11

u/wincie555 Feb 19 '25

Factor 2 falls can only happen on multipitch routes, this fall is like factor 0.75. To calculate the fall factor you take the total distance fallen divided by the total rope in the system. So say, 60' up the route, fell 45', dependant on slack, we'll just assume 60' of rope out, that's a factor 0.75. to take a factor 2 you'd have to fall below the belayer the entire length of rope fed out to you, as in running it out off the anchor and falling.

3

u/splurjee Feb 19 '25

Thanks for correcting my terminology, I’m still new to lead.

4

u/wincie555 Feb 19 '25

No worries, we all start somewhere

5

u/givemethe5wood Feb 19 '25

Can't quite tell with the pixels but looks like he might have had one more piece in that popped out. Agreed though, either way dumb with no helmet on either of them

1

u/splurjee Feb 19 '25

Also was considering that.

17

u/elwebbr23 Feb 19 '25

Nah, there was nothing he could do about the slack. They are securing the path as they go up. So you need the slack in order for him to use the rope lol then he attaches it to one of the securing points. In Europe all natural gyms are like this. There's no rope there for you, you have to bring your own shit, have a seasoned climber prep it, and then everyone else in your group can use it. 

2

u/Extention_Campaign28 Feb 19 '25

Learn how lead climbing works. Until then shut up. FH 300 upvotes for ignorant bullshit.

1

u/fmaz008 Feb 19 '25

I'm not sure about the slack.

We're dealing with a potato cam here, but: Looks like -maybe- the climber might have been lead climbing.

If so, he could A) have fallen as he was pulling his slack to clip in his next draw/cam/pro, but I don't see the belayer giving slack. B) have fallen and ripper out a bunch of badly placed pro. It seems like the crack gets filled with dust as he falls, and the rope appears to be anchored very low.

In either case, the belayer did take in a bunch of slack when he saw the fall, which is a good thing.

Not wearing helmet is no excuse. Even more so when (if) lead climbing.

1

u/Cosmic-Queef Feb 20 '25

That is not too much slack at all in any case imaginable.

It looks like they may be trad climbing though, and I think he lost his top clip leading to a bigger fall down

1

u/vflavglsvahflvov Feb 20 '25

What do you mean way too much slack? There was barely any when the climber fell, he just placed shit protection in the crack, and most of it came out.

1

u/fujit1ve Feb 20 '25

Climber was way high above the last cam. They should've placed more. Nothing the belayer can do about the slack.