As such I asked my partner if I should say something. She got upset and claimed that if someone climbs with an unsafe belayer it is their personal choice and I should just shut up.
Mention it to the staff? Surely you have to demonstrate safe belay technique to use the wall?
I'd definitely mention it to the belayer. Their feelings matter less than the life of the climber and his/her nearest and dearest.
My reaction depends on experience and level of the party. If they are beginners and seem to lack the knowledge, resp. if it seems it's not their deliberate choice to use sloppy belaying techniques then I feel in a position to give them advice. If it seems to me that it's not by ignorance but by choice that they belay poorly, I shut up (and try to keep clear of the danger zone).
Climbing is a dangerous sport, anyone who is not trying to keep up with best practice should not climb imho.
I can't answer the poll because there isn't an option for "tactfully offer some advice", which of course is the only option for any reasonable non Harrisonian-Libertarian-nightmare human to take.
Quote from: jwi on April 06, 2023, 09:17:08 amClimbing is a dangerous sport, anyone who is not trying to keep up with best practice should not climb imho.This is ridiculous. Barely anybody does this. Go to any UK limestone sport crag and count the number of people wearing helmets.
Logic defying. Likelihood is that if you have had a near miss incident when doing something it's unlikely to recur, it's the things that don't happen you should worry about.
I have friends who don't wear helmets when cycling because they read a study where it said motorists are more likely to be careful passing a cyclist who isn't wearing a helmet. I pointed out that probably doesn't apply to motorists who don't see you, or if you fall off your bike due to a misjudgment you made yourself, but they seemed OK with their take on the situation. They make their daughter wear one though.
Quote from: SA Chris on April 06, 2023, 12:16:20 pmLogic defying. Likelihood is that if you have had a near miss incident when doing something it's unlikely to recur, it's the things that don't happen you should worry about. I think you might need to reconsider your understanding of probability.
Noobie topic of the day:The other day I saw some pretty chocking belaying in the gym. The guy kept the grigri closed at all times by clamping it with the right hand and kept the left hand on live end of the rope all the time. When the leader fell he let go of everything. (I admit that at this point I was more interested in the fate of his leader than mine). The leader obviously fell miles despite being very close to the bolt, but was kept off the ground as they fell pretty high up.I would obviously never tell someone who is not belaying me to change from an obsolete belay technique to best current practice, but in this case I struggled a bit against my inner know-all. As such I asked my partner if I should say something. She got upset and claimed that if someone climbs with an unsafe belayer it is their personal choice and I should just shut up.I moved out of the fall zone and tried to climb on ropes far away from them for the rest of the session.
How many people wear helmets cycling in the Netherlands? Cycling safety correlates to safe infrastructure, not helmets.
So often I'm guilty of saying nothing, and just watching anxiously, unless it's really bad - like when I saw a guy tie off his rope at the top of Stanage and sit on the edge of the crag to belay his second without re-attaching to the rope,
Quote from: andy moles on April 06, 2023, 01:29:36 pmSo often I'm guilty of saying nothing, and just watching anxiously, unless it's really bad - like when I saw a guy tie off his rope at the top of Stanage and sit on the edge of the crag to belay his second without re-attaching to the rope,I was once at the top of Stennis Ford in Pembs and went over to chat to a woman sat at the edge belaying her partner toproping Ghost Train. Was sat there a few mins before I suddenly realised she wasn’t attached to anything so I scrambled around shitting myself finding something to clip her into. She was totally unfazed and just said “yeh safety first I guess”. A few mins later he fell off and shouted “take” as the rope went tight.
I was once at the top of Stennis Ford in Pembs and went over to chat to a woman sat at the edge belaying her partner toproping Ghost Train. Was sat there a few mins before I suddenly realised she wasn’t attached to anything so I scrambled around shitting myself finding something to clip her into. She was totally unfazed and just said “yeh safety first I guess”. A few mins later he fell off and shouted “take” as the rope went tight.
Quote from: Paul B on April 06, 2023, 01:13:46 pmHow many people wear helmets cycling in the Netherlands? Cycling safety correlates to safe infrastructure, not helmets.Very noble of cyclists in this country, where we have crap cycling infrastructure, to not wear helmets in the hope that their smashed crania will collectively prompt government into action.
I'm sure there must be something I'm not getting here. Are you saying that the person was sitting on the grass at the top, with the rope and belay device clipped to them, and there was no anchor whatsoever? Was there an anchor that she was direct belaying to but she hadn't clipped herself to it?
I often wander across the top of yer Stanages and yer Froggatts taking pictures of people climbing. I stopped looking too closely at people’s belay setups after I realised that very few fall into the category of what I’d build (obviously mine are the platonic ideal of safety and practicality ) most are either total overkill or, while not being something that’s going to lead to belayer and second decking, are some weird semi-sketchy shit. Obviously if I see something downright dangerous I mention it, in the same way I’d say “mate, you need to hold onto the rope” in jwi’s example.Anyway, now that’s out of the way I’ll join in sharing a horror story. I was climbing at Stanage Popular one day and a bunch of three blokes showed up next to us- two middle-aged beergut sort of guys and their younger mate who I think was one of their colleagues who they’d recently started bringing to the wall and crag. He was gearing up to lead a route that they said was too difficult for them these days and there was much banter that we got drawn into about how he “hated gear” and just ran up anything they pointed him at without stopping to place much, which was kind of irrelevant as he was bad at placing it. So it came to pass that he dispatched the route, legs shaking at the crux as he’d eschewed taking the #4 cam I’d suggested would be handy on the grounds that it was too big and heavy.The older guys were still laughing after he’d disappeared from sight and they were tying in. The first was halfway up on second and not finding it easy when urgent shouting came from above. Someone walking along the top had spotted that the guy our new friends for some reason trusted to build a belay despite constantly describing as unsafe and a maniac was belaying off a single small rock that was barely wedged in the earth. The bloke seconding went pale and clung on for dear life while the passer-by and my mate remedied the situation. That was the end of the banter.
I presume this is in France JWI? Not sure it makes any difference, but as you say there may be a bit more of a self-reliant culture there? I would potentially say something but it would be on a case by case basis depending on the feel of the situation and my mood. Probably not very helpful...
try and help each other stay safe and not die, whenever possible...