I recall watching black and white silent movies as a child - likely Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton - with scenes where someone falls from a great height only to be caught safely by a crowd holding a bed sheet. You can see a similar catch here when a skier falls from a chair lift:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3-d7Q1oWz3/?igsh=MTVraG4yODh6NjFsOA==. I've seen a video (which I can no longer find unfortunately) of circus acrobats using the same technique and making it seem very comfortable for two guys to catch a colleague from an approximate 30ft drop.
Has anyone heard of this type of system being used for ultra highball bouldering? Could it work? The sheet/device used in the video above looks like it would be light and pack down easy enough to make it no more cumbersome to get to the crag than an extra pad; it's probably of comparable cost too. And it seems to me that the big advantage is that deceleration can occur over a much greater distance compared to a typical stack of two or three pads, with the improved energy absorption making the landing safer. You could even use one over a stack of pads, or perhaps a pad could be produced for this specific purpose with special handles for the spotters.
I can see problems occurring if there are trip hazards or pointy rocks in the landing zone, so it might not work in every situation, but perhaps it is an innovation worth exploring?
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3-d7Q1oWz3/?igsh=MTVraG4yODh6NjFsOA==. I've seen a video (which I can no longer find unfortunately) of circus acrobats using the same technique and making it seem very comfortable for two guys to catch a colleague from an approximate 30ft drop.
Has anyone heard of this type of system being used for ultra highball bouldering? Could it work? The sheet/device used in the video above looks like it would be light and pack down easy enough to make it no more cumbersome to get to the crag than an extra pad; it's probably of comparable cost too. And it seems to me that the big advantage is that deceleration can occur over a much greater distance compared to a typical stack of two or three pads, with the improved energy absorption making the landing safer. You could even use one over a stack of pads, or perhaps a pad could be produced for this specific purpose with special handles for the spotters.
I can see problems occurring if there are trip hazards or pointy rocks in the landing zone, so it might not work in every situation, but perhaps it is an innovation worth exploring?