Check, 1 - 2, check 1 - 2 - Page 2

normalcyispasse · #11 10-11-2007, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricardo

if you are climbing on a top rope and you're unsure if your partner has threaded the grigri correctly, just grab the rope between you and the anchor and pull down. you should see the device lock up.

You should, assuming the autobraking mechanism is working correctly.

mil-mil · #12 10-11-2007, 02:29 PM

im to stupid to figure out how to use a gri gri, so i will stick with my ATC

.

Best wishes to your friend jake and i hope for a fast recovery.

shanja · #13 10-11-2007, 10:45 PM

Thanks Mike. I'll pass that along. She sustained a concussion, broken clavicle, compressed fracture of some vertebrae and most troubling for future climbing, a nasty break of the talus bone (I think that is right). Ask Sonia about how bad these breaks in the foot can be. Still she is strong, positive and has a supportive family and climbing circle.
No doubt she will keep using a gri-gri...it was human error at the end of the day. Like they say, the most unstable feature on any mountain is the climber!

skinsk · #14 10-11-2007, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Ask Sonia about how bad these breaks in the foot can be

well, mine was a compound fracture of the talus (i.e. the bone was sticking out) and we were in a jungle 5 hours (no helicopters, tarzan) from a hospital. . . it was largely infection and complications that did me in! I certainly hope your friend fares better. . .though 2 weeks in a Korean hospital just about did me in! (The first two weeks in a Thai hospital was magical by comparison!). . .my heart goes out to her. On my side, I didn't deck-- just slammed a bulge on the way down, so nothing else was injured. And while a huge hold breaking set my fall in motion, my "very experienced" belayer with an ATC dropped me about 7 meters. . . oh how I wish it were a gri-gri!!

#15 10-12-2007, 08:14 PM

i love using a gri-gri myself, however, i don't always like other people using them. having said that, if my belayer isn't bright enough to know how to use a gri-gri, i'd just as soon that they didn't use an ATC either, or even belay me at all...

but, even the best climbers can make mistakes, so let's all just keep on checking and double-checking (i'm the belayer, you're the climber, right j? wait...no! i'm the climber!

).

hope your friend gets well soon, jake!

Ricky · #16 10-13-2007, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by climbergrrl

if my belayer isn't bright enough to know how to use a gri-gri, i'd just as soon that they didn't use an ATC either, or even belay me at all...

but, even the best climbers can make mistakes, so let's all just keep on checking and double-checking (i'm the belayer, you're the climber, right j? wait...no! i'm the climber!

).

hope your friend gets well soon, jake!

Word, yo!

TLayne · #17 03-05-2009, 07:56 PM

I've been climbing about 5 months. I was taught by some of KOTR's best. I've always thought of myself as a VERY safe belayer. I actually took pride in taking the joib of belayer. I would never take my eye of the climber, feeding out just the right amount of slack, always keeping my brake hand on the rope. But after time, I started to not always keep my eye on the climber. Anyways, I was using a gri-gri when the climber I was belaying fell from about 3 meters. When the climber fell I was talking to another person on the ground and DID NOT HAVE MY EYE ON THE CLIMBER. The rope zipped through my hand, I gripped the rope with my brake hand and luckily slowed his fall enough that the rope stretched to its max just as he hit the ground on his back. About 10 climbers witnessed this. I felt so terrible that I had made such a huge mistake. I had my brake hand on the rope! How could this have happened to me with my gri-gri! Well obviously I did something wrong and it could have turned out much worst. I know it was my brake hand that was at fault here but I would like to say, I think if you always keep your eye on the climber, you can see the moment they are going to fall and take the rope. I know sometimes you cant always see the climber but when you can I thinkl they should have 100% of your attention.

shanja · #18 03-05-2009, 09:03 PM

Woah, close call. But don't feel too bad...almost all belayers (me included) are guilty of this; talking and not paying 100% attention. You did at least have your hand on the brake strand all the time (more than many Gri-Gri users can say unfortunately). Glad no-one was seriously hurt (other than ego and confidence), and thanks for being honest and humble enough to share this with us all.

TLayne · #19 03-05-2009, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shanja

Woah, close call. But don't feel too bad...almost all belayers (me included) are guilty of this; talking and not paying 100% attention. You did at least have your hand on the brake strand all the time (more than many Gri-Gri users can say unfortunately). Glad no-one was seriously hurt (other than ego and confidence), and thanks for being honest and humble enough to share this with us all.

No problem. That actually just happened last week in Thailand. Afterwards I sat down and watched how others were useing their gri-gris and guess what... I saw the same mistakes. One of which was, holding down the gate with the left hand waiting to feed out slack, sometimes while not even watching the climber. When that climber fell I was holding down the gate with my left hand (I always did that to keep the gri-gri strait and staedy). I turned my head away for a moment, and when I did, he fell. The rope zipped freely through. I dont want to make it sound so simple. It happened fast. One thing I do know is, had I been watching the climber, I would have seen him start to fall and would have let go with my left hand. But when I was caught off gaurd and the rope was suddenly ripping through my gri-gri my only reaction was to clench BOTH hands as tightly as possible. I learned my lesson from this. It's always different when it happens to you.

lkiehn · #20 03-09-2009, 03:02 PM

I'm the one who distracted you by talking to you! I'm so sorry!!

The climber was above the second bolt, but even so, you can have a ground fall from there depending on how the bolts are placed. He did have a soft fall though, he didn't slam to the ground.

Climbing can be scary sometimes -yesterday I watched a guy at O2 World fall, drop an ax, and completely sever the sheath of his rope. He sliced it clean off, only the white strands of the core were left!!