2 minutes to make sure you never drop your climber
Hi there,
Happy 2016!
A few years back, I was in a climbing gym and heard a big thump from nearby. A climber had been at the top of the wall, told his belayer "take", then let go of the wall.
His belayer was taking in slack (on an ATC) and had her hands out of the brake position when his weight hit the rope. Instead of going into the brake position, she got surprised and tightened her hands on the rope (still out of the brake position).
Since she was out of the brake position, the belay device offered no help, and he hit the ground from the top of the wall. She got bad friction burns on her hands, but he was fortunately 100% OK. A quick ride in an ambulance, some x-rays, and he was climbing again that evening.
The Lawnmower Method of slack management
The solution to this problem is "The Lawnmower Method". Using the Lawnmower Method, you can safely take in giant armfulls of slack and almost immediately return to the brake position. If your climber falls in the middle of you taking in slack, even if they catch you by surprise, you're already headed back to the break position, so you (and they) are safe.
Think about it this way: if your belayer is climbing, tries to make a clip, drops the rope before clipping and falls, would you want to be able to immediately take all that extra slack out of the system, and do so safely?
I think so.
How about this: If you are the one climbing, trying to make a clip, and drop the rope, do you want your belayer to instantly take the slack out safely?
I think so.
There's a bonus to using the Lawnmower Method: you can use it to manage your rope while feeding it, and prevent yourself from getting the rope caught in the belay device as you feed it.
I show all of this in the video:
Learn the Lawnmower Method here
Until next week,
-Josh
PS Once you take a look at the video, send it to a friend who lead belays. Especially if they belay you, and you want their rope management to be on point. :)