I have seen too many close calls, and heard of many serious accidents because of the infamous mix up of “is my climber abseiling or being lowered off?”. Climbers have been taken off belay and fallen from the top of their climb because of this simple mistake. As this post aims to teach, this mix up is very easily avoided with a few simple rules, and really just vigilance and communication.
As you may know, when cleaning a sport climb you can either
1. Stay on belay, tie yourself to a bite, untie original knot, thread end through bolts, re-tie the rope to yourself and be lowered off through the bolts, or
2. You can be taken off belay, pull up half the rope through the bolts and then abseil off double strand.
The dangerous mix up happens when a climber who wanted to be lowered off, is taken off belay because the belayer thought they were abseiling. The climber then takes off their own safety (assuming they are on belay) and falls.
Here are my rules to maximise your safety and minimise the possibility of this happening:
Everyone
- Try to ALWAYS LOWER. I know abseiling does mean less wear on the bolts, however if everyone knows everyone is always lowering there will be no mix up. Also I feel lowering is safer because you are always safe through your rope (on belay) and your safety while cleaning, so two things. Sometimes you will need to abseil if the anchor set up or rope drag means lowering isn't easily an option.
Belayer:
- Unless your climber specifically told you before the climb that they were abseiling, ASSUME they are lowering off.
- Never EVER take your climber off belay while they are cleaning and planning to be lowered. I’ve heard and seen “I’ll put them back on when they’re finished” and it’s just not good enough. This is someone’s life. Why risk them taking off their safety before you put them back on?
Climber
- Tell your belayer you are lowering off before each climb
- When you reach the top and connect your safety yell “I’m in hard” instead of “I’m safe” or “I’m secure”. “Safe” or “Secure” can mean I am into a SRENE anchor and want to be taken off belay. “In hard” means I am temporarily in on my safety.
Note: Personally I don’t say anything, I just yell “slack” when I need it for cleaning, hence they have no reason to take me off belay, they just give slack.
- When you’ve finished cleaning, first yell “take” to get your weight transferred from your safety to the rope. Then, yell “on you” BEFORE taking your safety off. Wait until you hear your belayer say ‘ok’ or ‘got you’ to take your safety off. You want to be triply sure you are safe through the rope with your weight held by it. Never just fall back assuming the rope has you.
There you have it. So please keep this all in mind and everyone have fun and be safe out there!
Cheers, Brendan