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Readers, please send your Weekend Whipper videos, information, and any lessons learned to Anthony Walsh, awalsh@outsideinc.com.
Here’s your semi-regular PSA about climbing with partners who are significantly lighter/heavier than you: adjust your belay tactics accordingly! As Lily Wenchen learned, falls can get sketchy fast.
Wenchen was belaying her partner, who weighs about 40 pounds more than her, on a steep tufa climb in Thailand. “The route was supposed to be in between two rows of tufas, but the climber took a left and then couldn’t adjust himself to go back in the line of the draws,” she told Climbing.
“As you can see in the video, I was keeping him pretty tight because I knew if he was going to fall I was going to go up considering the weight difference. I was pretty relieved that he didn’t deck.”
So, what could they have done differently? Extending the fourth draw so that it could be clipped from a lower stance would have helped; or backing off, as the leader, once you’ve realized you are off route. A stick clip would have done wonders too. Failing that, or finding a heavier belayer, the Edelrid Ohm is a neat device that helps reduce forces on the belayer.
For further reading, professional climber and guide Kitty Calhoun shares some sage advice here.
Happy Friday, and be safe out there this weekend.