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Readers, please send your Weekend Whipper videos, information, and any lessons learned to Anthony Walsh, awalsh@outsideinc.com.
There’s no whipper in this Weekend Whipper. Or, at least not one you can see. Even so, we think it’s worth sharing for the lessons in climber-belayer communication.
Sarah Reinstein was warming up in California’s Texas Canyon, on a pleasant 5.10b, when she “heard a climber having a bit of a meltdown,” she told Climbing. “The belayer thought the climber said ‘take’ while the climber was trying to clip, about five feet above the bolt. The belayer started to pull the rope down hard which made the climber very scared (as heard in the video). This resulted in the climber falling pretty far due to the extra slack he had out to clip.”
Reinstein noted how unfortunate the climber’s reaction was, as his belayer appeared to be new to the sport. “Both people made mistakes,” Reinstein said. “From a learning perspective, I think this is a great example of what not to do for communication while climbing.” We agree: although getting short-roped is frightening, screaming “no! What the fuck!” is rarely going to help. We wouldn’t be climbing with that guy again.
Happy Friday, and be safe out there this weekend.