Dumb things other climbers have said

I'm picking a fight. Meet me behind the lockers at school tomorrow.

I smell butt-hurt...

Jon Hartmann wrote:I'm picking a fight. Meet me behind the lockers at school tomorrow.

Depends on how hard you punch. Is it like gym 5.11 hard or outside 5.7 hard?

FourT6and2 wrote: Depends on how hard you punch. Is it like gym 5.11 hard or outside 5.7 hard?

That would be 5.3 at the gunks

Good stuff. :)

So there I was, an eager young toproper at Joshua Tree National Monument. Wide eyed as I watched a grizzled old veteran shoe up for the lead. I noticed that a toothbrush was part of the rack that day. I was young and eager to learn.

"Is that toothbrush for brushing off the holds?"

He just looks at me and starts brushing his teeth.

A few months ago in Eldo, as the party next to us was climbing Calypso. Follower reaches the first piece and shouts up to the leader:

"I can't get your first piece out, the thingy on it is broken!"
"The thingy?"
"The thing you pull to get it out of the crack!"
"You mean the trigger?"
"Yeah!"
"The first piece is a nut."

Another one that I've heard 3 times lately in the last couple of months; part dumb, part extreme safety issue. Last person in the gumby gangbang reaches the anchors of a sport route to clean it:

"Ok, off belay!"
*long pause while they clean the anchor...*
"Ok, put me back on belay!"

Why the HELL are you going off belay at all if you're planning to lower anyway!? Where are people learning this??

drewdogg2112 wrote:watched a guy on the climb next to me tie in, not even look back or say anything to his partner, start climbing a 5.11 and once he was about 12 feet off the ground and getting to a small roof looked back, saw his partner was still in the process of clipping in his ATC, and the climbers response was "yo dude, catch up. Im gonna be finished with the climb before you get set up" Why the climber couldn't wait 10 seconds for his partner to be clipped in, or even looked back or communicated in any way for that matter to see if his belayer was ready is beyond me. Is it wicked cool or tough to climb like an idiot and hope for the best?

I won't condone it, but neither will I deny that I've started climbing from the ground before being on belay. Almost always it's with a partner I know (and trust) really well and on terrain I'd feel comfortable being unroped and unspotted on. Usually that partner is already in the process of hooking up his or her belay device and I say something like, "You ready? You'll have me on by the time I get my first piece in? Right?" and then I proceed. If I got to that first piece and my belayer didn't have me on yet, even after all of the discussion, I'd probably give him or her a little friendly ribbing - if nothing more than for the fun of it.

Paul Hutton wrote:A few days ago at Smith Rock--- Enjoying some trad climbing in The Gorge. Sport climbers walk up and wanna try crack climbing. Before we teach them how to tape hands for crack climbing, the dude asks if I feel comfortable leading with his rope so I can set it as a top rope for them. I say "I can tie it to the back of my harness and lead with mine." He says "What's the difference?" But he started the 8 in his rope for me. That was nice of him.

I'm dumb I guess but if there are bolts and chains at the top, why not lead on his rope, get lowered and clean your pieces, then be done? What am I missing?

Abram Herman wrote: Another one that I've heard 3 times lately in the last couple of months; part dumb, part extreme safety issue. Last person in the gumby gangbang reaches the anchors of a sport route to clean it: "Ok, off belay!" *long pause while they clean the anchor...* "Ok, put me back on belay!" Why the HELL are you going off belay at all if you're planning to lower anyway!? Where are people learning this??

No safety issue in the slightest, do you know how cleaning anchors works when sport climbing?

Climber calling down to the belayer from the bolt anchors "Does this look right?"

that guy named seb wrote: No safety issue in the slightest, do you know how cleaning anchors works when sport climbing?

Having seen multiple people hit the ground from doing this very thing, I disagree. There is NO REASON to call "off belay" when cleaning anchors if you expect to be lowered. Just stay on belay.

csproul wrote: Having seen multiple people hit the ground from doing this very thing, I disagree. There is NO REASON to call "off belay" when cleaning anchors if you expect to be lowered. Just stay on belay.

Then they neglected to make them selves safe at the anchor. Would love to know what you do when you get to the anchor.

that guy named seb wrote: No safety issue in the slightest, do you know how cleaning anchors works when sport climbing?

Yay! Our first contestant for "dumb things other climbers have said" in the 'dumb things other climbers have said" thread.

I know you are fully aware how it works. This requires at least two more steps and two more communications. So four. And if there is a loud river or highway or other climbers yelling on and off belay there is additional factors that can contribute to an accident.

Many accidents have occurred during the cleaning process. I have participated in serious injury rescue as a result of a communication error during anchor cleaning. He survived but still has brain damage eight years later.

KISS

"Does that one have good grips?"

"Are you gettin' traddy this weekend?"

(overheard in a gym) "I've been working really hard on yellow. Hopefully someday I can climb purple."

And now for some slightly off topic, yet entertaining, instances

Dumb things Climbers have done:

-While belaying my partner up Hemingway Buttress, overly eager guy shows up decked out like he's about to head up Annapurna. He asks when he and his partner can climb the route we are on. I mutter something as if to say I'm fairly busy. They proceed to start just right of my partner's lead, traverse in and continue to lead/clean the pitch. You can imagine the look on my partner's face when, just after he set up the belay, a complete stranger hands him all the gear I was supposed to clean.

-Big burly dude screaming at his future ex-girlfriend: Just climb the f!@#ing route! JUST climb it and stop complaining!

She was in tears, I felt really bad for her. Mainly due to the fact that she had such a s#!@ty climbing partner. No one deserves to be talked to like that.

I completely lost in when, at the top of the cliff she was sitting by herself and out of his mouth comes, (in a deep and entitled bro voice) "Yo baby, get me a cliff bar." If he hadn't been three times my size I would have said something. What a meat head.

that guy named seb wrote: Then they neglected to make them selves safe at the anchor. Would love to know what you do when you get to the anchor.

They called off belay and their belayer took them off. They then untied, threaded the anchor, and retied and called to be back on belay, which the belayer never heard. The climber(s) then leaned back expecting to be lowered while the belayer expected them to rappel. They hit the ground. There were multiple missteps here, of course, but it all would have been eliminated had the belayer just kept them on belay. And there was no reason to call "off belay" in the first place since they were going to be lowered. Why would you have your belayer take you off only to put you right back on? Especially when 9/10 times, I can clean an anchor without ever coming off belay at my end at all.

And like I said, having seen multiple people hit the ground and at least one death from this, I think it actually IS a safety issue. I cringe every time I hear someone yell "off belay" at the top of a sport route (or any route that is commonly lowered off of).

Chris.Schenhoffer wrote: If he hadn't been three times my size I would have said something. What a meat head.

Ew. You should totally have said something anyway. I'm sure you + her could have taken that big bag of dicks down.

csproul wrote: They called off belay and their belayer took them off. They then untied, threaded the anchor, and retied and called to be back on belay, which the belayer never heard. The climber(s) then leaned back expecting to be lowered while the belayer expected them to rappel. They hit the ground. There were multiple missteps here, of course, but it all would have been eliminated had the belayer just kept them on belay. And there was no reason to call "off belay" in the first place since they were going to be lowered.

This exact scenario happened at a popular road-side (read: noisy) cliff 10 minutes from my house. I don't know for sure, but I sounds like the dude didn't make it... Why would you call off belay when you can just ask for a little slack to thread?

csproul wrote: They called off belay and their belayer took them off. They then untied, threaded the anchor, and retied and called to be back on belay, which the belayer never heard. The climber(s) then leaned back expecting to be lowered while the belayer expected them to rappel. They hit the ground. There were multiple missteps here, of course, but it all would have been eliminated had the belayer just kept them on belay. And there was no reason to call "off belay" in the first place since they were going to be lowered. Why would you have your belayer take you off only to put you right back on? Especially when 9/10 times, I can clean an anchor without ever coming off belay at my end at all. And like I said, having seen multiple people hit the ground and at least one death from this, I think it actually IS a safety issue. I cringe every time I hear someone yell "off belay" at the top of a sport route (or any route that is commonly lowered off of).

Agreed, if you're doing it right, all you need is ten foot of slack from your belayer. Stay on belay while cleaning, stay backed up, keep it simple and stay safe.

The on belay/off belay while cleaning anchors is one of the dumbest/scariest things I hear when cragging. My ears immediately perk up and if I can I stop what I'm doing and watch and make sure no one dies.

If the person I'm belaying calls "off belay" at an anchor where I expect people to normally lower or if we discussed them lowering, I always ask if they are going to rappel before actually taking them off.

csproul wrote: There is NO REASON to call "off belay" when cleaning anchors if you expect to be lowered. Just stay on belay.

Yup, this. Adds a whole extraneous step of taking off the belay device and then putting it back on, and greatly increases the chance for miscommunication. What possible reason could there be to take your belay device off the rope for 2 minutes while the climber cleans the anchor? Just pay out some slack and you're good to go, and it requires even LESS effort than the more unsafe alternative of taking them off belay and then putting them back on.