SHould this person be climbing?

I'm 220lbs, and I lead trad, aid, and ice. I guess I'm gonna die, then.

T -- they call those racky things quick-draws these days. The hard part is humping that gri-gri around all day long

Adam Winters wrote:i would do some research on cam load testing. If it's placed well in good rock, a moose could take a nice lobber and live to tell about it.

I would pay to see that!

Jim Ebert never worried about how big he was and if his gear could handle the fall. Jim Ebert never fell!!

Rule number 1; NEVER falll on ice. A simple thing really.......

This coming from a scrawny-ass old fart (5'10", 148lbs). Do everyone a favor and leave your ego in the car, better yet, at home in bed. I figure the OP was just jealous that the guy (girl) was walking the OP's project.

If someone is 250lbs and is having fun, good for them. I say, way to go dude.

As for gear. You'd be surprised. I have a friend who is ~180/185. He's been climbing 5.13 sport and 5.12 trad for years (and climbs like he is 140lbs). On BD 00 C3 cams I've seen him take pretty good whippers (makes me feel good about them).

JLP wrote:Heavy climbers tear up ropes, tweak and rip gear, and bust biners and handholds way more than ligher climbers.

Not only that they even FALL faster, never mind what that elitist intellectual Newton said with all his book learning.

JLP wrote:Heavy climbers tear up ropes, tweak and rip gear, and bust biners and handholds way more than ligher climbers.

Do they?

Your statment follows common sense, but as a 200 lbs+ climber, I'd love to read your sources so I can stay safer in the vertical word.

J

JLP wrote:Heavy climbers tear up ropes, tweak and rip gear, and bust biners and handholds way more than ligher climbers.

and here I've been blaming my ego the whole time!

JLP wrote: more F = more things that break.

I think this part needs a source....

Not to be condescending or rude but I don't think several of the people posting here have any idea how a real word belay works. Just because you are 40 lbs more than the next guy doesn't mean your going to break 'biners rated for 20kN and pull pro that's placed well. If you read nothing else read this. All belay devices will slip! Typically the strongest holding devices will slip until forces reach approximately 3kN. Ropes and belay devices have been designed to limit the force felt on the top anchor by a falling climber. This isn't the 1960's where there is little energy absorption and belayers had to let rope slide to reduce force felt on the climber and top anchor.

In a very basic, and hard fall the force felt on the topmost anchor = the force on the belayers strand (limited to 3kN due to slippage) + the force on the climbers strand (100-150% [depending on friction] of force on belayers strand).

This comes out to approx 7kN at its highest force which is well below the rated holding power on most gear. Remember most falls won't come even close to 7kN due to many more force limiting factors.

Weight is not a big issue in a dynamic belay situation because rope will slip thus spreading the force (energy) of the fall out over a period of time. Now if you tied yer tubby friend off to a tree and let him fall, weight would come into play more.

As far as witnessing gear fail on heavier climbers, I'd imagine if this is true that either your friend climbs on old dilapidated gear or they are putting it in bad positions (I.E. on an edge).

If some ones gear is pulling out (regardless of weight) then their placements are not secure enough. Don't confuse strength and security. If gear pulls out its insecure. If it explodes under pressure it lacked strength. Like I mentioned in a previous post, typically the only way to break gear is to be stupid and fix your belay (which with enough dynamic rope will still be fine) or fall on static line.

So unless some one wants to argue physics (if you know I am wrong feel free to correct me) could we please put this stupid argument to rest?

*EDIT*

Just so you know I am a 165lb 6'2" skeleton. Don't think I am trying to defend myself because I am heavy; I'm not.

Here is how you can calculate your Body Mass Index nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmical…

CalmAdrenaline wrote:Eh, to each his own. Hes big, he climbs. whatever.

AGREED.

coryred797 wrote:So I was out the other day climbing and noticed a fairly big guy leading. Lets call him climber "a". He was about 5'11 240ish not fat, but definitely big, think NFL linebacker build. Anyways I was kinda scared watching him lead. he made a so so move on a 5.9 line and thought to myself, jeez if that guy fell would the cam hold? I was under the impression cams were tested and rated to a 180 lb person. Would he have pulled his pro if he fell? I talked to him after and said jeez that looked kinda scary. He replied, yeah I usually ice climb. I replied ICE CLIMB??? aren't you a little big to be ice climbing? He said nah I do just fine and snickered. His second climber "b" said dude he's been climbing forever and been fine. I just walked away. Do you think, assuming his pro was placed good, he would pop it? Do you really think he should be leading on ice? Not trying to pick on the guy but I was concerned and it got me thinking... I leave it to you guys, GO.

Just one thing to add about ice climbing (since this hasn't been discussed yet in this thread). The reason you don't fall on ice is not necessarily that the gear will rip. You don't fall on ice due to the fact that you have all kinds of pointy things all over you that can impale you, impale your rope or gear, catch on the ice or other things (crampons catching is like hitting a ledge while rock climbing), and generally cause a lot of problems in a fall. Ice screws placed in good ice are much stronger than typical trad gear, and almost as strong as a good bolt. Check out this thread for more info on ice screw strength.

rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/fo…

Beverly's papers have some practical info, also; and may be easier to follow than a tangential forum discussion.

I guess its a good thing I lost weight and am only mildly interested in trad. At 6'7", my weight is just by nature going to be higher than most people, but now that I'm back down around 200, maybe the OP would be okay with me following on some pro?

4 pages and no reply from the OP?

Yeah you guys got trolled.

C'mon guys this thread was dead 13 days ago why did it get re-bumped?

Bump