Hats off to belayer in this R&I weekend whipper

R&I link

"I walked away from the fall with a small cut on the back of the head [he was wearing a helmet] and no lasting damage so all is well,” he says. A “very nicely seated” DMM size 5 Dragon cam caught the fall.

 Why was he flipped upside down? Was the rope around his foot/body when he fell or what?

garrett knorr wrote:

 Why was he flipped upside down? Was the rope around his foot/body when he fell or what?

He was just falling in a weird diagonal angle and fell into the side of his ropes is what it looks like

Edit: Jk I slowed it down one of his ropes does seem to grab his leg though the poor quality makes it hard to really see. 

garrett knorr wrote:

 Why was he flipped upside down? Was the rope around his foot/body when he fell or what?

It looks like his left leg was behind the rope and flipped him over

Belayer should have been kneeling......

It looks like his left leg falls in front of the rope as he comes off, causing him to invert as the rope comes taut.  He really pile-drives directly into the wall head first.   Yikes.  It also appears that had the belayer not jumped away from the route quickly, it would've been a ground fall.  

If his belayer was kneeling he couldn't have jumped backwards. (I can't tell if your'e kidding or not)

 And yeah I think the rope was behind his leg also. 

garrett knorr wrote:

If his belayer was kneeling he couldn't have jumped backwards. (I can't tell if your'e kidding or not)

 And yeah I think the rope was behind his leg also. 

He was kidding.

Also to point out, they were using doubles wish strech more and there weren't that many pieces in.

Can someone post the video of a belayer in the creek yanking in yards of slack as a few pieces blew? That's one of my favorite belayer saves leader videos out there!

If I had been the belayer I would have asked the leader to see if he couldn't get in any more pro or double up what he had before committing any further. A belayer doesn't necessarily have to be completely passive, particularly on a short single pitch crag like that because sometimes belaying isn't the only way to keep your partner safe - speak up if something doesn't look or feel right.

Healyje wrote:

If I had been the belayer I would have asked the leader to see if he couldn't get in any more pro or double up what he had before committing any further. A belayer doesn't necessarily have to be completely passive, particularly on a short single pitch crag like that because sometimes belaying isn't the only way to keep your partner safe - speak up if something doesn't look or feel right.

I'm guessing since this is in the UK, every placement opportunity was used...because there was only one...for like 30 feet.  Yikes.

Can someone post the video of a belayer in the creek yanking in yards of slack as a few pieces blew? That's one of my favorite belayer saves leader videos out there!

The best belayer save I've ever seen, indeed. I can honestly say that I'm a good belayer and if I was belaying that fall the climber would have decked. Period.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ854rwQZUI

"If I had been the belayer I would have asked the leader to see if he couldn't get in any more pro or double up what he had before committing any further. A belayer doesn't necessarily have to be completely passive, particularly on a short single pitch crag like that because sometimes belaying isn't the only way to keep your partner safe - speak up if something doesn't look or feel right"

How about, "Hey, bro, the rope is under your leg. If you fall you are going to get flipped upside down!" Belayer's responsibility to notify leader of dangerous situations; your clear duty. The rope was obviously in this position for a while with plenty of time to remedy the danger. 

Rope was behind the left leg, you can see it in the full-screen view.
That's why the climber didn't flip until the rope went tight.

And yeah, I've been rather constantly reminding partners about keeping the rope out from between their/behind their legs when out to the side for about 25 years, ever since this happened to Willie. That was friend and trauma doc Alex checking Willie out before taking him to the ER for stiches...

I do see that even in certain experience partners that they are always putting the rope between their feet, even when moving laterally.  It's even intentional, they've got this "keep the rope between your feet" thing going on as if that's the point rather than "keep it out from behind your heels."  
For my own part, when I am above gear to the side, you can bet your bottom that the rope is at least over my toes instead of under it when I start moving up, or oven over my knee, just to be sure.  I don't want it behind a leg.  Helmet or not, whiplash sucks.

And yeah, in that video the belayer did a great job of keeping the leader off of the deck. Nice work on that aspect of it.  Again, helmet or not, that could have been a broken neck. the helmet can't save you from doing a pile driver.  Helmet or no, that's still all of your body weight crushing your neck.

Tony T. wrote:

I'm guessing since this is in the UK, every placement opportunity was used...because there was only one...for like 30 feet.  Yikes.

Quote from the R&I page comments for the video:

"Luke Mansfield · Nottingham, United Kingdom: Theres soo much gear on that route, and a good rest....I'm really shocked he fell so far having used that route for fall practice before."

FrankPS wrote:

I thought he meant that the belayer should  have been praying. In many situations, praying is appropriate, in this situation it was great that the belayer wasn't focusing solely on prayer but rather being attentive so as to adequately respond when his bro took a fall. Peace, cheers and always wear a helmet while your climb is being filmed!

I flip my toe under the rope and pick it up with my foot placements, so my feet stay under the rope, always. 

Leg got behind the "rope" during the fall and flipped him. Happened to me once.