Advice for not getting wrecking ball'd by you climber?

So I have a climbing partner who is maybe 30 pounds heavier than me. The gym we climb at is short, maybe 3 bolts until the top. Clips can be spicy and there is a huge variation in how sandbagged a route can be.

The reoccurring issue keeps being that when my climber falls on a significant overhanging route with only one bolt clipped, I am pulled into the air, and he comes wrecking balling into me. Shit hurts. I'm getting to the point where I don't want to belay him on anything overhanging. I'm not looking to end the belaytionship since outdoor climbing with them is almost everything I want in a partner. Does anyone have any experience with this issue and what they've done to resolve it?

I almost have zero slack out, standing almost under the first bolt, and can recognize when he is about to fall, but I still get clobbered.

Some ideas:

1. Attach yourself to something solid or heavy, like a sandbag

2. Belay directly off of an anchor

3. Use a gizmo like an Edelrid Ohm

The ground anchor and ohm are both good ideas, but here are a couple other options.Try taking one knee or squatting like a catcher in baseball. It’ll put more space between you and the climber. Another option is to also clip the rope on your side through the first bolt of an adjacent route to keep you out of the climber’s fall line. If the routes are only 3 bolts tall, the added drag may not be an issue and you’ll quit clackerballing when they whip.

Tell him not to fall?

Drop him

Stick clip the second bolt.

Leader must not fall

That’s what happens when a climber falls at the first bolt... Embrace the suck.

You could also do what one of my partners does and comment on how fat he is every time you see him in the hopes of giving him an eating disorder to even things out... Hasn’t worked on me yet, but there’s hope.

Don't climb on climbs with a low crux with your heavier partner. What has your partner said about this? Does he understand your concerns? Aren't there plenty of other climbs at the gym without this risk? I have faith you can figure this out. Maybe.

Don't belay underneath him, if there's a possibility he will fall on you.

FrankPS wrote: Don't climb on climbs with a low crux with your heavier partner. What has your partner said about this? Does he understand your concerns? Aren't there plenty of other climbs at the gym without this risk? I have faith you can figure this out. Maybe.

Don't belay underneath him, if there's a possibility he will fall on you.

Yeah -- route selection, plus you also have the option of only climbing outside with him. It shouldn't be hard for him to understand; nobody wants high velocity pinkeye.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but why bother "lead climbing" at a gym so short there's only 3 clips to the top? Just TR there and save the leading for outdoors.

The solution to the wrecking ball, though, is better technique and, if needed an Ohm or a watermelon.

I outweigh my regular partner but at least 50-60 lbs and never wrecking ball her. 

Rich S wrote: Stick clip the second bolt.

And if the route is truly very overhanging, then clip the climber’s side of the rope into the first bolt, after you stick clip the 2nd bolt. Then the climber unclips the first bolt as he climbs past, and leads normally after the 2nd. 

Alternative option: since this is in a gym and you have more bolts/draws just a couple of feet away, clip the first bolt on the route next to the one that your climber is going to work (clip your ohm to it, if using). The climber climbs his route as usual, but there is a little more rope drag, and if he falls, you will not be pulled into his flight path, because you will be standing under the bolt nearby, and will get pulled up towards that bolt, instead of the first bolt under your climber. 

My partner and I treat that as no-fall territory, and it's only failed once. If my partner was regularly falling before the second bolt, I'd probably push for not leading those routes. Or just leave him off belay until the second bolt.

I would hope a gym like that, with stupid short lead walls, would have ground anchors to attach to or, alternatively, sandbag anchors to clip into to add weight. Otherwise, the Elderid Ohm will serve you well.

Señor Arroz wrote: I know this isn't what you want to hear, but why bother "lead climbing" at a gym so short there's only 3 clips to the top? Just TR there and save the leading for outdoors.

This. If your gym sucks don't bother leading there. Pretty much what we do here (3-4 bolt routes and boulderers everywhere)

Señor Arroz wrote: I know this isn't what you want to hear, but why bother "lead climbing" at a gym so short there's only 3 clips to the top? Just TR there and save the leading for outdoors.

The solution to the wrecking ball, though, is better technique and, if needed an Ohm or a watermelon.

I outweigh my regular partner but at least 50-60 lbs and never wrecking ball her. 

Respectfully...  

That's the only indoor, public, option available.

And? No friction wrap on the anchor.

My experience is two things:

First, you can increase the friction several ways. Remember, that doesn't change the weight difference.​ It simply can help mitigate it.

Second, change the weight difference. Ground anchor, sand bag(s), anything like that.

The Ohm does both, by slowing down what happens on the belayers side of the rope. If I did heaps of gym stuff, I'd buy or rent one, after trying it out.

Here, I am doing the first part, increase friction, by using two carabineers on the ATC, and standing next to the wall, but off to the side, to increase the angle on that anchor. This is for top rope, ​as even then, I will leave the ground just to lower, if I stand too far away from the wall. Big guys, what can I say? :-)

I am also choosing not to lead, or lead belay at the short walled gym. It simply is too close to decking, for any ​partners. Never falling, and never blowing a clip? Risking injury for a gym route?????? No way. I'm holding out for the other gyms that are in the works for next winter.

Outdoors, you bet. So much easier to work out!

Best, Helen

Old lady H wrote:

Respectfully...  

That's the only indoor, public, option available.

...

I am also choosing not to lead, or lead belay at the short walled gym. It simply is too close to decking, for any partners. Never falling, and never blowing a clip? Risking injury for a gym route?????? No way. I'm holding out for the other gyms that are in the works for next winter.

Outdoors, you bet. So much easier to work out!

Best, Helen

Hi Helen,

What you propose above and are doing yourself is exactly the same thing that I proposed. Why lead climb on short walls if it's causing a problem or adverse risks?

But, having said that, I've fallen at the 2nd clip at my gym and not "wrecking balled" my much-lighter partner. On the other hand, they probably put the first clip at a short gym way too low, just to have a clip. First clips at my gym are about 10 feet. No real point having them lower than that except for psychological pro. 

Low first draws aside, what difference does it make how tall the walls are? The same hazards exist down low on any sport route, regardless of how high the final anchors are. Sure, in a short gym, you're spending a larger percentage of your time in the danger zone, but that zone exists at the beginning of every route, does it not?

Andrew Krajnik wrote: Low first draws aside, what difference does it make how tall the walls are? The same hazards exist down low on any sport route, regardless of how high the final anchors are. Sure, in a short gym, you're spending a larger percentage of your time in the danger zone, but that zone exists at the beginning of every route, does it not?

Everyone knows that gravity is stronger on short walls.

Andrew Krajnik wrote: Low first draws aside, what difference does it make how tall the walls are? The same hazards exist down low on any sport route, regardless of how high the final anchors are. Sure, in a short gym, you're spending a larger percentage of your time in the danger zone, but that zone exists at the beginning of every route, does it not?

I read it less as "this is unsafe" and more as "why are you bothering".

Andrew Krajnik wrote: Low first draws aside, what difference does it make how tall the walls are? The same hazards exist down low on any sport route, regardless of how high the final anchors are. Sure, in a short gym, you're spending a larger percentage of your time in the danger zone, but that zone exists at the beginning of every route, does it not?

Everett read my intention perfectly. It's only "less safe" if they've got the first clip ridiculously low. But if your "lead climb" consists of 50% "must not fall" and another two clips of meh, AND it's bothering you, well, then, why bother?