Gym Climbing Whip

Malcolm Daly wrote: Practice decking? I doubt it. Looks to me like the deckee tied off to the bolt, climbed above it, took the slack out with a Grigri and was practicing a F2 fall. 

I'm have to go go with this one... that's the only way that I can piece the rigging in those two pics together.

Further to my post above I think that if you enlarge the photo of the tied-off rope you’ll see that the figure 8 is seriously welded. Almost as if someone had set up a factor 2 fall to “practice”. 

6/10

Katia M wrote:Call it a factor of me being a n00b, but exactly what was he practicing?  Does he think that if he does it several time, he eliminates the possibility of injury?  Toughens himself up to be able to crack some part of his body on solid rock without it hurting?   Am I doing something wrong because I don't practice crashing my car, falling down the stairs, etc.?  (And if the point was to hit the ground, then what exactly did he think was the problem with what happened?  Isn't that what he wanted?)

I don't think I agree with your logic. Nobody goes out to crash their car. A famous climber once said if you are not falling you are not trying. Falling is a part of climbing and if there is ground fall potential for a route you are training for why not practice? 

I think the real mistake here was using a old rope purchased on Craigslist and not properly inspecting it before using it.

A famous driver also once said if you're not crashing you are not trying. People crash their car all the time, car crash is really just part of life. There's an entire industry build around car crashes. By comparison, decking in rock climbing is actually pretty rare. I think we should all practice crashing our car more often.

You know..  we haven't seen a Decking Practice thread in a while.  Should we bring this back?  

I decked once after a 30' fall and decked another time doing a rope swing.  Derp a Derp.  I really need to practice my decking.

Katia M wrote: Call it a factor of me being a n00b, but exactly what was he practicing?  

He was practicing being a dipshit. There is no such thing as "practice decking".

And yeah, if you deck, it's definitely not comfortable. That's incentive to become better, not to become dumber.

Gumby King wrote: You know..  we haven't seen a Decking Practice thread in a while.  Should we bring this back?  

I decked once after a 30' fall and decked another time doing a rope swing.  Derp a Derp.  I really need to practice my decking.

Not on the 27th you wont! Or on thanksgiving! Deck after x-mass. 

Ziggy Chalkdust wrote: Was the climber ok? Were they wearing a helmet? This is why you should always climb with doubles and retire ropes after every fall. Where was the gym staff when this went down??????

You mean like those doubles in the four photos you've posted on MP? Is the one rope just really thin and hard to see or is it invisi-rope?

How to really practice decking.

Heads up! Bitd "dirtysmellyhippy" and I would "practice deck" for birthday parties. At the end of the party we would gather all the kids around for a "lead demo" and then deliberately take a deck from about 25'. Basically is only looked like a deck because we used the rope stretch to hit the ground. Probably did it hundreds of times. Maybe this was staff doing the decking?

master gumby wrote: To add clarity to the accident, which clearly allowed us to see who uses the left and right side of their brain on MP, the leader was practice decking.

Why not start with that?  Still makes zero sense if you look at the pictures.  You can "practice decking" without tying off to a draw.

I shit you not, PRACTICE DECKING. I had never heard of this term before and will admit I scoffed and chuckled at first. However, as I gave it more thought, it makes sense 

Nah, not really.  Most people practice how NOT to do that- i.e. running belay, etc.

Where the leader went wrong, was skimping on equipment,

I would argue the leader's parents went wrong, because they were likely siblings that decided to procreate.

 not 15 minutes before the accident happened I heard him bragging about how he scored this rope on craigslist for 20$.

Certainly doesn't help.

There are multiple layers and lessons to be learned here.

Not really.  Just some morons doing moron shit.

I wonder if the broken rope acted like a screamer and took some of the sting out of the impact?

Bill Czajkowski wrote: I wonder if the broken rope acted like a screamer and took some of the sting out of the impact?

I wonder if the practitioner was a screamer when they smacked the deck and got broken.

Wait a minute... Are boulders just climbers practicing decking?  

Disclaimer: To prevent confusing boulders and rock climbers are not the same

Gumby King wrote: Wait a minute... Are boulders just climbers practicing decking?  

Disclaimer: To prevent confusing boulders and rock climbers are not the same

Boulders are just big rocks.  Boulderers on the other hand....

rockklimber wrote:

Boulders are just big rocks.  Boulderers on the other hand....

Me bold. Me bolderer.

master gumby wrote: I was climbing at the local gym when I heard a loud crack and then thud. I turned to see one climber on the ground immediately in tears and the belayer with his jaw sagging on the ground. I went over to inspect and this is what I walked up too.

Hopefully this will help prevent accidents in the future so several observations:

1. The first bolt may be too close to the ground, yes this can be more dangerous than setting a few feet higher
2. Never use an old rope
3. Thoroughly test your rope for squishy spots before climbing

Hope this helps and never forget the three rules of climbing.
1. Don't poop
2. Don't die
3. Have fun

Enjoy

4.  Dont practice factor 2 falls.  

Luckily the rope broke.  Probably saved him from a broken or dislocated femur.  The gyms are pumping out more ignorant climbers every year.  

I will chime in again as this thread is on the verge of de-railing.

There has been a response to this thread which accurately described what happened on this fateful day at the gym. I am curious what the MP community thinks it is?

Bryan wrote:

Aleks is great though.

Was great. Whoever took over the account is no where near as clever.