Worst First Date Stories

I'm sure everyone has one. What was the worst climbing experience you've ever had with a new partner?

One partner I met on MP onsighted my proj.

Daniel Chode Riderwrote:

One partner I met on MP onsighted my proj.

Yeah, those mom's can be brutally mean.

I was shaking out on a thank god jug about 60ft. up. Glanced down to see my new partner had taken me off belay to give his dog some water. You looked solid was all he said.

Old lady Hwrote:

Yeah, those mom's can be brutally mean.

*moms

Parachute Adamswrote:

I was shaking out on a thank god jug about 60ft. up. Glanced down to see my new partner had taken me off belay to give his dog some water. You looked solid was all he said.

My hands got sweaty just reading this.

Met a person in Mexico to climb with.  Failed to truly vet their skillset.  We set off to the base of a 6 pitch moderate.  First pitch goes ok...I am leading everything because said partner is not comfortable leading just yet at that level.  I was assured they had been up many multipitch climbs in the past.  We make it to pitch 4 and they are pulling loops of the stack on their lap in the hanging belay and somehow get a loop crossed behind and it has created a know in the middle of the rope.  I feel the rope come tight as I am attempting to pull through the crux of the whole climb.  I am stemmed in to an almost full split when they relay the message that there is a knot.  I am fully aware of how a knot could theoretically get in the middle of a rope but perplexed at how it actually happened.  They ask if I am in a good spot as I am hanging a draw a little above my head in preparation to hang while they figure it out.  I'm not yet clipped in and I look a pitch and a half straight down and see that I am TOTALLY off belay as in the rope is OUT of the grigri.  I quickly grab on to the draw and tie in.  I ask if I am off belay and they casually say yes...that they thought I said I was safe.   After a bit of coaching on how to handle the knot we get it sorted out and finish the last three pitches linked in to one and rap down.  

I now thoroughly vet any potential future partners.

Moffatt Pwrote:

Met a person in Mexico to climb with.  Failed to truly vet their skillset.  We set off to the base of a 6 pitch moderate.  First pitch goes ok...I am leading everything because said partner is not comfortable leading just yet at that level.  I was assured they had been up many multipitch climbs in the past.  We make it to pitch 4 and they are pulling loops of the stack on their lap in the hanging belay and somehow get a loop crossed behind and it has created a know in the middle of the rope.  I feel the rope come tight as I am attempting to pull through the crux of the whole climb.  I am stemmed in to an almost full split when they relay the message that there is a knot.  I am fully aware of how a knot could theoretically get in the middle of a rope but perplexed at how it actually happened.  They ask if I am in a good spot as I am hanging a draw a little above my head in preparation to hang while they figure it out.  I'm not yet clipped in and I look a pitch and a half straight down and see that I am TOTALLY off belay as in the rope is OUT of the grigri.  I quickly grab on to the draw and tie in.  I ask if I am off belay and they casually say yes...that they thought I said I was safe.   After a bit of coaching on how to handle the knot we get it sorted out and finish the last three pitches linked in to one and rap down.  

I now thoroughly vet any potential future partners.

jfc

Moffatt Pwrote:

Met a person in Mexico to climb with.  Failed to truly vet their skillset.  We set off to the base of a 6 pitch moderate.  First pitch goes ok...I am leading everything because said partner is not comfortable leading just yet at that level.  I was assured they had been up many multipitch climbs in the past.  We make it to pitch 4 and they are pulling loops of the stack on their lap in the hanging belay and somehow get a loop crossed behind and it has created a know in the middle of the rope.  I feel the rope come tight as I am attempting to pull through the crux of the whole climb.  I am stemmed in to an almost full split when they relay the message that there is a knot.  I am fully aware of how a knot could theoretically get in the middle of a rope but perplexed at how it actually happened.  They ask if I am in a good spot as I am hanging a draw a little above my head in preparation to hang while they figure it out.  I'm not yet clipped in and I look a pitch and a half straight down and see that I am TOTALLY off belay as in the rope is OUT of the grigri.  I quickly grab on to the draw and tie in.  I ask if I am off belay and they casually say yes...that they thought I said I was safe.   After a bit of coaching on how to handle the knot we get it sorted out and finish the last three pitches linked in to one and rap down.  

I now thoroughly vet any potential future partners.

I can't believe you finished the route with them. That would be game over for me. 

lead, anchor, begin to pull up rope

"am i supposed to tie in?"

Daniel Chode Riderwrote:

*moms

I think you meant moms’ since there are multiple and they all own you

Drove 6 hours with a new partner to go climbing for a weekend. Get on a 5.7/ 5.5 X. First gear is 25’ up. As I’m 20’ up I yell down “hey, watch me here…” Think I just needed some confidence after a long car ride. Guy proceeds to notably put his hands behind his back and say “No… I’m a _____ , if I hurt my hands I can’t work.” Fuck that guy.

On a lighter note and different person/different story. I met a guy at a restaurant as part of a group outing. We both needed partners the next day. Jose says he’s never climbed ice before and only climbed mixed. We end up going out. I wasn’t expecting much…. Turns out Jose climbs ice like a mofo!! Lol, I was pleasantly surprised as it was in contrast to most people who over-represent their abilities. Now to the humor…. I was feeling confident with Jose and went for a 200’ WI3. There were two anchors at the top but I needed the farther back one since we were going to walk off. I get to the first anchor and it’s all I can do to get the rope clipped with me needing to shake out and the rope stretched. When I finally compose myself I yell down that I need Jose to start climbing so that I can get 15’ to the next anchor. He yells up “Are you off belay?” (He’d already taken me off)… I respond “No, very much still wanting a belay!”. There was a clusterfuck crowd of amateurs at the base who didn’t have the knowledge to understand to STFU when climbers are communicating. Between that and nearby climbers, the guy next to me yelled he was off similarly when I hit the first anchor… Anyway, Jose had been tied in the whole time and his knot at the belay device. He really beat himself up for the mishap but I laughed it off because it there was minimal danger and I understood why it happened. I made a new friend that day and we ended up climbing together a dozen times over the next year or two.

The only person that ever shouted cross words at me on a climb (I had 500 climbs) was my soon to be wife on a climb where I yelled down to her 'look for the handhold on your right' She was reacting to my 'yelling' to her 90 feet down. What can you do?    Lee Davis

I met a guy in Humber Park who said he wanted to do Valhalla, had I done it? I told him I'd done it more than once. He introduced himself, and said was just retired Army Ranger. He looked the part; fit, steely eyes, bigger than me but agile. We went up to do it.

He went to lead the first pitch, and looked solid. Then, for no apparent reason, and with no warning, he jumped off above the second bolt. He didn't fall, he jumped. And it's not like he was at the bolt, he was leading on above it...

Not expecting such a stunt, catching him nearly broke me in half. He explained that he always tested a belayer he hadn't climbed with before, and that if I'd lower him down he'd lead it through. 

I lowered him fast, pulled the rope, and split. Getting his draws back was his problem.

About two years later I heard he got the chop in some kind of rappelling accident in the Palisades. I figured he got down a bit, pulled up a bunch of slack up through his device, and jumped, just to test the anchor.

Trevor Taylorwrote:

I think you meant moms’ since there are multiple and they all own you

It’s plural, not possessive. “Moms” is correct. 

Marc801 Cwrote:

It’s plural, not possessive. “Moms” is correct. 

Sheesh...I stand corrected six ways from Sunday.

I've not had any real "worst", all were good to excellent climbers, merely some awkward climbing meetups. Usually, that's people who didn't pay attention and assumed an old lady would have decades of climbing in. That's on them, I am very clear that I'm no great shakes as a climber. I've always been willing to meet most anyone who wants to meet up, but it's single pitch cragging, ya know? Low commitment. 

My primary experience is that I've met the people who matter the most to me, via climbing and MP. I have dear friends scattered all over, now, and oddly, not much at all for friends right here. The last needs to be worked on, I know that.

Which might include, god help me, actual dating, after more than 40 years of not being single. Yikes!!!

Yeah, I'm sure it will be hugely amusing to you people... 

Best, Helen

Old lady Hwrote:

Sheesh...I stand corrected six ways from Sunday.

Huh? It was you who correctly corrected “mom’s” to “moms”. 

Marc801 Cwrote:

Huh? It was you who correctly corrected “mom’s” to “moms”. 

Nuh uh. ;-)

I did an intro to ropes class alone hoping to meet a climbing partner since my friends only wanted to boulder and I wanted to get into roped climbing. 

Luckily there was another person there alone so we partnered up. During class he looked at the wall and said something like "could you imagine a woman doing this? They'd be so scared oh no, I broke a nail!"  this was particularly dumb because our instructor was a woman. 

Then he proceeded to not finish the 5.nothing because he was too scared. The instructor didn't pass him on the belay test, whispering to me that I should find a new, safer partner.

Old lady Hwrote:

Nuh uh. ;-)

Oh. Right.

Lack of coffee here……

Marc801 Cwrote:

Oh. Right.

Lack of coffee here……

Credit where credit is due, please.