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Why do so many people grab the rope when they fall?
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One of the things I learned in my lead climbing class as to NEVER grab the rope when you fall. There is a chance that you could cut a whole finger off, and I’ve read an AAC article where that precisely happened. So why do I see so many whippers online, even from pro climbers, who grab the rope when they fall? Is the chance of a finger getting cut off that low to not worry about it? |
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natural reaction |
Allen Sanderson wrote: I suspect it is not so much about whether to grab the rope but when. “Natural reaction” may merely be too soon. Perhaps some pro climbers will chime in, or at least those practiced at the art - not me. |
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I've seen lots of people arrest falls by grabbing the belay side of the rope. There has to be a piece of pro at waist level or higher for that to be realistic. Is arresting a fall that way safer than just falling? Drumroll... It depends. In my opinion, once you have any significant momentum downward you are best off not grabbing at gear or the rope. It's an invitation for pulling a trigger wire and/or wrecking a hand/elbow/shoulder. If you DO NOT have significant downward momentum yet and you can grab a sling, dogbone, or the rope to avoid a nasty fall (let's say you are above a ledge) then I think it's probably worth doing that. This is intuitive at the time. |
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There is no benefit to grabbing the rope in any situation. Always better to have your hands out of the way, letting the rope and harness do their job. It's a natural reaction and most people don't bother to unlearn it. |
Scott D wrote: This brings up an interesting point. Are we talking about a) grabbing the rope somewhere below the first piece of pro to self-arrest the leader’s fall or b) grabbing the rope a bit out from where it is tied to the leader to add stability as the fall nears its end? My earlier post assumed this was strictly about ‘b’. Maybe Olek will post a video or picture of a pro climber doing 'a', though I doubt it.
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Cuz I was scared. After a couple of sore fingers I quit. |
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Yeah natural reaction. It is indeed pointless (and maybe you could get hurt). Similarly, I get a little amused when I see people holding onto the rope while being lowered. Also natural reaction to try to grab something when being up in the air I guess. |
Olek Chmura wrote: Fear. |
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Lack of trust in belayer |
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sometimes if I'm trying a hard move right off the bolt and I fall, I'll grab the rope just so I don't fall as far and have to pull back up to the bolt. Bad thing to do as a habit, but it isn't a huge deal when done thoughtfully |
Franck Vee wrote: Practicing hands free while being lowered might be a good way to train for it when falling. |
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On steep stuff I'll grab it so I'm braced a bit better when I swing in towards the wall, kind of a tripod effect. |
Nathan Doyle wrote: When being lowered, I hold the rope cause it helps keep me upright without using as much core tension. Unfortunately I think this led me to the habit of also grabbing the rope when falling on lead. Hard to change the muscle memory. |
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It’s a pure natural reaction. I bet if you were to film all those saying don’t do it or say it’s something new climbers do, 90% of those saying don’t do it would unconsciously be grabbing the rope. It’s not advisable but it’s also not the end of the world if you do grab it. When I say grab the rope I’m talking about the few feet coming off your harness not grabbing the rope trying to arrest your fall. |
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So they don’t flip over… |
Rob Cotter wrote: Well don't put your leg behind the rope... We are all guilty of it at some point but if that's the reason someone automatically grabs the rope they other issues to work out. |
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Rope grab is a natural tendency when we are about to fall. |
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Grabbing is a natural, instinctive reaction. A couple of years ago our country was shocked by an accident in which an electrical multi (8+) person scooter was hit by a train. They were used by daycares a lot to move kids to and from outings. None of the kids survived. The person driving the scooter was not drunk, did have the valid documentation to drive the vehicle, etc. They might have driven it a bit too close to the crossing and panicked. But the design of the scooter (taken off the road after this accident and now updated) did not take into account that our first instinctive reaction when panicking is to grab - anything really. Its brakes and gas controls were counterintuitive and it did not have a dead man's switch. They grabbed unto the gas handle, where, logically, no gas handle should have been. So when you grab a rope while falling you're instinctively doing something that you start doing when you're just a baby - grabbing onto anything for safety. Such muscle memory is hard to unlearn when you're an adult. |
Rob Cotter wrote: The harness tie-in is the fulcrum. Grabbing the rope above the harness, where most people grab, won't change that. You would have to grab the rope well above your harness, probably above your head with arms extended, to make any difference with regard to flipping over. Doubters can do this: Hang on the rope while wearing a heavy backpack and see if grabbing the rope in front of you prevents flipping back. |
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A sincere question..how grabbing the rope/figure 8 next to your harness will hurt the fingers? |
