Red Flag Phrases

Replying to posts on MP is a red flag

Said to me this season: “Just so you know, I’ve never belayed trad. before.”

Jared Ewrote:

“I only learned one way to do things and refuse to learn or trust anything else”

Why don't you like grigri?

grug gwrote:

Why don't you like grigri?

Personally I just don’t like how it belays. I have bicep tendinitis and when it flares up it hurts to pull the rope through. The Vergo is ergonomically better for the shoulders and a superior multipitch device (objectively better in guide mode). I also use the alpine up, because of its versatility and extremely fast rappel setup (I trust it without the prussik backup). The grigri to me also feels kind of cheaply made, but I do trust it with my life when it’s in competent hands. And even sometimes when it’s not.

people can belay me with a grigri all they want, I have no problem as long as they’re not short roping me. But to say “I will only climb with people who belay me with a grigri” (a post which just went up in a certain Colorado group which spurred me to post in this thread) shows a lack of critical thinking which to me is a red flag that I don’t want to be on the wall with

ETA: pretty wild to say preferring to belay with a device other than a grigri is a red flag.  

Jared Ewrote:

Personally I just don’t like how it belays. I have bicep tendinitis and when it flares up it hurts to pull the rope through. The Vergo is ergonomically better for the shoulders and a superior multipitch device (objectively better in guide mode). I also use the alpine up, because of its versatility and extremely fast rappel setup (I trust it without the prussik backup). The grigri to me also feels kind of cheaply made, but I do trust it with my life when it’s in competent hands. And even sometimes when it’s not.

people can belay me with a grigri all they want, I have no problem as long as they’re not short roping me. But to say “I will only climb with people who belay me with a grigri” (a post which just went up in a certain Colorado group which spurred me to post in this thread) shows a lack of critical thinking which to me is a red flag that I don’t want to be on the wall with

"I only read nonfiction."

grug gwrote:

"Mega-pilot-joules-anything-else are just as safe as grigris. I just use it to be cool"

Creed Archibaldwrote:

People who call “off belay” when cleaning an anchor but all they really need is a few feet of slack. 

shouldnt have to say anything, pull up like your going to clip, do your thing, then communicate.

Big Bwrote:

shouldnt have to say anything, pull up like your going to clip, do your thing, then communicate.

Not walking off and untying is a red flag

“It took a lot of goes but I finally flashed this problem!”

No you didn’t.

“I never wear a helmet”

Climber asks to take.  Belayer, “I’m not going to take you. Just try harder.”

“I never give a soft catch, I just take in the slack.”

“Any catch you can walk away with is a soft catch”

Colonel Mustardwrote:

“It took a lot of goes but I finally flashed this problem!”

No you didn’t.

That's pretty analogous to the classic "I worked it on top rope, then FLASHED it on lead!" 

"I'm the leader." 

“If anything happens, I have my InReach.”

"No gear, no falls!"

"Seasonal On-sight"

Matt Mwrote:

"I'm the leader." 

Look at me, I’m the leader now

grug gwrote:

"No gear, no falls!"

This is a green flag 

Connor Dobsonwrote:

This is a green flag 

Yellow or orange flag.

"Tell me, Mr. Bowman, in your opinion do these men climb to prove their manhood, or is it more a matter of compensating for inferiority feelings?"