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"In direct" is not a climbing command, it's a status update!
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I certainly don't think it means off belay but if you toss it around enough some jamoke might take you off belay. More likly some n000bs will hear you use it on your 5.13 and then go kill themselves on a 5.10 Somehow people are learning that the in direct command is a valid part of cleaning spurt anchors and somehow that needs to change. Or perhaps not because there are too many climbers anyways... |
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JCM pretty much nails it. "In direct" should really be reserved for working a project, and should probably be discussed with your partner beforehand. Unfortunately, I've seen many people misuse it at anchors, usually by people I'd consider noobish, but not always. I think sometimes the leader gets to an anchor and is mentally frazzled, and just can't think of what to do or say, so "in direct" is what comes out. Other times I'm sure they meant "off belay" because they intended to rappel. I've even heard people say they don't like to use the standard commands because they're "boring". Climbing really could be a lot simpler and safer, but it's made up of people, and those people carry their own fears and incompetencies. |
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I must admit that I've eaten some humble pie and learned a thing or two about sport climbing in this thread. (The PAS still sucks though) |
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Last weekend the party behind us on a large wall said in direct like five times. Each time I would have said off but I knew what he meant because I was looking down and could see him but it has made me wonder where the term originated from. I can see projecting or maybe a movie or something. My wife and I use four words all day long. Off, on, slack and take. Usually we don't even speak words. Couple of simple hand signals and reading the rope for sure. Curious where the first use of the term was used. If an historian like Ducey could chime in I bet he would know. |
Ducey has passed through the veil. |
Dick Bob wrote: IMHO, "In direct" makes the most sense when followed closely by "Give me some slack (so that I can thread the anchors and be lowered)" or "Take me off belay completely." . |
S. Neoh wrote: WTF would anyone say “off” if they intended to be lowered? That’s just asking to crater. |
csproul wrote: If you intend to be lowered all you need to say is "slack", "take" and "lower" despite all the faffing you might do in the process. Never ever give your belayer a change to take you off belay if you are going to need them again. |
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FWIW, I only say "Off" if I am secure at an anchor with intent to rap or on terra firma. |
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It's news to me that folks think "In Direct" means anything other than "My harness is attached to solid pro in the wall." I find it most useful as the beginning of a sentence like. "I'm in direct if you want to move back into the wall." It can also be useful with a new partner, as in "You can relax while I untie and thread the anchor." The better I know my partner, the less I say it. |
Logan Peterson wrote: I don't know if I ever would want to send that message. It's binary - on or off. That said I guess I can fathom it in certain situations. How many of had had our belayers deal with kinks or worse knots? |
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Awesome. let them relax and lose concentration.. YGD... If you intend to lower Never Say Anything other than Slack, Take and Lower or I Am ON You which regular partners know means lower. |
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You're so right that I'm already dead, Nick. |
Logan Peterson wrote: At least you died doing what you love |
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When hanging in a piece or bolt and resting, yes I want my belayer to rest... It's just common courtesy. But I also say "I'm in hard" so my belayer knows how I really feel. |
Connor Dobson wrote: I don't find belaying to be very difficult or tiring. |
climber pat wrote: It's nice to not have to hold your partners weight when they are sussing moves for an hour or more. Projecting is not everyone's cup of tea I understand but a lot of people do it. I also go in to pieces to let my wife, who is 50 lbs lighter than me, reset in her stance after I fall. Yes belaying moderate trad in general is not very tiring, but climbing encompasses more than that. |
Connor Dobson wrote: I assume she has a grigri or similar. Holding someone's weight with such a tool is easy. Perhaps you need to use a ohm so she is not pulled off her stance. Calling in direct or on hard is not needed and adds to confusion when changing partners. At least it is not as terrible as calling off belay after clipping into an anchor and then calling to be lowered. I took the climber off and walked away the 1st time this happened to me. Fortunately I was still paying attention and prevented the accident. Sadly that group could not be educated as to the true meaning of climbing calls. |
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I just had this conversation with a new climbing partner on a multi-pitch climb the other day. "In direct" is not a command, at least not how he was using it. He arrived at the anchor and then called down, "in direct." What he really meant was that he was safely attached to the anchor and ready to be taken off belay. In that context, "in direct" is not a command because it is not eliciting a response from me, the belayer. It's superfluous and meaningless and should not be a part of multi-pitch climbing parlance, unless of course you are working/hanging on a pitch, etc... I don't care that you're "in direct," I just need to know when to take you "off belay." |
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I’d go further than Connor- if I’m belaying a projecting sport climber, and they don’t go in direct when appropriate, I’m not climbing with them again |
