Factor 2 falls

I was thinking about factor twos, in the context of falling on an anchor midway up a multi pitch climb. I was curious, would it be possible/advisable to extend the belay well below the anchor to provide more rope to take the shock out of the fall? So for instance, rather than belaying a foot below the anchor, and a 6 foot fall being really rough, hanging on extended slings to like 4 feet of rope between the anchor/first piece and the belay device (assuming it's running through the belayer, not in guide mode, or if so, attached via a piece of pro to some point a few feet below the anchor - you could leave in your last piece from the prior pitch if it's the right distance). This way the fall is like a factor 1.2. You obviously wouldn't do this often cause it seems like a PITA to set up, but for, i.e. pitch two of Directissima where the crux is right off the belay, would it be an option?

That is an option, but usually the belay ledge and anchor location dictate where you'll stand. So there could be a nice stance, but you could choose to hang two feet below it to reduce the fall factor.

Yes. Can be useful. Not a new concept.

Another strategy that can work some places it for the leader to lead past the anchor and place the Jesus piece then downclimb/lower to the belay anchor so next lead already has the first bomber piece in place.

Folks do it all the time

Its useful on slab where the first bolt can be quite runnout

;)

Jon Frisby wrote:hanging on extended slings to like 4 feet of rope between the anchor/first piece and the belay device (assuming it's running through the belayer, not in guide mode, or if so, attached via a piece of pro to some point a few feet below the anchor - you could leave in your last piece from the prior pitch if it's the right distance).

Jon,
a very common solution of steep bolted routes, e.g. Verdon.

It is sometimes called a chariot belay.

Sweet - thanks for the responses everyone. Em, you're right, not sure exactly what I was thinking

Although I apply the hanging belayer approach on occasion, of the three main approaches to avoid the possibility of an FF2 or minimize its impact, it’s the one I like least. That's mainly because it uses up rope that may be needed for the next pitch and because of the annoyance of doing a hanging belay below a decent belay stance. Of course, like the other approaches, there are circumstances in which this one will not work (eg with a wide belay ledge). The other two approaches are 1) clipping the first progression anchor of the next pitch at the end of the previous one (as described by Mountainhick) and 2) using the double rope technique to have a secure belay on one while clipping the other at arm’s length (when climbing with a single rope, I get my belayer to use a short length of dynamic 8mm rope to apply this approach to the first few metres of the pitch).