Demonstration of Lead Climbing

Demonstrates the basic principles of lead climbing, including clipping, belaying, and catching falls.

This film is in no way intended to act as a substitute for competent and comprehensive instruction. Rock climbing is inherently dangerous, and it is your responsibility to get professional instruction before attempting any of these activities. This in an overview of basic concepts for informational purposes.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• climbing
• lead-climbing
• belaying

[cjdrover]

1) Rope stretch - Leader will actually fall more than twice the distance to the last draw if they are above the last draw. Increases with increasing climb height (since more rope is out).

2) Slack - No belayer is perfect. Further increases fall distance.

3) Not always above a draw - sometimes you reach up to clip a draw, then fall. Now, only slack and rope stretch contribute to fall distance.

4) Dynamic Belay - Used mostly in trad climbing, belayer allows rope to slip to reduce impact force.

[MrTerryTowel]

Fall length can be reduced by not clipping until the harness is level with the clip.

The belayer could maybe do a bit better. In the UK holding the control rope with an overhand grip is preferred. The belayer should always return his hand to a safe position. Similarly, changing hands can be done in hte safe position below the belay device rather than above it. Safe climbing.

[Northernblades]

@dizzlebrohomie Your Idea of different styles, is retarded.

different styles woudl be showing up, with a home made rope harness, balaying with either munter, or a hip belay, and tying in with a single bowline.

Like driving without a seatbelt while drunk. or dinking and smokeing while pregnent was "safe" in the 80's

/watch?v=m-FbtppVC7w

This is acceptable now.

LEARN IT.

[P3313]

@climbingninja quit hating.  it really wasn't that bad

[randomtraveller]

@dizzlebrohomie I haven't read all the comments here but the majority of the one I read are complaining about poor/potentially dangerous techniques. Letting go of the control rope is very dangerous, especially when belaying someone that's doing lead climbing... Another example is the dynamic belay, although it is much more important in trad climbing, it is also important in sport climbing to preserve the rope, reduce the impact of the fall on the climber and even sometimes avoid serious injuries

[dizzlebrohomie]

every single demo video i have ever watched always has people commenting on how bad people suck, it might be true, but at the same time people just have different styles so everyone needs to quit being haters

[Dazzar456]

Also the belayer leaving the ground. thats allways fun. :P

[nachotronics]

If you get slack to clip further up you can fall more than that. Still its never less than twice unless you use a crazy static belay technique recovering rope during the fall, which is NOT RECOMMENDED because of the stress on the climber and system.

[climbingninja]

Hmm...Breaking hand in the wrong position,bad technique in the actual belay,no dynamic belay...GOOD VIDEO!!

[cjdrover]

Exactly. Just thought it would be useful to illustrate the finer points lead falls to other viewers.

[heathenwalking]

Of course its going to be greater, I just meant it wouldn't be less. Nothing is perfect.