I'd Belayve it

Climbing.com publishes the Unbelayvable stories every week. Stories recounting dangerous practices observed by climbers all over the world. Generally the editor is pretty good with their analysis, but they always take the reporter at face value, and are often just trying to find issues. 


Climbing's 5 bad belayers from 2014

1. A good climber, a long way off the deck, on an easy well climbed route. In that situation, I know few belayers that don't look down and relax their neck. The climber will know this and yell if they fall, which should be unlikely if it is a well climbed line well within their limits. The hand position is inexcusable, but the angle to the first bolt is certainly manageable.

Basically depends on a number of other factors we weren't given, but I wouldn't rule out being belayed by this one.

2. Inexcusable, a hand belay for a lead fall...

3. again, no excuses... except maybe killing off gym bunnies wearing hats inside

4. When will people stop giving Gri Gris to people to cover up incompetence? At least wrap the tail around your leg, or better still hold onto it with one hand while taking the picture with the other.
That said it looks like the rope is tight, so it's possible the device is already locked, in which case the chances of it failing are very low. They usually fail to engage, not fail afterwards, but it does happen occasionally with the higher loads generated by a slackline.

5. If it's a kid up there, I think that the leather belt would be adequate, and the 5mm cord should back it up fine. Holding onto the breakline after getting hit with the belay device after the belt snaps might be a problem, but were the backup below him I'd have no issues with this set-up, and it'd be safer than several indoor setups I've seen as the backup/primary has seen a lot less wear.

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