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Date of Incident
30/01/2020
Country
England
Area
Route
Incident
Person A was belaying person B. A is a very competent climber and belayer, and was using an standard ATC. B was at the top of the route (10m) and fell unexpectedly. I saw A not have control of the break rope and B started to fall to the ground pulling A into the wall, while the rope was continuing to flow through the belay plate. A managed to grab the break strand at the last minute and B ended up 1m from the floor. It was a very close and lucky call.
Lessons
While at an indoor climbing venue always use an assisted breaking device (Grigri or similar) as there are so many distractions it could save someone’s life in this scenario. While belaying you can not lose concentration for ANY amount of time as the climber can fall at any point.
Activity
Indoor climbing
When
Injury
No injury
Causes
Belaying failure or error
Anonymous?
Yes
Reported By
Observer
Wearing Helmets?
Rescue Services Involved?
Author
31 January 2020 at 15:30:44
For more advice and guidance on good practices visit BMC skills
All reports are self-submitted and have not been edited by the BMC in any way, so please keep an open mind regarding the lessons and causes of each incident or near-miss.