Safety In Practice
Added Safety Steps versus Saving Time
It's true, the Clubhouse climbing walls are very different than big multipitch or alpine walls, so some of the extra little safety things we teach seem unnecessary there, because many of them are unnecessary there. You'll notice that's true at some crags too. For example, tying stopper-knots in the end of rappel ropes feels unnecessary at the Clubhouse, because the walls are straight down and fairly short, allowing you to easily see both ends of your rope clearly on the ground, each with plenty of rope-length on the ground to spare. Of course, you understand why knots in the end of ropes are important in other situations, and you tell yourself: "When I'm in that other situation, then I'll put the knots in, but for now I'll save the time and skip 'em." That would be great if it worked, but unfortunately our human nature is working against us. We humans are forgetful creatures, especially when we have other things on our minds. Our default is to do things exactly like we practiced, even if the situation calls for something different. It may be worth doing all the "unnecessary" safety steps every time while practicing at the Clubhouse, so that they're second nature in the situations where they do matter.
Also, about being speedy and saving time: In the alpine, "Speed is safety," and your success is closely tied to your ability to get things done quickly, in every aspect of the climb. In contrast, at the clubhouse, time is relatively cheap. If it takes you twice as long to get something done at the clubhouse, so what? No harm done. In the alpine, I'd strongly encourage you to take the time for every extra safety step, especially if you're rushed or short on time. That's when accidents happen. I'd rather risk being benighted than risk rapping off the end of my rope. (One I'd probably survive, and one I probably wouldn't.) Even if an accident happens that doesn't involve any bodily harm, I guarantee it will introduce a delay that's an order of magnitude larger than the time saved by whatever ounce of prevention you skipped. So, I encourage you to practice all the extra safety steps while at the clubhouse, where you've got the time to spare. If you do them 100% of the time without exception, then they become part of your routine, and you are fast & fluid at doing all of them when it matters.
Here's an experience of mine: Once I was at an eval for Basic students who needed to demonstrate crevasse rescue. While double-checking the students' harness buckles & knots before the scenario, I pointed out to one girl that her waist-prusik was clipped to a locker on one of her front gear loops, not her belay loop. She said "Yes, yes, I know, I keep it there to reduce clutter on the belay loop, and move it over to the belay loop if & when I actually need to prusik." Since I try to be open to other variations, and what she described was equally safe, I said okay, and had them get started on the scenario. When it was her turn to be the end person, she slid her prusik along some 40 feet of rope to reach the middle person who was still in self-arrest, with her prusik still clipped to her gear loop. I pointed it out to her, and she was super embarrassed. She was so used to clipping it to her gear loop that when there was even a little pressure, and other things to think about, she forgot to do anything differently, and just kept setting things up like she had always practiced. Later I made her repeat the whole scenario correctly before passing her.
For more thoughts on good-habits you can develop to increase safety, this article has a lot of good points too: http://www.climbing.com/news/50-ways-to-flail/
It's true, the Clubhouse climbing walls are very different than big multipitch or alpine walls, so some of the extra little safety things we teach seem unnecessary there, because many of them are unnecessary there. You'll notice that's true at some crags too. For example, tying stopper-knots in the end of rappel ropes feels unnecessary at the Clubhouse, because the walls are straight down and fairly short, allowing you to easily see both ends of your rope clearly on the ground, each with plenty of rope-length on the ground to spare. Of course, you understand why knots in the end of ropes are important in other situations, and you tell yourself: "When I'm in that other situation, then I'll put the knots in, but for now I'll save the time and skip 'em." That would be great if it worked, but unfortunately our human nature is working against us. We humans are forgetful creatures, especially when we have other things on our minds. Our default is to do things exactly like we practiced, even if the situation calls for something different. It may be worth doing all the "unnecessary" safety steps every time while practicing at the Clubhouse, so that they're second nature in the situations where they do matter.
Also, about being speedy and saving time: In the alpine, "Speed is safety," and your success is closely tied to your ability to get things done quickly, in every aspect of the climb. In contrast, at the clubhouse, time is relatively cheap. If it takes you twice as long to get something done at the clubhouse, so what? No harm done. In the alpine, I'd strongly encourage you to take the time for every extra safety step, especially if you're rushed or short on time. That's when accidents happen. I'd rather risk being benighted than risk rapping off the end of my rope. (One I'd probably survive, and one I probably wouldn't.) Even if an accident happens that doesn't involve any bodily harm, I guarantee it will introduce a delay that's an order of magnitude larger than the time saved by whatever ounce of prevention you skipped. So, I encourage you to practice all the extra safety steps while at the clubhouse, where you've got the time to spare. If you do them 100% of the time without exception, then they become part of your routine, and you are fast & fluid at doing all of them when it matters.
- Tie stopper-knots in both ends of your rope when setting up every rappel. (A figure-8 is NOT an appropriate stopper knot for a loose rope end, use a double or triple fisherman's knot.)
- When leading single-pitch, make sure there's a knot in the opposite end of the rope so it can't pass through the belay device when lowering.
- Test before you trust. Before you say "Off belay," ask for "Slack," sit back and actually test whatever anchor will be holding you, then say "Off belay."
- When doing any rappel, make sure you've tested that rappel with your full body weight before unclipping your PA, verifying that your PA is slack & floppy when you do so.
- Add an autoblock to your rappel so that if you loose control for any multitude of reasons, or if you happen to miss clipping one of the ropes pushed through your rappel device, the system defaults to you stopping rather than you plummeting.
- At the bottom of a rappel, touch your fingers to your PA carabiner for a second to remind yourself that you would clip in to the next anchor before coming off rappel.
- To prevent a Fall Factor 1 or greater fall on to your PA, make sure it's always clipped above waist level, and it's clipped at a distance that keeps it short, not a big drooping U of material.
- Put your helmet on before anything else.
- While belaying, imagine where any loose rock, dropped gear, or broken ice would land. Stand off to the side.
- Keep climbing commands short, with as few words as possible. On most real-world routes, you'll barely be able to hear your other climber, so the response to too many words will often be "Repeat!"
Here's an experience of mine: Once I was at an eval for Basic students who needed to demonstrate crevasse rescue. While double-checking the students' harness buckles & knots before the scenario, I pointed out to one girl that her waist-prusik was clipped to a locker on one of her front gear loops, not her belay loop. She said "Yes, yes, I know, I keep it there to reduce clutter on the belay loop, and move it over to the belay loop if & when I actually need to prusik." Since I try to be open to other variations, and what she described was equally safe, I said okay, and had them get started on the scenario. When it was her turn to be the end person, she slid her prusik along some 40 feet of rope to reach the middle person who was still in self-arrest, with her prusik still clipped to her gear loop. I pointed it out to her, and she was super embarrassed. She was so used to clipping it to her gear loop that when there was even a little pressure, and other things to think about, she forgot to do anything differently, and just kept setting things up like she had always practiced. Later I made her repeat the whole scenario correctly before passing her.
For more thoughts on good-habits you can develop to increase safety, this article has a lot of good points too: http://www.climbing.com/news/50-ways-to-flail/
Top picture: Sherrie rappelling Solar Slab in Red Rocks, 10/11/2015