Weekend Whipper: Choss + Bad Belay = Groundfall
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This Weekend Whipper depicts a classic recipe for disaster. Having poorly evaluated the rock-quality of the cliff, this inexperienced trad climber starts
up a swath of stone that quickly deteriorates into crumbly choss. Despite the obvious dangers, he pushes on and places a .75 green Camalot before climbing
higher into a sea of loose holds. Eventually, the inevitable happens, and the climber pulls off a hold and goes airborne. However, his belayer is also
inexperienced, and doesn’t properly keep a brake-hand on the rope. Instead, she is startled to see the climber land firmly on the ground behind her.
When I hit the ground I didn’t realize it was her fault, explained the climber. I thought I had a grounder due to the runout or something on my part. It all happened so fast and since I thought it was my fault and because both of us were ok, I decided to keep climbing.
That’s right. Instead of throwing in the towel, he simply dusts himself off and heads back up the route.