50 Ways to Flail

Here are some all-too-common climbing mistakes that could kill, hurt, beat, or delay you—or at least ruin your image. And, of course, how to prevent them.

I’ve been climbing for more than 15 years, and the mistakes I’ve made cover the gamut. My knot came partly untied while I was climbing at Joshua Tree; I’ve threaded my belay device backward; partway up El Capitan, my partner once completely unclipped me from a belay. Worst, I dropped a dear friend while lowering him off a sport climb in Rifle with a too-short rope. (Fortunately, he wasn’t seriously injured.) If you’re lucky, like I’ve been, your mistakes result in close calls that help keep you vigilant. If you’re not, the results can be tragic.

Not all errors in climbing are deadly— some may just sour your own or other climbers’ experiences. But if you never learn from your screw-ups—and other people’s—you’ll be slower to improve. In climbing, as in life, bad experiences are the foundation of good judgment. With this in mind, we’ve assembled 50 of the most common mistakes made by climbers everywhere—and suggested how to avoid them—in hopes of speeding your journey toward being a safer, smarter climber.

Take the whip, take the whip!—ooh, but not like that... See mistake number 6. Photos by Andy Mann

NEVER-EVER MISTAKES

1. Not double-checking your belay and knots
If you’re belaying, make sure the rope is threaded correctly through the belay device and that the locking carabiners in the system are actually locked. If you’re the climber, double-check your knot. Is it tied correctly? Is it tightened? Threaded through the harness correctly? Is the tail long enough? Check your partner’s knot, too.

REAL LIFE: One famous double-check mistake was Lynn Hill’s accident in Buoux, France, in 1989. When Hill—already a 5.13 climber at the time—weighted the rope at the top of a warm-up climb, her unfinished knot zipped through her harness. She fell 75 feet to the ground but survived. Hill says she got distracted by a conversation and forgot to finish the knot; a bulky pullover hid the error.

2. Not wearing a helmet
Trad climbers wear helmets much more often than sport climbers, but why? You can deck, slam the wall, or flip upside down in sport climbing, and loose rock is always a hazard. Evaluate all the risks before you make a fashion-based decision not to protect your head.

3. More confidence than competence
Push yourself to become a better climber, but understand the risks and assess your ability to mitigate them. The American Alpine Club rates “exceeding abilities” as one of the top causes of accidents.

4. Careless belaying
There are many ways to screw up when belaying. In multi-pitch climbing, slack in your tie-in or an unreliable redirect piece can result in dangerous shock loads. When belaying on the ground, taking your brake hand off the rope (even with an assisted braking device) can quickly lead to a dangerous fall. Another common mistake is standing too far away from the cliff when lead belaying— it’s easy to get dragged across the ground when the climber falls. A big loop of slack lying in the dirt is the lazy, incorrect way to give a “soft catch” belay. Finally, save the crag chat until your climber is safely back on the ground.

5. Failing to knot the end of the rope
You can endlessly debate how to equalize a three-piece anchor, but it’s more common to get seriously hurt being lowered on a sport climb than having an anchor fail on a trad route. If you’re belaying a single-pitch route, tie a knot in the end of the rope, tie it to the rope bag, or tie it yourself. Do it out of habit, not just when you think the rope might not reach. Knotting the end of the ropes is equally important when rappelling. Slipping off the ends of rappel ropes is tragically common, even among very experienced climbers.

REAL LIFE: In 2007, Lara Kellog, an experienced mountaineer, rappelled off the end of her rope while retreating from the Northeast Buttress of Mt. Wake in Alaska’s Ruth Gorge. She was killed after falling about 1,000 feet.