Rock Climbing is a serious and dangerous adventure sports if not taken safety into proper consideration. You need to comply with 100% safety practice to mitigate the effects of gravity and falling. Otherwise DO NOT CLIMB. Redundancy is Mandaotry everywhere. Two is the safety key. Always back-up every important piece of gear with another piece of gear everywhere and use more than one anchor at a belay and rappel station. Your life depends on your gears so always get one that is well tested and certified from a reliable brand.
Beginner climbers are most vulnerable to accidents because of their inadequate experience with gravity. Always go with an experienced climber to outdoors. Use sound judgment and dont neglect the safety methods even if its a small climb; respect climbing dangers; don’t climb over your head; find an experienced mentor or take climbing lessons from an experienced guide to learn how to climb safely.
Remember that most accidents happen because of climber error.
Top 10 safety tips to keep you safe while rock climbing.
1. Check your Safety harness, Check your belayer’s safety harness.
As a climber, it is your responsibility to check your safety harness and your belayer’s safety harness, because you are tied to the other end of the rope with your belayer.
Make sure the legs loop and waist loop is tightened properly.
2. Check your knots.
Make sure the rope end is properly tied using a figure 8 knot. Check the knot and make sure its proper.
3. Check your belay device and carabiners
If you are using belay device, make sure it is connected to the rope properly. If you are using a carabiner, make sure that carabiner are locking type and properly locked.
4. Always wear a helmet while climbing outdoors.
Always wear a helmet. HELMETS ARE NOT OPTIONAL! A climbing helmet is essential if you want to live long and prosper. Always wear one when climbing or belaying. Helmets protect your head from falling rocks and from the impact of falling. Remember that your head is soft and the rock is hard. Head injuries from falls and rockfall are serious life-changing events. A helmet keeps your head safe.
5. Check your rope. Before and after use.
There are two types of ropes. Static ropes and dynamic ropes. Static ropes are non elastic type which is mainly used for rappelling/abseiling. The dynamic ropes are bit stretchable like elastic and it can absorb shock to a great extend when the climber is falling. Always use the right type of rope and check you rope for any deformations or defects. It is always a good idea to have extra length on the ropes and make sure to put end knots on the belayer side and rappelling tail end to avoid dropping on to ground.
6. Always pay attention to climber.
When you’re belaying, always pay attention to the climber. Specially while lead climbing, lead climber is the one taking the risks of a fall and leading the route. It is smart to never visit with other climbers at the base, talk on a cell phone, or discipline your dog or kids while you are belaying. Never take the lead climber off belay unless you are absolutely certain that he is tied into the anchors and safe and he communicates clearly with climbing commands to you that he is safe and ready to lower or rappel.
7. Bring all the gears.
While going for an outdoor climbing it is always the best practice to take all the possible required gears with you. Do not rely strictly on a guidebook to tell you what to bring. If it is a sports climbing route, verify visually how many bolts need quickdraws. If in doubt, always bring a couple more quickdraws than you think you need. Take a few extra slings and carabiners with you.
Our best practice is to keep all the climbing gears numbered and packed as a set. So that it will be very easy to pack and unpack and also it will help you to make sure that you are not leaving anything behind.
Leaving some gears behind will make you do stupid stuff and make shift gears when those are required, which is extremely dangerous.
Make a inventory list of the available gears and its manufacturing dates. It will help you to monitor the usage and oldness of the equipment and gears.
8. Keep the rope away from legs.
You have to make sure that the rope is not tangled with your legs or between your legs while you are climbing as well as while you are belaying. If you fall with the rope in this position, you will flip upside down and hit your head. Wear a climbing helmet for protection.
9. Proper clipping of ropes.
While using ropes with carabiners and quickdraws, make sure you are clipping it properly. Do not back clip your quick draw. Avoid back clipping, where the rope runs front to back rather than back to front in the carabiner. Make sure the carabiner gate faces opposite to your direction of travel, otherwise the rope can come unclipped. Use locking carabiners where there is lots of movements and anchor positions.
10. Check your anchor bolts
At the top of a pitch or route, there is always anchor bolts. These are designed to stay for years once it is properly fixed. It is mandatory to use at least two anchors coupled together as a redundancy. Three is even better. Redundancy keeps you alive.
Check the anchor bolts for any loose rust or bends or cracks. There are engineered to stay for many years. But may be due to climate conditions there are chances that these are not in good shape. Check the place where it is bolted to. Make sure the bolt is on solid rock. make sure the two bolts are tied together securely.
On a sports route, always use locking carabiners if you are lowering down to top-rope climb off the anchors.
