Friends Don't Let Friends Shortrope
Article Table of Contents
The first in a series about how to be a better belayer.
Short rope #
[shawrt-rohp] verb The act of not giving sufficient rope to your climber.
Getting short roped is bad.
It’s not necessarily dangerous, nor does it cause you to take a whip (it can, of course) but the real reason it’s bad is because it convinces your subconscious that you’re climbing with an untrustworthy belayer.
The reasoning is simple - if you’re getting short roped, your belayer is either not paying attention, or not technically proficient. It’s not just annoying, it’s counter-productive.
It would be unwise to push yourself when climbing with an inattentive or unskilled belayer.
The good news is this: if your belayer actually wants to stop short roping you, there is an easy fix. (If your belayer doesn’t care about short roping you, stop climbing with them. Seriously.)
First, when the climber is clipping, the belayer should step in towards the first bolt as they feed out slack
This simple action resolves most instances of short roping.
Second, when the climber is clipping, the belayer needs to feed out a full arm length of slack without coming out of the break position.