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Ten Commandments of Climbing Safety Pt. 1

 Buy commandments 1-5, get one free!

These ten vital principles for keeping yourself safe while climbing will guide your preparations and decisionmaking from your first visit to a climbing gym to your first attempt on the Nose.

1. Trust your partner or stay on the ground. When you are climbing, the person belaying you – controlling your safety rope – has your life in their hands. Literally. If you are not 100% confident in the skills and general trustworthiness of your climbing partner, don’t climb.

2. If it feels bad, don’t do it. It can be hard to distinguish between pre-climb jitters and genuine mental warning bells. A friend of mine, an accomplished alpinist, has visions of gruesome accidents before every climb. Poor guy.

If you find yourself fighting premonitions of disaster, ask yourself if there’s any logical reason for foreseeing imminent danger.
•    Do you trust your partner?
•    Are you prepared for the climb and the descent?
•    Are conditions good?

The bottom line: never, ever hesitate to back off a climb if something feels wrong.

3. Wear a helmet. Helmets are as beneficial and easy to wear as seatbelts, yet many climbers choose to forgo them, greatly increasing their risk of head trauma in case of an accident. Don’t be one of those climbers.

4. When rappelling, tie a knot in the end of the rope. Experienced climbers have died after accidentally rappelling off the ends of their ropes. If you don’t want your last words to be “Oh nooooooooooo,” then make sure you always observe this simple safety precaution.

5. Know your limits. It’s good to challenge yourself – how else do people grow? Just make sure you don’t do the climbing equivalent of signing a fourth-grader up to take the SATs. You could end up in a dangerous situation.

Bonus commandment: 

Don't climb choss. Even if you're desperate for the feel of rock on your fingertips. Trust me on this one. Nothing will cure you of the desperate longing to feel rock on your fingertips faster than the feeling of rock crumbling beneath your fingertips. 

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rock ice climbing safety safe rope helmet rappelling mountains mountaineering