101 Ways to Stay Alive Top Roping

101 Ways to Stay Alive Top Roping If done correctly, top roping is one of the safer methods of climbing, but there are still many dangers.

Safeguards you should know...	What Can Happen...
Be extra careful when setting up the anchor.	You scramble up the back side of the cliff to setup the anchor. While approaching the anchor, you trip and fall to your death. I think this is the most common top roping accident.
Anchor yourself to something (rock, tree, bolt) when setting up the anchor. An extra long sling or cordolette may be useful. For many popular top roping climbs, there may be a bolt set 10 feet back from the edge of the cliff just for this purpose.	You trip and fall while setting up the anchor.
Double back your harness	Your harness is not secure and will come undone.
Make sure your belayer's harness is doubled back	Your belayers harness is not secure and will come undone.
Have someone belay you from above while you are setting up the anchor.	You trip and fall while setting up the anchor.
Make sure your belayer is properly trained	Your belayer literally holds your life in their hands. If they make a mistake, you will fall to your death.
Make sure you have learned how to top rope from a professional	You make a mistake. Go take a class at a local climbing gym.
Have your belayer practice catching you before you leave the ground.	Your belayer drops you.
Make sure your belayer threads the rope through their belay device	While half way up the climb you fall and your belayer is unable to catch you.
Thread the rope through the anchor	You are not attached to the anchor.
Thread the rope through two anchors	There is no redundancy in the system.
Make sure your belayer is clipped into a bolt/rock/tree.	While catching you, your belayer gets pulled off the ground, loses control, and drops you.
Make sure your belayer is not standing under a ledge.	While catching you, your belayer gets pulled off the ground, hits their head on the ledge, and drops you.
Have your belayer tie into their end of the rope.	If your rope is not twice as long as the climb, the rope can slip through your belayer's device when they lower you.
Tie a knot into the belayer's end of the rope.	If your rope is not twice as long as the climb, the rope can slip through your belayer's device when they lower you. The knot will prevent this.
Make sure your belayer never lets go with their belay hand	You will fall if you weight the rope.
When lowering you, have your belayer use two hands on the brake rope.	There is no redundancy in the system.
Never lower someone too fast	You may loose control.
Confirm your ropes are long enough for the toprope before setting it up	The rope slides through your belayer's device when they are lowering you and you fall.
Mark the center point on your rope	This can help your belayer determine that the rope is too short for the toprope.
Wear a helmet	Your head is not protected from falling rocks and objects, and your head is not protected if you slip
Avoid kicking loose rocks off on people below you	Brain damage
Yell "ROCK" if you do dislodge a rock.	"ROCK" is the standard climbing command yelled. Climbers below you will instinctively take cover when they hear "ROCK" (it happens a lot).
Stay in a protected area when people are toproping above you	Falling rocks and objects may hit you.
Practice toproping in a safe place before trying in out the first time at the cliff	You don't know what you are doing.
Learn to toprope from a professional instructor	You don't know what you are doing.
Never anchor to old and tattered webbing	The webbing fails
Never attach your rope directly to webbing	Your rope creates friction and melts through the webbing.
Never use a single piece of webbing as your anchor	There is no redundancy in the system.
Don't be in a hurry	You make a mistake.
Don't be complacent	You make a mistake.
Don't think that only beginners make stupid mistakes	Even the best can make a mistake. Lynn Hill forgot to finish tying into her harness. See Accident Report.
Don't be hung over	You make a mistake.
Don't be hung over and have the shakes	You loose coordination and make a mistake
Don't talk to people when you are tieing into the rope.	You get distracted and make a mistake.
Don't talk to people when you are belaying.	You get distracted and make a mistake.
Don't use a figure-8 rappel device	Very little friction.
Double check that your harness is doubled back	You make a mistake.
Double check that your partner's harness is doubled back	Your partner makes a mistake.
Know what color of webbing is on top when your harness is doubled back	You make a mistake.
Use a standard checklist to check all systems before top roping	You make a mistake.
Use a standard acronym to check all systems before toproping	You make a mistake.
Anchor to a solid object	You are not attached to the rock
Inspect an anchor that someone else has built	The anchor fails
Never attach your rappel device to a non-rated gear loop on your harness.	The rope is not attached to your harness
Avoid getting hair or loose clothing caught in your rappel device.	You fall while trying to clear the device.
Avoid using anchors that someone else setup.	The anchor fails
Never use a new piece of webbing that some varmint has chewed. Thanks, okieterry.	Assuming the webbing is ok, just because it is bright, new, and shinny.
Never use a rope recently damaged by rock fall. Thanks, wlderdude.	The rope fails.
Never use a worn out harness.	Todd Skinner, we will miss your energy and friendship.
Don't spill sulphuric acid on your rope, webbing, or harness.	I heard that sulphuric acid is the most common chemical in the world. If any amount of sulphuric acid comes into contact with your nylon equipment, it will significantly weaken the nylon and it will break.
Don't set your rope, webbing, or harness directly on driveways or roads.	There may be sulphuric acid on the pavement.
Don't store headlamp or flashlight batteries near your rope, webbing, or harness.	Sulphuric acid may leak onto your equipment.
Always make an independent measurement of your rope.	Your rope may be mis-labeled or you think it is 60 meters when it is actually 50 meters.
Know how long your rope is in feet.	Ropes are measured in meters, routes are measured in feet. You may come up short.
Don't blindly trust topo rappel measurements.	There may be a typo in your topo.

Links

Great information on the European Death Knot

Great pictures and information about rappeling

Mistakes

1938 Classic Three Men on a Rope

Lynn Hill's accident write up.

Email Randy

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