Epic Climbing Fails! 

You guys asked for more so here is probably the longest climbing fails episode I ever made. Let me know what you think!

"I just wanted to show yall how I was conceived"

first time leading and the dude goes for the big overhang, interesting choice

Did anyone notice that Pixies song playing in the gym? " With your feet in the air and your head on the ground". Pretty darn funny if you ask me.

Not sure if it matters anymore but hey that's me in the blue shorts and my dog Tank! Just clearing things up, I had just given those guys their belay test, they said they were relatively new to it but they did great with their process, commands and safety checks while climbing the route we test our climbers on which is a more vertical 5.9 (which you can see the other guy struggling to untie from. So woohoo they passed their lead test, as I was getting the third his belay card I saw them hopping on this 11b and figured they did pretty well on their test so they'll be fine, that was definitely not the case as you can see in the video. Needless to say I spent about another 45 minutes working with the belayer and his belay technique and had them lead under my supervision. As for the river stones on the ground, the gym opened originally in 1994 (making it one of the oldest gyms in the country), our company took it over in 2016/17 I believe and the river stones were the best tech they had at the time. They actually work very well in displacing force upon impact, it's like 2-3 feet deep. As for why that system is still in place? It's expensive to remove, aside from labor to get the rocks out of there it's like 15k just to have them hauled away then another bunch of $$$ to get new flooring, I'm gonna assume like 45k+? Anyway I've been working there a year, great sets, super friendly environment, and a very tight community. And while there is a front boulder that shares the same river stones for "padding" there are only ever sets of like V3 max, there is another boulder area in the back of the gym with new 12" thick fixed boulder pads like you see in newer facilities.

Broken Carabiner: 5:41 This video with an analysis is from "Weekend Whippers" from Rock and Ice. From the analysis, it seems that the carabiner was loaded off axis. In this case, the carabiner was loaded over an edge (the quicklink). Depending on the carabiner position on the edge, this can reduce the carabiner strength by 60% (Petzl). When placing quickdraws, gear, setting anchors, etc. always inspect them and make sure that loads are inline with the spine of the carabiner. Make sure that there aren't any bumps or edges in the rock or gear that can compromise the carabiner's strength. Petzl has a really good article on this topic called "Examples of Dangerous Carabiner Loading". It covers a lot of different loading scenarios. Do your own research, learn from certified instructors, stay safe, and have fun.

I can watch skateboard fails, snowboarding and skiing fails all day long but something about climbing fails fill me with anxiety

“I just wanted to show you guys how I was conceived” 😂

12:40 thats my homie on the right climbing with the lady, hes super funny and distracting. I bet that belayer was laughing at him distracted lol

Have not climbed for over a decade... saw that untied figure 8 and yelled in a second, that's a killer.

I think In the first video He didn't hurt himself because he was a champion.

Putting a draw on top of the quicklink and loading it, will definitely be a potential point of failure. Just clip in under the fixed gear.

12:55 the Pixies wanted his head on the grund and they got it😂

I like how that first dude keeps cranking as he’s falling.

4:04 So funny seeing Adam Ondra make it into a fail video just slapping onto his girlfriend. :D

14:35 The belayer not only did not pay attention at all and stood too far away from the wall, he also let the rope slip through his belaying device; otherwise he would have been pulled up by the rope at least to some degree (there was not soo much slack that he wouldn't habe been pulled up at all). As he shows no vertical movement up at all, I would assume he actually did not belay at all!

Very funny moments in this as usual. There's no way I'd tell someone to climb that overhang on their first go. Super agree about yelling at the climber about needing to clip. Kind of amazing that guy was so fearless... I'd be trying to high clip like crazy to be safe.

Looking at the crack he's lying back on he could have put in a cam for more protection.

that video with the two noobs lead climbing was at my local gym..... and yes their rock flooring (which is also around half their boulders) hurts...

Ah classic, the first-time leader belayed by the first-time belayer. What could go wrong!? Love the video format btw!

Clipping on top of the quick link can snap the carabiner as it creates a lever. Clip under the quicklink.

The guy who had his quick draw break because it was on top of quicklink happened because of the lever arm that was created by the quicklink. A carabine is designed to have the load pul strait down along the back of the carabiner, but when the load was applied during the fall it pulled the quickdraw at an angle it was not intended to. most falls generate approximately an 8Kn force on your last anchor point and in the situation described in the video could not handle that load.( I saw a video doing a brake test with this condition and the carabiner broke at about 3.7 Kn.) Always have your quickdraw or anchors under any chain or quicklink at the bolt.

The indoor ground fall fail is at Vertical Hold in San Diego... I climb there. Still have no idea why they chose loose rock as the "padding" material for the floor of a rock gym.

Learning from other people's mistakes. Thankful for the internet.

Love your videos! As a beginner i learn a lot from them. Thanks for sharing.

I know this is an older video, but when it comes to clipping a hanger with another piece of hardware on it, ALWAYS clip under the other hardware. If it’s a quick link or rap ring lift it up and clip below it. This will avoid laterally loading the spine of your draw against the link.

19:44 I remember about 6-7 years ago, a woman died in Germany because she hadn't tied the figure- 8 properly, and it slipped out when she was on top of a climbing wall (climbing toprope).

A mate of mine was climbing thunder crack at mount arapilies Australia back in the eighties. About half way up he realised that his rope was only looped through his harness. Not tied in . He managed to down climb. He also had a head full of acid at the time 🤣. I miss the old days.

There’s gold to be found with arborist’s videos.

Hi, I saw first fail some time ago, and as I remember, the fall started because rope was wet from some point (rest was under overhang, held closer to the rock by that daisychain) so the grigri sliped a bit and as you said guy panic-gripped grigri handle.

Have you ever tried out the firefly? I’ve got one, and it works awesome! One problem I have with it, is that I don’t like the idea of rappelling off one bolt when cleaning the route if you can’t finish it. I was thinking of an idea of rappelling down to the next bolt, firefly the top bolt, and reinstall the firefly on the next draw and repeat until you get to the ground. You have any experience with the firefly?

Thank god the indoor climber had a mask on. The risk of death from covid is much greater than from decking. 💀

I love your fall analysis videos! Basically I spend all my time between bursts of laughters and FMR screaming which is funny to watch by itself, I would say. "This guy has a serious case of jaundice" :-) :-) :-) It killed me.

Awesome video! Thanks for the taz2! I'll be getting a lot more sweet beta climbers gear in the future!

Dude I was like WHY AM I SEEING THIS I JUST WANTED MILD BLOOD at the prank clip lol

Saw a guy fall at an indoor gym because the belay jocky (employee) didn't finish the figure 8. He fell 30 feet and was awarded a $100,000 settlement. The employee got fired and kicked out of his nursing degree program 😳

Im going to have nightmares about that 3 point anchor

Love your little Iggy at the very beginning! I have a couple and love them to death. Some scary stuff you showed us. My rope work is mainly underground but if I'm not rigging the anchor, then I'm keeping an eagle eye on whoever is. I can't believe the number of people who will clip into a rope an go over an edge without every even looking at the anchor. Even if you aren't the rigger, you should know what constitutes a safe anchor!

Back clipping can also be a climbing fail, haven’t seen that yet! :) I think it’s possible to clip screwbolts wrong to. Quickdraws can flip out from the bolt but not the rope. Would be interesting to se!!

No idea how I ended up on this video, but I can't stop stairing at this dudes hat.

First pic. That blue rope looks like it's going through and adjustable harness, bridge rope. Looks,almost exactly like my petals adjustable bridge.

That "figure-8 not-quite-follow-through" is gonna give me nightmares.

New here. Listening to him talk about the technical stuff sounds foreign but I’m loving it

@10:35, @BetaClimbers, too true! In the Army, I was a qualified rappelling instructor and the 1 thing they taught me, since all we used was an old style D ring and a tied Swiss seat, was INSPECT YOUR EQUIPMENT, TRUST YOUR EQUIPMENT BUT ALWAYS INSPECT IT. @15:15, that could be a somewhat old video. I remember older gyms used to have recycled rubber floors (chewed tires), this could just be gym padding. That last figure 8: wow! Didn’t even get thru the first loop around. Phew!

my friend took 3 falls with a 8-knot like that, we only noticed that after I lowered him down, we were shocked and grateful because he was up high!! check your knots fellas!! and btw: I am trusting 8 knot much more after seeing this :)

Rope swing is in Moab, the anchor is 100ft above that your rap from. Climber ran in the direction of the anchor above him putting slack into the system. In this location you have to make sure you tighten the system from where you jump from.

The great indoors - hahahaha perfect

Climbers are some of the funniest ppl ever

that 3 point anchor was fked, top fails, left fails as you said, right on its own straight onto the sharp edge

First dude. Anchor was redundant, but had Extension. SRENE = Solid, Redundant, Equalized. No Extension.

Easy solution to broken carabiner clipped on top of the quicklink. Just clip under the quicklink. The biner most likely broke because the quicklink put tye carabiner in a position where it was loaded over and edge. Or it caused the gate to open which made the carabiner much weaker. And if the climber clipped with the gate facing towards the direction of fall and the gate was open then the rope would more likely load the carabiner away from the spine and closer to the nose which creates a lever arm which would make the carabiner much weaker. Better solution would be to clip the quickdraw under the quicklink with the gate facing away from the direction of fall

Best Saturday morning show out there!

The tri-anchor also looks like the PAS is cross loaded on the gate.

That rope swing is super popular and safe. They didn’t take in enough slack, and jumped on it

Its called a mallion. Decieving to call it a quicklink cuz theres nothing quick about it compared to a quickdraw.

Great video Josh! That clusterf*** anchor was hillarious. The first picture is a great teaching example how not to do it. That gym looked like it had small rocks as the floor, I've havent seen anything like it before. Congrats Derick on winning the Taz Lov 2!

I concur with your blooper findings. Good looking out hoss.👊🤘💪😎😎

At least two carabiners are getting side loaded in the blue cluster pic.

At 15:00 the fall needed close attention, but the belayer likely was holding the device open, since he was not even jerked at all when the climber passed below his last clip. Luckily the fall didn't occur ten or twenty feet higher. At 19:00, it's hard to see if the anchors are adequate, because of all the clove hitches filling up the biner space, instead of cleaning it up with figure eights or even more useful, butterfly knots that provide easily adjustable loops. The top piece could be bombproof, but is out of sight.

commenting because more people need to see these videos

Love it and keep them coming. You crack me up almost every video!!

That rope swing looked like it's going to lead to that outcome even with a static rope, looking at the angle it's going up from the climber and how close the ledge was. I wonder what the person filming it was expecting to happen... "Are you kidding me"

19:00 it´s a multipitchacor. the pieces facing down are there to keep the mainpoint fixed during leeding the next pitch. you´re right on it beeing messy (don´t know where a belaydevice will fit there..) and having only one upwardfacing piece instead of two equalised ones, though

This gym is Vertical Hold in San Diego and the floor is pretty large gravel. Crazy seeing a gym I used to climb at in your video.

The first video of falling I think the friend who is keeping the chain , lost the chain and let fall the frind

my first time leading was with a first time belayer. You gota take what you can get.

Keep em coming josh love the content

As an arbor climber, this is all stuff that I wouldn’t do. I’m essentially an aid climber, but having a TIP that sways in the wind is scary enough sometimes, let alone limb walking that same moving tree.

Underground climbing is caving. You da man

Great video . Wow . You say stick to the basics . This point is made time and time again . But people are breaking another golden safety rule. Over estimating your own capability. That was the root cause failure in all these videos. No buddy check. Improper anchors. Unfinished knots. A crazy dangerous swing with no test first . A 1st time belay er and a first time lead climber. You probably save lives with these videos. Thank you .

Another great vid! Would love to climb with ya if you're ever in the WNC/Looking Glass area

Did you happen to notice that purple anchor in the foreground was also a daisy chain, almost like a bridle?

12:27 is that vertical hold in old town San Diego?

fun fact: if you go to the laundromat late at night you can wash your quickdraws and other fabric items without taking hardware off! Warning: will be loud

I remember a young kid maybe 5 yrs ago who was an absolute beast died because he didnt put the dogbone on the carabiners of his draws, just the rubber part and he fell and died. His dad was belaying, super sad...

The indoor climber was showing off, bet he watched cliffhanger right before his epic lead.... the last picture looks like her harness is being eaten!

20:00 they were too ripped on that CBD in their hand to remember to finish tying the knot lol!

19:24 All off that system is situated like all the load is on the gate of carab. 🥳

"That's how I was conceived"

Hey love your vids. Got two things to say first of all your thumbnail says climbng fails you missed an i and second at the last fail it also looks like the unfinished knot is not even where you should tie in but on the bottom part don't really sure how to say this. But even if the knot was finished it would be in the wrong place I think. Anyways keep the climbing fails coming I love em.

@ 12:28ish.....if it's the fellas first lead, why did he pick such a hard route? Looking at the angle and the following holds, he should have been practicing on something way easier. If he was pumped by then, he was never gonna make it.

9:30 this killed Tito Traversa

14:00 100% the belay fault. You have to be extremely careful/vigilant until the climber is above 4th clip. Well even after then but there is less chance he will hit the ground if he's higher.

Gravel or loose rock floors in the gym! My gym says they are safer and absorb shock from a long fall better then pads, I think they are just too cheap to pay for pads.

Second one rock spaghetti !!!!!! Scared again !!!!! Have confidence in your knowledge and gear 🤯

That gym is unfortunately my home gym! Also the fail is even worse than it seems! That dude in the back with the blue is a gym employee and it looks like they're taking the lead test while the fail is happening. That floor is all stone. The bouldering area is the same and it's not as bad as it seems. I've fallen from the top of boulders there many times and it definitely forces you to learn how to fall correctly.

true word.a airbag full of rock won't mind a bump or two.I'm 57 now,and sure don't bounce like I used to.

Tied off to the wall !!! Scared too !!!! 🤯

Drink every time you hear the word 'biner!!

Minute 15! Vertical Hold awesome gym in San Diego. The ground is polished pebbles that have been there for 200 years. Love that cave hahahahahah

Hi! I like your channel! I started indoor rock climbing 4 years ago when my mid life crisis hit me! I loved it from the moment I went up the wall and haven't stopped climbing since. My next step is to go outdoor. However I can't wrap my head around how outdoor climbing works!!! So if you did lead climbing up the wall and you come back down as you did in gym, how do you get your quick draws other equipment back?? Also, how do you belay muli pitch?? How do you climb when there is no one on the bottom to belay you?? It sounds very dumb question, but I have no knowledge!! Can you do a very basic climbing info videos? I can't find these info either on other climbing youtubers .

I swear there’s a channel for every specific genre/topic

12:07 you got me. I'm sick. I need help.

Lowering off a quicklink is definitely not optimal but seems like a nessicary risk in certain situations . The quicklink isn’t going to break under body weight and a quick visual inspection of the bolt should be fine. It’s not redundant but leaving a QuickDraw on the wall is relatively expensive and just as unsafe. I am just curious what other people think about this.

2:03 well, he proved there's a way down. There's always a way down. The question is whether there's a way to get there slow enough to walk away.

Such an interesting analysis

ight picture number one lets see how close I can get - the atc is not extended away from the repeller - the atc is also double clipped in weirdly so that it faces to the right and not forwards - only the blue rope is through the atc - I forgot what hitch its called for repelling but it looks like it might be wrong

Thanks thanks thanks ! I am french and try to understand everything ,it is not easy …but I want to watch all your videos .(one day maybe they wii be some translations ..) GOOD JOB !

I love your video.

the second clip is adam ondra btw