Forgetting to clip auto belay - an interview with a survivor 

It should be written on the wall like 2-3 meters up, so you get it in your face when you started the climb: "DID YOU CLIP IN" on the autobelay walls!

Happened to me today, Stressed to the max all week. went to climb extremely focused, made it all the way to the top of the wall before i realized I wasn’t clipped in at all. with the help of luck and adrenaline I was able to scale down using other holds. it has Definitely shook me up. I would’ve never expected myself to do that. terrifying.

A few months ago I went climbing, did several routes on autobelay and then noticed an acquaintance who could belay me. So I got the rope, tied in and went for a light route in order to climb several for endurance. I completely forgot to clip and got to about 7 meters until I heard my belayer shout"Clip! CLIP!!". So I clipped and luckily nothing happened. I am overcautious, always checking knots and gear twice, this can happen to anyone. Stay safe folks!

accidents in climbing need to be talked about, when mistakes are made the outcomes can get pretty scary

Every time you use an autobelay jump off after 1m up as a safety check. It might look silly but it will save your life if you make it an ingrained habit.

I thought this was supposed to be a super serious parody video about someone that forgot to clip the autobelay to the anchor at first

I'm an experienced climber, not reckless nor accident prone, but I had a bad day too. My gym had set a bunch of bouldering problems for an upcoming competition, but had not yet taken down the surrounding auto belay routes. Bouldering is not normally my thing because I don't like the wear and tear I get on my old knees from falling off, but I tried one of the easier looking boulder problems anyway. I got it on my first try, but then instead of jumping off, or downclimbing, my brain farted and I reached for a hold on a difficult project that I had recently got wired. I continued up on autopilot, got to the top at 28 feet, and then without noticing that I wasn’t clipped in, grabbed the rope with both hands as usual, and jumped off. The rope quickly slid through my hands and burned them without slowing my fall at all. I reflexively let go of the rope, and concentrated on remaining upright and hoped not to hit the wall on the way down. I made a beautiful landing on two feet with my arms stretched overhead, but the impact happened so fast that I was unable to roll out of the landing, nor absorb the impact with my legs. I folded into a deep squat and heard a popping sound that I later learned were my lumbar vertebrae cracking and crushing. A few days in the hospital, three months in bed or walking strapped into a hard plastic back brace, four more months of getting my strength back, until I was back to climbing again. Although now sometimes when I am partway up a climb, I will have a little panic attack and have to check to make sure I am clipped or tied in. Why didn’t I downclimb from the top of the boulder problem? Why didn’t I notice that the rope was in my way on the way up? Why while I was shaking out in a rest stance, and made eye contact with some strangers on the ground didn’t they notice I wasn't clipped in? Why didn’t I notice that I wasn’t getting the usual 40 pound lift from the auto belay. I’m so glad I didn’t fall on someone.

I have no idea how this could happen, the triangle cover at the bottom and the rope must make it impossible to climb. I was always taught to double check everything before climbing so it's a habit

Your so brave to publish this honest account... Thank you for sharing what must be hard of others to recognise in themselves. We're all human and I know "it" could easily happen to me withoit my friends spotting such a mistake

That's why you make safety checks a routine you never break. Our brains are not to be trusted. I worked on a circular saw for 5 years and never had an issues. So over time i stopped pulling down the safety hood that goes over the blade. Because i knew what i was doing and always paid attention. One day, i was just about to cut a piece of wood, i was tired, already thinking about going home soon, someone behind me started swearing about something, i look back to see what was going on and without looking.. i grab my piece of wood that was lying on the running circular saw. Just that i didn't grab the wood. I grabbed into the saw and cut off my thumb. With disbelief i watched the stump where my thumb used to be and i remember how confused i was at first. How the fuck was i dumb enough to put my hand towards a running circular saw with an open protection hood WITHOUT LOOKING AT IT. I was perfectly safe and focused for 5 years. All of the sudden.. one day.. i just didn't. No idea why. Didn't even occur to me that i made a mistake until that thumb was gone. So yeah. Be a pedantic, nitpicking and annoying autist about your safety checks. Because once you think you don't need them, you are inviting accidents. And if you give them the chance, sooner or later they will crash your party.

I like to think my fearful and cautious nature keeps me alive. My routine is clip, shake, squeeze, pull and often take a small jump off at the start.

When you’re too busy watching what your mind is doing instead of using your eyes to watch what’s in front of you is the moment you’re a dangerous climber. I know in this modern world with all the distractions it’s easy to forget, and most people don’t even know they can stop watching their mind and use their senses, but the majority of belay failures happen in the moments you’re distracted by watching the tv show your mind is making rather then whats going on in the moment. If it’s not happening in front of you, it shouldn’t be happening inside of you. Just be present and safety is always easy.

Climbing has its risks but the biggest risk is carelessness on behalf of the climber or the belayer. We don’t need to change anything people just need to give this activity the seriousness it deserves. Double and triple check everything. I am 71 and have been climbing since I was 17. My only serious injury was due to lack of skill when starting to lead. The few near misses that I have had that could have been fatal were always due to my own lack of attention and failure to double and triple check my tie in or my anchor. I have had friends killed in stupid accidents - all due to their own carelessness. Stay safe everyone, wear a helmet outside and double and triple check everything.

Really cool to share this, I think we all have some example of a properly dangerous dumb thing we accidentally did, fortunately it's usually, "shit that was close". But it's rare that we're brave enough to share it! Cool that this lady isn't so proud that she keeps it to herself

I accidentally took my dog’s medicine while distracted, I honestly can see how this can happen easily. It’s terrifying.

Thanks for sharing this. This happened at the gym where I climb. The guy didn't clip in and fell from the top, the routes are maybe 30' tall. I heard a bang and then saw him bounce. His leg was broken with a compound fracture half way up his calf. I think it happens more often than we know. In Canada these accidents are not mandatory to report and gyms often don't even share this information with other gyms in the area.

This literally just happened to a close friend- she sustained serious but non life-threatening injuries and is in hospital. She was incredibly lucky

It's shockingly easy to do and it's one of my worst fears in a climbing gym. My brother got half way up an auto belay wall when his mate shouted up that he hadn't clipped in. Thankfully, he down-climbed and was ok. I think if I was fairly high I would switch myself to the easiest holds, grab the belay strap and call down for someone to unclip the line at the bottom to send it up to me. Getting sweaty palms just thinking about it.

one of the reason i love bouldering is that i know i'm never high enough to get life treatening injuries.

The gym I climb at had a history of people not clipping in and having accidents. They made changes to the belay gates. They replaced the dark blue ones with bright yellow ones to assist the climber in seeing it. They also replaced the small gates with long ones that make it very difficult to climb without clipping in.

This happened to me once. I made it about 25 feet up and fell on a hard move. Luckily the floor was a little padded and I just bounced off my butt/back and was totally fine. I think it happened because I initially was clipped in, but then realized I left my chalk bag at the base of the previous route I had climbed, so then I went to grab it and forgot to clip back in when returned. This was also made a little more awkward by the fact that I worked at the gym...

It happened to me also already but lucky i realized that i forgot to clip in half way up the wall and i could climb down again.

Same thing happened to a guy in my town some years back. He had been climbing for 25, forgot to clip in, fell and died

I imagine it's easier to do with a background of bouldering. Tying or clipping in isn't part of their normal pre-climb routine

How can this happen? Surly you’d notice the cord in front of you constantly and wouldn’t it get in your way?

Thank you so much for sharing this.

I forgot to clip in auto belay too. Someone shout to me where i was on top..... i relaised it ant freezed on top. The guy runs to me and unclip the auto belay on the bottom. i catched it and go down.... Then i went home..... It was so sick

This in flying is called the accident chain. Break one link and the accident doesn't happen. Unfortunately, many times someone doesn't know how close they came and continues the behaviors until the missing link aligns and a accident happens. I have had people give me OK at belays, which could be misunderstood adding the link. Or being taken off belay on a big ledge, being tired, and leaning over forgetting you are unclipped, adding the link. Or a habit of taking your hand off the belay, having a fall happen, being the link. There are a million ways to kill yourself climbing and most are preventable.

Few years ago , there was a horrible accident with a guy that drove his kid to kinderschool and then drove to work. He left the car on parking lot , and went inside the building. It was 30 degrees hot summer. During the lunch break he realised that his kid is still in the car. It just fell asleep on the rear seat in a baby seat and his mind was so took over by work things and other stuff that he just went straight to work , never even being close to kinderschool. Kid died. its easy to say " well, you should think , pay attention" , but i thinks its easy to say thing like that until it happens to you. Peace people. be safe. Double check yself and others.

I used to equate this with old seasoned climbers and wondered about an early signs of things like dementia or alzheimer's, but have talked to many in their twenties and thirties who failed to clip in, as well. The triangle wedges help greatly, but sometimes the autobelay does not get replaced, after being moved to access a lead start, etc. Mark Hesse, a veteran rock and alpine master who'd soloed a hard route on McKinley, died in 2014, apparently falling from the top of the gym wall with no autobelay clipped in. Everyone has to figure out their own safety mantra, for checking tie-ins, and indoors watching others can occasionally catch a mistake before the stakes get too high, no pun intended.

i did this about a month ago, fell from 20ish feet onto a soft floor and was luckily fine. Just a sore upper back and neck. Was climbing before work and pretty tired. Been climbing a ton for the last 4 years and never done it before then

Saw this happen to a guy several years ago. He was an experienced climber but he forgot to clip in and fell 30 or 40 feet onto a padded floor and broke his back. The impact was very loud.

This happened at my gym and the guy climbed the full 40 feet because all the autobelays are set easy. He let go at the top and fell 40 feet, walked away lucky with a broken ankle.

Your own complacency will kill you. I always check my harness clip before I start the climb. When I get to the top before I let go I check again. Being cautious keeps you alive.

Glad she was ok. Climbing can be a dangerous sport, if you're not paying attention. What she describes is a very rare / extreme instance of absent mindedness. Always check your knots or you're clipped in kids!

I think the exact same thing may have happened to me shattering my heel and breaking my ankle. Please say a prayer for my recovery.

It happened to me several weeks ago, fortunately I only broken my left leg. And 4 month ago I just saw a guy fell because unclip auto-belay. After my accident the another climbing gym try to use a larger cover to replace the old small triangle cover, so that it can be covering all the starting points. Additionally, they have using a auto-alarm speaker to alter people.

I climbed 30 ft up the speed wall on autobelay and was thinking about getting to the top and letting go when I realized I wasn't clipped in. I downclimbed as quick as I could and spent the next 15 minutes verbally berating myself as to how the heck I screwed that up.

It does seem like something that would be hard to have happen; but it did happen to my friend who is a very experienced climber. It is just a good reminder to double check, most accidents are just mistakes that in hindsight seem like they shouldn't have happened.

Happened to me :( I clipped belay off between reps to help some guy with his move and then went to the wall without thinkinh. I was totally pumped and wasn't thinking straight. Thankfully I was used to "flying" from other sports, therefore despite letting go off the wall in complete weird position and just relaxing before belay catches me, I somehow managed to react in time and land on my feet, almost straight. I was extremely lucky and got off with only broken heel. Always think at least once before getting on the wall!

Can someone explain exactly what happened to her? She forgot to clip in as she was climbing to the point where she fell and hit the ground?

Just started climbing a month ago and I’m actually shocked by how lenient safety protocols are for rock climbing. I worked at a resort’s attraction place and we always checked if everyone was clipped in before people started rock climbing or doing ropes course. But in rock climbing gyms, there’s no process like that. You’ll just see employees walking around not caring about anything.

I heard of someone who forgot to clip then jumped off the top and his legs went through the floor and snapped both his legs.

I hope this never happens to me but I read some other comments where people had to climb down, and I wanted to share that I always keep my lanyard on my harness even when climbing indoor. I always thought it could be useful in case of an emergency (belayer fainting, problem with the rope, or the situation discussed here). Of course, you would need to realize the mistake before falling...

Same thing happened to me then someone said I wasn’t clipped in. Thank god! I ended up climbing down half way. This could’ve been a major disaster

I love climbing but haven't been in some time. It was my first time going to any climbing place and the, beginner friendly, area was all auto belays. There was this slightly tricky route that I had been trying with the person helping for a short time. It was the last climb before the seasion time was up and began to climb it. Maybe 5 moves or so in almost over the first ball when she panicked and reminded me to that I needed to clip first. I decended back and clipped in but it was defenetly a shock. In all honesty she seemed more panicked than me but if it wasn't for her I don't know what might have happened.

This is why you need a buddy! Who constantly has your back! :)

It happened to me also one time, luckily I realized after 1 hold but it was scary as hell, as I could easily have continued the route without noticing. In my case, there was the autobelay flag yes at the beginning, but I was doing a route at the left of it, not covered exactly by the flag... The flag should be definitely larger I guess ... Well, now I always take care of that, but yeah not surprised accidents can happen, cause with routine, you forget things sometimes, it can happen to anyone.

I don't understand. Wouldn't the auto belay be in front of you? Wouldn't you have to move it to be able to start climbing?

over the years i have a couple of stories that i ve seen. two months ago a guy top roping being belayed by his sister fell 7 meters to the Ground on his side, because she didnt pay Attention and used a tube. What stuck with me the most was two idiots going to the climbing gym seing me climb on the Auto Belay, then once i got down to get a drink they went to me and asked if i can Show them how to tie the knot on the on their harness….

She said she used to climb "fearless"....big mistake.

Too many people who climb, not enough climbers.

10 weeks????????? Come on. That's not an injury.

how do u forget slmething like that

Thankyou

Knew it was her husband's fault somehow.

Free soloing above pads in a controlled environment....

I just did this 2 days ago it was really something

@2:16 "What was the impact?" ...pun intended? Yikes...

Ive never truseted those auto belays, they freak me out a bit.

My fair lady situation I can’t understand a word she is saying

Why did i watch this lol... its going to make me scared to autobelay

Bru awareness people

oops...

Im sorry but its called pay attention. Climbing is dangerous and if you're not clipping in you're not caring enough about safety period. I really dont care how busy your mind of the gym is. If you cant handle those conditions come back another day. Its a danger to you and others.

Not an informative video at all.

Speaking as someone who has had an ACTUAL climbing accident and probably lucky to have only sustained a broken Calcaneus from a 40ft whipper with one cam failure. GTFO with this. Couldnt climb for 10 weeks? I haven’t walked for 12 weeks and I can promise you the moment I am better. I will be back on the sharp end.