Just another normal night of climbing with friends Matt/Kim & Joe.
Joe has been out for a long time so was a little rusty, so some refresher skills were needed for him which I gladly did.
Matt & Kim were leading with a new rope they had bought that eve. Being brand new it was stiff and hard to flake out - as I was about to belay for Joe I saw Matt struggling with it to untangle it. I went over to them and saw that the tangled mess had a fig 8 knot in it somehow, and with Kim close to the top of the wall I stepped in the help out.
I asked Matt to step into the wall to give Kim enough rope to clip into the next clip, and then to hold it there and rest on the rope whilst Matt kept the rope locked off. I then untangled the mess and made sure it was safe to continue. Kim needed reassuring that she was safe and she continued on and completed the climb.
When she was down I offered some practical skills to them and showed them how to tie off the rope so that they could better deal with this sort of situation in the future. They were very receptive and appreciated the teaching I think, and they both had a go at doing it with their own equipment. Next time we climb together I will see if they want to practise it again to confirm learning. I thought this was a natural progression for them with positive results at the end.
I went back to helping Joe out and completed a 6a route on the AB's on the first try which I wasn't expecting, so a good session all round.
Area :
The Warehouse Climbing Centre
