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St Peters Gym accident 2-Feb-2017 At 9:49:25 PM TheBelayer

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Several years ago at a different gym I was involved in pretty much the same incident. Ground fall from near the top, I was the belayer and it's something I'm deeply ashamed of. Fortunately the climber suffered only bruising and was prepared to continue climbing with me. Something I appreciate as I don't think I could have expected anyone else to trust me at the time.
Like everyone else I like to know the cause of incidents so I can learn and avoid them so here's my side of the story.

At the time I had been climbing for a few years with the same partner who never took lead falls. I owned a fat 10.2mm rope which we used most of the time and I belayed with a Sticht plate belay device. The rope was due to be replaced and I intended to get a skinnier rope and thought it made sense to update my belay device and get an ATC which would be safer for a skinny rope. On the second session with the new ATC we were climbing on my mates 9.7mm dry treated rope. He was leading, near the top he took a fall, I failed to catch him and he decked out.

I've thought about what happened many times, possibly too many times and here's the long list of causes I came up with and how to avoid the same.

1-First and foremost I was not paying enough attention to belaying. Looking up to the climber occasionally in between checking out the next climb I intended to do.
Corrective action=Give you climber the majority if not all of your attention. Watch them most of the time. Belay glasses can help if a sore neck is an issue.

2-The ATC handles quite differently to the Sticht plate I was used to. I was caught out with how freely the rope runs through the ATC. The rope would jerk through the Sticht plate, it would lock off so positively it was nearly like an assisted device. At the time my hand was loosely enclosed around the brake rope but not actually holding it. As a result I did not realise the climber was falling until I sore him in my peripheral vision. By this time he had fallen a long way and picked up a lot of speed. Holding the brake rope like this was a bad habit I could get away with using the Sticht plate as it would not run free like the ATC does.
Corrective action=Avoid using different belay devices, if you do be especially attentive to how it might behave differently to what you are used to. Grip the brake rope in your hand, it's not enough to have it resting in your hand.

3-The rope was thinner than we usually used and combined with the dry treatment had less friction through the ATC and required more grip strength to hold.
Corrective action=Be careful when using unfamiliar ropes. If using a tube check how much friction there is through your device. For thin ropes consider using an assisted belay device.

4-The amount of drag on each wall can vary. If the climb/rope passes over a lip or around an arete creating friction there can be little force at the belayers end in a fall. The climb in question had little drag which affected my ability to hold the brake rope once I gripped the brake rope.
Corrective action=If you are not familiar with the climb assume there will be no friction to assist in braking.

Continued...............