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Encouraging a mate to climb, then he gets injured 28-Jan-2010 At 10:06:46 AM bluey

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Have always wondered how I'd feel about this situation - thankfully hasn't happened to me so far.

Ultimately, it is the leader's responsibility. Sometimes I've climbed with a leader on a climb I've led before - if they ask for beta on gear or where the route goes, I'll give it but often with the disclaimer that I'm not up there so I'm only going on what I remember, ultimately they have to make the call on what looks/feels right.

I do think a belayer can give helpful analysis to the leader - e.g. your last gear is at your hip, and there's good gear coming, so have a go! But again, it's still their choice.

With encouraging them to "go for it" I don't think encouragement = telling them to do it. If a leader starts talking about backing off, I always make it clear I am totally fine with that. But if they start making the move, I'm right in there with the "yeah, nice. Looking good. Go for it!!!!"

I reckon every belayer who has had a leader get injured on their watch would wonder whether they could have minimized the damage somehow, no matter what the circumstances. I had a mate take a huge damn scary whipper once when I was belaying and even though I know I did everything right, I still wonder how I could have somehow made it less traumatic. It's natural.