1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,200 All right, welcome back to the largest 2 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:05,120 study on climbing falls. In the first 3 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:08,360 episode we looked how does extra slack 4 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,320 affect the fall, or more precisely does 5 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,320 falling more reduce the pendulum into 6 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:16,520 the wall and how hard the climber is 7 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:18,840 going to hit the wall. And then I showed 8 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:21,640 you the importance of soft catch and 9 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,359 what a massive difference that makes. 10 00:00:25,359 --> 00:00:28,310 And also that hard catches are not only 11 00:00:28,310 --> 00:00:30,599 the problem for heavier belayers. 12 00:00:30,599 --> 00:00:33,320 Lighter belayers often lack practice to 13 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:35,760 give soft catches since most of the time 14 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,920 they don't need, they fly up anyway but 15 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,003 in exceptional cases with enough friction... 16 00:00:42,003 --> 00:00:44,039 - My foot - What happened to your foot? 17 00:00:44,039 --> 00:00:48,000 - Well it was a hard fall. - Heavy belayer? 18 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,700 - Eh... Light belayer. Yeah. 19 00:00:50,700 --> 00:00:53,756 Yeah. And I also asked you guys 20 00:00:53,756 --> 00:00:55,320 - I'm curious, did you ever 21 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,776 got unexpectedly hard catch from a light belayer? 22 00:00:59,776 --> 00:01:01,879 And turns out this happens more 23 00:01:01,879 --> 00:01:04,370 often than I thought. 24 00:01:04,370 --> 00:01:06,040 So yeah, light or heavy, you're 25 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,119 going to love this episode because we're 26 00:01:08,119 --> 00:01:10,320 going to investigate which method of 27 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:12,920 giving soft catch is the best. We're 28 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,000 going to compare stepping forward versus 29 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,000 jumping up, and as a bonus the tube slide 30 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,119 method where the belayer lets the rope 31 00:01:21,119 --> 00:01:23,040 slide through the device, which is more 32 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,336 common in trad climbing. 33 00:01:25,336 --> 00:01:27,386 So let's begin. 34 00:01:27,386 --> 00:01:30,000 Now in the previous episode I showed you this 35 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,799 beautiful horizontal velocity graphs 36 00:01:32,799 --> 00:01:35,720 and I explained that the peak of horizontal 37 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,240 velocity is at the bottom of the 38 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:40,720 pendulum, and that is a good indicator 39 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,159 how hard the climber would meet the wall 40 00:01:44,159 --> 00:01:46,824 if the wall would not be overhanging. 41 00:01:46,824 --> 00:01:49,200 And in this test I wanted to go a step 42 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,600 further and see what happens when the 43 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:56,129 climber meets the wall. [Climber] - One, two, three 44 00:01:57,884 --> 00:01:59,840 And my idea this time was to 45 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,600 measure deceleration during the impact. 46 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,840 And in many of our test cases 47 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,840 this idea was working really well. If we 48 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,000 compare the soft catches to the hard one 49 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,650 you can see a huge spike in deceleration. 50 00:02:16,650 --> 00:02:18,800 However, after doing lots 51 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,440 and lots of more falls and analyzing the 52 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:23,840 data, I realized that the peak 53 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,996 deceleration is not always a good metric to look. 54 00:02:27,996 --> 00:02:30,708 For example, take a look at this hard catch. 55 00:02:30,708 --> 00:02:32,080 You can visually see that it 56 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,080 was much harder for the climber, but the 57 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,200 peak deceleration was nearly identical 58 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:40,645 to the soft catches before. 59 00:02:40,645 --> 00:02:46,650 So, turns out our soft bodies are incredible at absorbing impacts, 60 00:02:46,650 --> 00:02:48,400 but the problem is that it's 61 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:50,080 very difficult to measure what's 62 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,131 happening in our muscles during this impact. 63 00:02:53,131 --> 00:02:54,959 So while peak deceleration was 64 00:02:54,959 --> 00:02:57,040 interesting to look in some cases, 65 00:02:57,040 --> 00:02:59,840 horizontal velocity at the moment of 66 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:03,190 impact was a much better indicator. 67 00:03:03,190 --> 00:03:05,560 After all, all of this velocity that we are 68 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,031 about to hit the wall, will need to be absorbed 69 00:03:09,031 --> 00:03:11,021 by our soft bodies. 70 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:16,079 Okay, so let's see which method to give a soft catch is the best. 71 00:03:16,079 --> 00:03:21,271 To not kill me on the very first test we started with smaller falls 72 00:03:21,271 --> 00:03:24,200 and "jumping up" technique. And these 73 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,611 falls were extremely nice and soft. 74 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,217 [Climber] - A soft ride! 75 00:03:32,217 --> 00:03:36,100 So let's see how stepping forward will compare. 76 00:03:36,100 --> 00:03:38,657 [Climber] - One, two, three 77 00:03:39,397 --> 00:03:40,467 - This is harder. 78 00:03:40,467 --> 00:03:45,159 And the fall this time felt a little bit harder and we can also 79 00:03:45,159 --> 00:03:48,480 see that in the graphs. However overall 80 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:50,920 it was still a very soft catch. 81 00:03:51,910 --> 00:03:54,840 And the second fall was very similar. 82 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,040 Also a quick note: I was not sure 83 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,040 how much stiffer the rope gets over 84 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,640 multiple falls, and even though in this 85 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,079 video I'm presenting you all the data 86 00:04:06,079 --> 00:04:09,069 grouped by method, meaning at first I 87 00:04:09,069 --> 00:04:10,879 show you all the soft catches with 88 00:04:10,879 --> 00:04:13,480 "jumping up" method, then I show you all 89 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:15,760 the soft catches with stepping forward, 90 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,519 in reality we did alternate between the 91 00:04:18,519 --> 00:04:21,320 methods between every fall. So we did a 92 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,629 jumping up and then stepping forward, etc. 93 00:04:24,629 --> 00:04:26,600 Pointless information for most of 94 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:28,720 you, but I know that a lot of geeks are 95 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:30,919 watching my videos and they like to write 96 00:04:30,919 --> 00:04:33,202 nitpicky comments. 97 00:04:33,202 --> 00:04:35,508 So this is for you, nitpicky geek. 98 00:04:35,948 --> 00:04:40,479 All right, now let's see how the tube slide method compares. 99 00:04:40,479 --> 00:04:42,520 And while I was expecting a lot from this 100 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:47,240 method, the first fall wasn't any better. 101 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,039 The second fall had a very low momentum 102 00:04:50,039 --> 00:04:53,600 into the wall but a lot of vertical 103 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,800 momentum, which made me almost run across 104 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:58,840 the wall, which was slightly 105 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:02,080 uncomfortable. So we tried again and this 106 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:06,000 time the fall was much nicer and I know 107 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,160 that people like to try all the crazy 108 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:10,479 things they see on the internet so 109 00:05:10,479 --> 00:05:12,160 that's why I have to stress that this 110 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,960 tube slide method is really advanced, so 111 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,360 if you don't know what you're doing, make 112 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,400 sure that you have an expert guiding you. 113 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:22,360 Now if we would compare all the best 114 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:24,919 attempts of all the methods, we can see 115 00:05:24,919 --> 00:05:28,000 that the jumping up was slightly better, 116 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,691 but overall all the methods were very similar. 117 00:05:31,691 --> 00:05:35,010 [Climber] - So all of these falls felt quite soft, 118 00:05:35,010 --> 00:05:37,045 except the one where he does nothing. 119 00:05:37,045 --> 00:05:39,810 Then I fell to the wall. 120 00:05:39,810 --> 00:05:42,199 Yeah we actually forgot to film hard catches 121 00:05:42,199 --> 00:05:44,859 where the belayer does nothing on this test, 122 00:05:44,859 --> 00:05:48,129 but no worries this was just a small warm-up. 123 00:05:48,129 --> 00:05:50,220 And let's see some bigger falls. 124 00:05:50,220 --> 00:05:52,240 So this time we started with a 125 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,570 tube slide method, which at least in theory 126 00:05:55,570 --> 00:05:58,700 lets the belayer achieve any fall arc. 127 00:05:58,700 --> 00:06:00,960 And here is one more attempt 128 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,600 this time with even bigger arc or longer 129 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,800 braking distance, and the fall was just 130 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,750 a tiny bit softer for the climber. 131 00:06:10,750 --> 00:06:12,639 For now I'm just gonna keep the softest 132 00:06:12,639 --> 00:06:15,039 attempt in the charts and let's see how 133 00:06:15,039 --> 00:06:18,278 does that compare to the jumping up technique. 134 00:06:18,278 --> 00:06:20,520 And we can see that the first 135 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,479 fall was slightly smaller, however it had 136 00:06:24,479 --> 00:06:27,520 nearly identical horizontal acceleration 137 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,319 and velocity. However it also had lower 138 00:06:31,319 --> 00:06:33,960 absolute velocity, which is actually 139 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,680 better for the climber. Now the second 140 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:40,919 fall was slightly smaller but had a tiny bit 141 00:06:40,919 --> 00:06:43,800 more horizontal velocity towards the wall 142 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,240 and again let's keep the best 143 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,039 attempts of each method and see how does 144 00:06:49,039 --> 00:06:53,160 that compare to the stepping forward technique. 145 00:06:54,370 --> 00:06:55,840 And we can see that the fall 146 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:59,440 was smallest, however it had the greatest 147 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,599 impact to the wall. Now on the second 148 00:07:02,599 --> 00:07:05,919 attempt the belayer did a much better job 149 00:07:05,919 --> 00:07:09,560 and the fall was significantly softer. 150 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:11,479 And if we compare all the best attempts 151 00:07:11,479 --> 00:07:13,680 of all the methods, we can see that the 152 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,680 horizontal speed at the moment of impact 153 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,879 was nearly identical. Which means that at 154 00:07:19,879 --> 00:07:21,759 least in this test case scenario, 155 00:07:21,759 --> 00:07:24,280 a skilled belayer can achieve almost the 156 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,440 same results with any method. But since 157 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,879 consistency in catches also matters, 158 00:07:29,879 --> 00:07:33,440 if we compare the worst attempts, tube slide method 159 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:36,070 was the best, followed by jumping up, 160 00:07:36,070 --> 00:07:39,500 and then the stepping forward was the worst. 161 00:07:39,500 --> 00:07:42,479 However even the worst cases of 162 00:07:42,479 --> 00:07:45,440 any of these methods were much much 163 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,280 better compared to the passive belay. 164 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,120 So the first arising takeaway was that no 165 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,199 matter which method you choose to give a 166 00:07:54,199 --> 00:07:57,039 soft catch, it's going to be much better 167 00:07:57,039 --> 00:07:58,960 than passively standing and doing 168 00:07:58,960 --> 00:07:59,960 nothing. 169 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:03,280 And as always one test is no test, so I 170 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:05,400 wanted to repeat these tests in a 171 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,159 different location with another belayer. 172 00:08:08,159 --> 00:08:11,599 Ricky who has also a lot of experience 173 00:08:11,599 --> 00:08:14,319 using this tube slide method, and he told 174 00:08:14,319 --> 00:08:16,940 me that it's actually his preferred method. 175 00:08:16,940 --> 00:08:19,599 So, high expectations. 176 00:08:19,839 --> 00:08:22,136 [Climber] - Two, three... Falling! 177 00:08:24,130 --> 00:08:26,100 - Aw, that was super soft! 178 00:08:27,662 --> 00:08:31,690 So we did three attempts, and all of them had very similar 179 00:08:31,690 --> 00:08:35,789 horizontal velocity. Nice, for consistency. 180 00:08:35,789 --> 00:08:38,240 Next we tested the stepping 181 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,880 forward method, and we can see that the 182 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,839 fall was much shorter and had a much 183 00:08:43,839 --> 00:08:46,760 greater swing into the wall. It seemed 184 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:48,680 that the belayer was pulled towards the 185 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:51,720 wall way too much, and did not have enough 186 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,379 control to make the fall smooth. 187 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,079 All right next the jumping up method, 188 00:09:04,079 --> 00:09:07,200 where Ricky actually did a very bad job 189 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:08,880 on the first attempt. 190 00:09:09,270 --> 00:09:11,279 And the same happened on the 191 00:09:11,279 --> 00:09:14,680 second attempt where his jump was very 192 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:17,800 minimal, only initiated a little bit from 193 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,680 his right calf. So that's not how you 194 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:23,480 jump and that's why I decided to ignore 195 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,502 these two attempts for the poor technique, 196 00:09:26,502 --> 00:09:29,918 and after he adjusted his technique on the third jump, 197 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:33,280 he jumped with both legs and it was much much better. 198 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:37,519 And finally we did one passive 199 00:09:37,519 --> 00:09:40,000 catch where the belayer does nothing and 200 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,560 same as before, it causes significantly 201 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:45,399 higher swing into the wall. So at least 202 00:09:45,399 --> 00:09:48,200 in this test case scenario, tube slide 203 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:51,399 was the best, followed by jumping up, and 204 00:09:51,399 --> 00:09:54,079 stepping forward was again the worst. 205 00:09:54,719 --> 00:09:57,000 [Belayer] - So stepping forward versus uh 206 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,079 jumping up [Climber] - Yes stepping forward was not 207 00:10:01,079 --> 00:10:04,360 in a controlled way. I was just pulled to 208 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:06,690 the wall. I tried to lean 209 00:10:06,690 --> 00:10:11,200 backwards to brake, to catch the fall 210 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,519 but it was not in a controlled way, and 211 00:10:13,519 --> 00:10:15,880 jumping up I can choose how much I want 212 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:17,648 to jump and at what timing. 213 00:10:17,648 --> 00:10:20,800 So overall which method is the best will heavily 214 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:22,800 depend on your experience using this 215 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,000 methods, however stepping forward seemed 216 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,360 to be the worst, and gave the least 217 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,160 control, and also worth mentioning is 218 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,399 that standing too far in many situations 219 00:10:35,399 --> 00:10:37,839 can drag the belayer into the wall 220 00:10:37,839 --> 00:10:40,090 completely uncontrollably. 221 00:10:44,510 --> 00:10:48,449 And that would make the catch even harder. 222 00:10:50,490 --> 00:10:53,120 All right but what if the belayer 223 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,160 is significantly heavier. In that case if 224 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:58,560 you try the jumping method there is not 225 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:01,959 much pull up by the rope, and jumping is 226 00:11:01,959 --> 00:11:04,959 much more difficult. So maybe stepping 227 00:11:04,959 --> 00:11:07,221 forward is better in this case. 228 00:11:07,221 --> 00:11:10,720 To test that, Krushu suggested to introduce extra 229 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:12,880 friction which basically makes the 230 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:14,500 belayer heavier. 231 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,670 [Climber] - Can we try like this? [Belayer] - He wants to kill me! 232 00:11:19,496 --> 00:11:23,040 So that's what we got: a little 233 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,959 zigzag in the beginning and then a 234 00:11:25,959 --> 00:11:29,040 straight line all the way to the climber. 235 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:31,560 So the rope actually is not going over 236 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:35,160 the edge, it's just very sharp angled. 237 00:11:36,510 --> 00:11:38,949 - He says you have to fall! 238 00:11:39,228 --> 00:11:41,721 - One, two, three 239 00:11:44,365 --> 00:11:49,523 The swing into the wall is... ...okay-ish. 240 00:11:49,523 --> 00:11:51,399 So we started with jumping 241 00:11:51,399 --> 00:11:54,839 method, which felt slightly harder with 242 00:11:54,839 --> 00:12:00,120 increased friction, but still plenty soft enough. 243 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,440 Just take a look at this belayer 244 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,000 running up the wall and even avoiding 245 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,399 his arm being squished into the first 246 00:12:07,399 --> 00:12:11,160 quick draw. So let's see if 247 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:13,920 with increased friction stepping forward 248 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:16,440 will be better. This time he was not 249 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:18,560 pulled into the wall uncontrollably 250 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:21,297 anymore. It also looks like he got the 251 00:12:21,297 --> 00:12:23,959 perfect timing and even started running 252 00:12:23,959 --> 00:12:27,680 forward just before the impact, however 253 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:30,199 the swing into the wall for the climber 254 00:12:30,199 --> 00:12:34,670 was still harder compared to the jumping method. 255 00:12:34,670 --> 00:12:38,492 Okay, next we did a series of tube slide catches. 256 00:12:38,492 --> 00:12:41,170 The first felt very nice and soft. 257 00:12:42,260 --> 00:12:43,839 Now the second fall had even 258 00:12:43,839 --> 00:12:46,839 softer impact with the wall however I 259 00:12:46,839 --> 00:12:49,360 still had a lot of momentum downwards 260 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,240 which forced me almost to run down the wall 261 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:54,010 which is a little bit awkward. 262 00:12:54,540 --> 00:12:56,720 And the last fall had a very 263 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:58,702 similar effect. 264 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:01,639 And if we look into the best cases for 265 00:13:01,639 --> 00:13:04,360 each method, we can see that jumping up 266 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,399 and tube slide were very very similar, 267 00:13:07,399 --> 00:13:11,090 and the stepping forward was slightly worse. 268 00:13:11,090 --> 00:13:14,005 And this bar chart plots all the falls. 269 00:13:14,005 --> 00:13:16,839 So we can see that on average, tube 270 00:13:16,839 --> 00:13:19,196 slide method performed the best, 271 00:13:19,196 --> 00:13:23,538 followed by jumping up, and then stepping forward was the worst. 272 00:13:23,538 --> 00:13:25,279 Now from pure feeling 273 00:13:25,279 --> 00:13:27,920 standpoint for me as a climber, both 274 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,839 jumping up and tube slide methods felt 275 00:13:30,839 --> 00:13:33,720 very nice and soft. Maybe if I would be 276 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:37,120 nitpicking this extra momentum downwards 277 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,120 sometimes on the tube slide method was 278 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:41,279 slightly uncomfortable, although in 279 00:13:41,279 --> 00:13:43,680 theory the belayer should be able to give 280 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:45,839 almost any kind of catch with this 281 00:13:45,839 --> 00:13:49,040 method and the stepping forward method 282 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,800 was maybe slightly harder, had slightly 283 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,600 bigger impact to the wall, however it was 284 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:57,800 still plenty soft enough. And what is not 285 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:01,082 soft enough is passive belays. 286 00:14:01,082 --> 00:14:04,399 So once again, no matter which soft catch method 287 00:14:04,399 --> 00:14:07,639 we tried it was significantly better 288 00:14:07,639 --> 00:14:10,959 than passive belay. And with added friction 289 00:14:10,959 --> 00:14:13,440 the belayer wasn't even lifted off the 290 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:16,120 ground this time. Previously when we had 291 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:18,800 no friction, passive belay looked like 292 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:22,320 this: the belayer was still pulled up but 293 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:25,240 now with extra friction, that is not the 294 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:27,120 case anymore and you can see how the 295 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:29,880 climber is being pulled up and into the 296 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,380 wall even harder. 297 00:14:34,839 --> 00:14:38,480 [Climber] - Okay that was... 298 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,508 ... that was the way it was. 299 00:14:41,508 --> 00:14:44,839 So yeah don't forget to subscribe, I might need 300 00:14:44,839 --> 00:14:47,399 advertisement money to fix my broken 301 00:14:47,399 --> 00:14:49,691 body at old age. 302 00:14:50,364 --> 00:14:52,774 [Climber] - So what's your favorite method? 303 00:14:52,774 --> 00:14:54,759 [Belayer] - Yeah jumping up, yes. 304 00:14:54,759 --> 00:14:56,959 Okay so we were leaning towards 305 00:14:56,959 --> 00:15:00,399 jumping as our favorite method, but 306 00:15:00,399 --> 00:15:03,160 what if the belayer is really really 307 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:05,399 heavy, or there is so much friction in 308 00:15:05,399 --> 00:15:08,120 the system that the rope almost doesn't 309 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:11,579 pull the belayer up? In that case, you can 310 00:15:11,579 --> 00:15:17,839 jump... I don't know what 30, 40 cm maybe 50 311 00:15:17,839 --> 00:15:21,079 if you're a crazy athlete... but is that 312 00:15:21,079 --> 00:15:23,272 enough for the soft catch? 313 00:15:23,272 --> 00:15:25,416 And this brings us to this experiment. 314 00:15:25,416 --> 00:15:28,680 Here we did a series of falls, alternating between 315 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,649 stepping forward and jumping up, 316 00:15:30,649 --> 00:15:34,120 and we measured the forces to the climber. 317 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,399 And same as before, jumping up was 318 00:15:36,399 --> 00:15:38,480 consistently better than stepping forward, 319 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,880 and doing nothing was 320 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:43,360 significantly worse. And then we decided 321 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:46,360 to introduce this zigzag in the route, and 322 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,279 although it doesn't look like much, 323 00:15:49,279 --> 00:15:52,240 it actually added a ton of friction, 324 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:56,319 basically imitating a very heavy belayer. 325 00:15:56,319 --> 00:16:00,801 [Belayer] - Wow! I couldn't jump at all! 326 00:16:00,801 --> 00:16:04,480 And, as I was expecting, jumping up was not working 327 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,279 at all in this case, so let's see if 328 00:16:07,279 --> 00:16:11,289 stepping forward is gonna be better. 329 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:14,659 [Climber] - Wow that was solid! 330 00:16:15,539 --> 00:16:18,744 [Climber] - 2.5, oh sh*t! 331 00:16:18,744 --> 00:16:21,434 And it actually was even worse. 332 00:16:23,778 --> 00:16:26,619 [Belayer] - Man I cannot give you a soft catch this way! 333 00:16:26,619 --> 00:16:28,560 So yeah no matter how much I tried 334 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:31,560 to jump, I was not able to give a 335 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,279 truly soft catch, and stepping forward 336 00:16:34,279 --> 00:16:36,419 was even worse. 337 00:16:37,149 --> 00:16:40,094 [Belayer] - It's impossible to give a soft catch like this! 338 00:16:40,094 --> 00:16:44,220 [Belayer] - To time well the stepping forward on such a short fall 339 00:16:44,220 --> 00:16:47,450 is nearly impossible. 340 00:16:47,688 --> 00:16:51,208 Now while it seemed that heavy belayers are doomed, 341 00:16:51,208 --> 00:16:53,839 on this next experiment I actually 342 00:16:53,839 --> 00:16:56,445 discovered something that helps. 343 00:16:56,445 --> 00:16:59,243 This time I was belaying a light girl, 344 00:16:59,243 --> 00:17:02,360 and as before, I was also struggling to give a 345 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:07,328 soft catch. The jumping simply did not work. 346 00:17:07,328 --> 00:17:10,460 And neither did the stepping forward method. 347 00:17:11,270 --> 00:17:13,949 But then, I discovered something. 348 00:17:16,472 --> 00:17:20,555 [Climber] - Better, better. This one was soft! 349 00:17:22,239 --> 00:17:24,878 [Climber] - Yeeeesss! It's soft! 350 00:17:24,878 --> 00:17:28,039 So yeah, turns out that bending the knees will give you more 351 00:17:28,039 --> 00:17:30,799 range of movement and in this test case 352 00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:34,299 scenario it made a huge difference. 353 00:17:34,299 --> 00:17:36,440 [Climber] - If the fall was Wuuuuuuuuu 354 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:41,349 Just super soft, and the others was Bung! 355 00:17:41,349 --> 00:17:43,260 [Belayer] - Like Bung? - Yeah yeah yeah! 356 00:17:43,260 --> 00:17:46,480 - So it's Bung versus Wuuuuuuu. 357 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:47,480 [Climber] - And we prefer Wuuu. 358 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:49,867 - You prefer Wuuuu. - Yeah! 359 00:17:50,297 --> 00:17:51,440 And although I already 360 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,320 mentioned this in the first episode, but 361 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:56,080 it's really important to stress that 362 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,320 simply throwing a lot of slack does not 363 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:01,618 mean a soft catch. 364 00:18:08,457 --> 00:18:10,380 And in the case of a passive belay, 365 00:18:10,380 --> 00:18:12,600 it can end up very badly. 366 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:14,880 And the only reason she was fine in this 367 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,280 case, was because she was falling 368 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:19,989 straight down under the quick draw. 369 00:18:19,989 --> 00:18:23,224 So all she felt was just a jerk to the harness. 370 00:18:23,224 --> 00:18:25,360 In a different situation with a 371 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:28,200 little bit of swing, that kind of catch 372 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:30,804 would probably break her ankles. 373 00:18:31,097 --> 00:18:33,720 So, instead of feeding a ton of slack for 374 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,643 your climber maybe you should... feed your climber? 375 00:18:37,643 --> 00:18:39,974 And as we saw If the fall is small, 376 00:18:39,974 --> 00:18:43,149 bending the knees before the fall might help. 377 00:18:43,449 --> 00:18:45,280 Now in case of a big whipper 378 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,080 the fall naturally is much bigger, so you 379 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,480 will have more time to go down and 380 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,799 explode up. And from a biomechanical 381 00:18:52,799 --> 00:18:55,120 standpoint, since our muscles act as 382 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:58,050 springs, going down and jumping up 383 00:18:58,050 --> 00:19:00,500 should result into a higher jump. 384 00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:03,400 Now if that doesn't help, I would suggest more 385 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,120 food cycles, and if that's not an option, 386 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:09,540 then I've seen a method used by a very heavy belayer, 387 00:19:09,540 --> 00:19:11,400 which worked very well for him, 388 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:15,690 where he took a little bit of slack with his lead hand, 389 00:19:15,690 --> 00:19:18,039 and during the impact he 390 00:19:18,039 --> 00:19:20,980 used his lead hand to soften the catch. 391 00:19:23,230 --> 00:19:26,000 It is extremely important to not 392 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:30,050 have too much slack here or you will burn your hand. 393 00:19:30,050 --> 00:19:31,600 So be smart and use this 394 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:34,559 at your own risk. This is sketchy but 395 00:19:34,559 --> 00:19:36,612 I've seen it working really well. 396 00:19:36,612 --> 00:19:39,159 Or alternatively, go old school and learn 397 00:19:39,159 --> 00:19:41,618 how to use tube style belaying, then it 398 00:19:41,618 --> 00:19:43,939 doesn't matter what's the weight of the climber, 399 00:19:43,939 --> 00:19:46,230 you can always make a soft catch. 400 00:19:46,230 --> 00:19:48,760 But of course that comes with its own risks of not 401 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,049 having an assisted belay device. 402 00:19:51,049 --> 00:19:54,437 But for majority of you, jumping up is going to 403 00:19:54,437 --> 00:19:56,520 be the best and if for whatever reason 404 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,600 you find yourself away from the wall, 405 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,960 then just do stepping forward, as we saw. 406 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:04,480 Whatever soft catch method is much 407 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:06,082 better than passive belaying. 408 00:20:06,082 --> 00:20:08,280 Now I understand that this video was full of 409 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:10,840 charts and graphs, and chances are if 410 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:12,280 you're still watching you're a 411 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,799 little bit nerdy, however I'm gonna make a 412 00:20:14,799 --> 00:20:17,320 separate video for my belay Master Class 413 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,360 where I will go more on practical 414 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:22,280 details, including those sketchy 415 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:24,130 low-to-the-ground situations. 416 00:20:24,130 --> 00:20:27,200 And also during these two years we have measured forces 417 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,159 on hundred of falls, so we have a lot of 418 00:20:30,159 --> 00:20:32,120 data. But as I explained in previous 419 00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:34,840 episodes, peak force to the climber might 420 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:36,805 not be the most important factor 421 00:20:36,805 --> 00:20:38,486 for sport climbers. 422 00:20:39,006 --> 00:20:41,080 However that might be much more 423 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:43,530 important for trad climbers. 424 00:20:43,955 --> 00:20:45,715 [Climber] - Keep a good eye. 425 00:20:48,220 --> 00:20:49,436 [Climber] - Sh****t! 426 00:20:49,436 --> 00:20:50,840 So I guess this deserves an 427 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,235 episode for trad climbers as well, 428 00:20:53,235 --> 00:20:55,640 and all of these people and supporters 429 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:57,690 deserve a huge thank you. 430 00:20:57,690 --> 00:21:01,037 None of this project would've been possible without all of you. 431 00:21:01,037 --> 00:21:03,559 And you deserve some knowledge. 432 00:21:04,607 --> 00:21:06,200 For the last 6 months I was 433 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,839 warming up my brain in the mornings 434 00:21:08,839 --> 00:21:12,667 with brilliant.org which is an awesome online platform 435 00:21:12,667 --> 00:21:14,880 for learning math, data science, 436 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,559 and computer science interactively. 437 00:21:17,559 --> 00:21:20,230 - Good morning Ben how are you? 438 00:21:20,230 --> 00:21:21,827 - Ah feeling like quaternion and 439 00:21:21,827 --> 00:21:24,801 four dimensional space with emotions twisting 440 00:21:24,801 --> 00:21:26,960 like Möbius transformation and my mood 441 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,604 transforming like eigenvector. 442 00:21:29,604 --> 00:21:31,919 So no only you get deeper connections with 443 00:21:31,919 --> 00:21:34,440 your smart friends, you also deepen your 444 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:36,640 scientific understanding of the world. 445 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,320 Just imagine how your regular life 446 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,440 problems will look when you will be 447 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,080 contemplating that we are all just 448 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,120 riding a giant rock through constantly 449 00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:50,320 expanding space, with supernovas and 450 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,360 solar winds. Or maybe before human 451 00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:55,429 thinking becomes obsolete... 452 00:21:55,429 --> 00:22:00,691 - Write a short math poem in a style of... 453 00:22:01,272 --> 00:22:02,104 me. 454 00:22:02,274 --> 00:22:04,901 You want to know how ChatGPT works? 455 00:22:04,901 --> 00:22:07,050 So whenever you're are a complete beginner 456 00:22:07,050 --> 00:22:09,200 or ready to dive into machine learning 457 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,880 and beyond, brilliant.org makes it easy 458 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,758 to level up fast, with fun bite-sized lessons. 459 00:22:15,758 --> 00:22:17,200 And you can try all of this 460 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:19,600 completely for free for 30 days 461 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,608 by visiting brilliant.org/HardIsEasy 462 00:22:22,608 --> 00:22:26,120 and the first 200 of you can also get 20% off 463 00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:28,520 their annual premium subscriptions. 464 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,720 So thank you Brilliant for making sure 465 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:35,611 that we still use our brain. And thank you for watching. 466 00:22:35,611 --> 00:22:38,066 Enjoy your brain, and climbing, 467 00:22:38,066 --> 00:22:39,408 and see you in the next one. 468 00:22:39,408 --> 00:22:41,828 - Now it's gonna be fun... 469 00:22:41,828 --> 00:22:44,148 - Feeling like quateri... 470 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,240 That word!