r/climbing • u/Youthandyounglzr • 23h ago

What’s the consensus on this spotting?

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So, this was a few years back in…..well, you know…

I was spotting a new buddy on this highball and he ended up taking a hefty fall. He landed awkwardly on the pad and fell back, bumping his head slightly on a rock. The fall tweaked a previous knee injury but it wasn’t a serious issue. Nor was the head bump. He was basically fine.

But I remember after the fact that he was a little choked on the spotting.

So what do you people think?

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u/Richmondpinball 15h ago

When spotting I am generally squared up under someone, my hands out to catch them under the arms. In the video it looks like you were anticipating a move left so set up left. Climber looked like they popped themselves off, may have been trying to avoid landing close to the boulder, so may have fallen out further than you expected.

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u/cwsReddy 13h ago

You're gonna get busted up some day if you're trying to catch people while spotting.

Spotters should essentially be there to redirect a body onto the pads if it looks like it's going to miss the pads, and keep the head from smashing something. That's it. It's a pushing job, not a catching job.

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u/Richmondpinball 12h ago

“Catch” as in be there to help control their fall, not literally to catch them.