Rock Climbing And A Pocket Knife

   Why would a rock climber carry a knife? There are many types of climbing; I am most familiar with top-rope, and free climbing, so I will limit all of the variables to these two styles. When you are rock climbing with a partner or two, their lives are in your hands, likewise your's in theirs'. I don't know any figures, but I will guess that the vast majority of us have not been in many life or death situations. Climbing cliffs with your most trusted and experienced friends can be as deadly as knowing nothing; it only takes the slightest mistake, the smallest lapse of attention.
   Top rope climbing is probably the safest way because the rope goes through an anchor or around a tree. You are tied to one end, your partner or "belay" is on the other end pulling up slack as you climb. With this system in place, your fall should never be much further than the elasticity of your rope; usually around 10 feet. You will be scraped up, but it's still better than death. I was belaying my friend at X Rock in Durango one time, and it almost turned fatal for two reasons. The first was that he weighed 30 pounds more than me, and I was not anchored in to prevent our weight difference from being a problem. My second mistake was not wearing gloves. These two simple things together almost got my best friend and climbing partner killed.
   As he began his descent, as usual, he let go of the rock and I began to let the slack come down as he did. He started gaining momentum at around sixty feet, and my butt was starting to lift off the ground. The only answer to correct the weight difference was for me to ignore the rope, zinging through my death gripped hand and use my weight and gravity to maintain my job as belay.
   Now my friend is dropping at near free fall. My initial response to the searing rope burn was to let go. This made him fall faster. Somehow I had some instinct inside that made me grab the rope again, ignoring the pain, while watching my friend falling to his death. I grabbed it. It burned again. He came to a gentle stop on flat ground, with the last few feet and my hand being the only reason for his heartbeat. If I had not broken through the immense pain, he would have splattered six feet away from me. I suffered a rope burn on the entirety of my palm and fingers. It looked like a combination of blisters and blood, as the burn happened twice. No need for a knife here (my friend could have used one on me, justifiably).
   I have been in hundreds of situations like this in my rock climbing and iron working days. The only way to really know what your reaction will be is when something like this happens. So far my reactions have been sound; I have no one else's blood on my hands.
   The free climb is when someone anchors the rope as he ascends or uses no rope at all. On a high enough wall there can be multiple climbers using the same rope. The man at the top has near complete control of what is going on above and below him. If an anchor slips, they all die because of the chain reaction of weight, gravity, and velocity. If per chance the leader falls and does not pull any anchors out, he then becomes a liability, and the situation changes to one of saving one, or many. You have to know going into this that there is an unwritten law that says we always save more, rather than trying to preserve the life of one versus the death of the entire party. If the top climber falls and dangles, his fate should be sealed with a pocket knife.
   Can this be counted as suicide or heroism? I think that this falls under necessity; they all knew the risks when they began.

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