by Sam Powell

Grav-i-ty. Noun. The gravitational attraction of the mass of the earth, the moon, or a planet for bodies (e.g., you) at or near its surface.

Falling should be simple, right? You just let go. But not being overcome with gravity poisoning is not as easy as you might think. Mean old Mr. Gravity can make it quite a challenge. Boulderers, sport climbers, and trad climbers all fall differently.

Bouldering by its very nature involves climbing difficult moves close to Earth. But even boulderers can sprain ankles and break bones. Before you try hard moves, try and figure out where the crux is and where you’re going to land if you pop off, and then place your pad there. Always use spotters for highball problems as well as moves that have a difficult landing, and keep your head on a swivel on the way down so you don’t unnecessarily abuse your spotters with wailing arms and legs. Make sure they spot your head and neck, because your flailing body and its attachments will heal eventually, but smacking your bean on a rock might turn you into the missing link.

Sport climbing has its own rules for falling, aside from gravity of course. When you whip off a sport route, the word catlike should come to mind. You need to keep your hands and feet out in front of you to pinball off rocks on the way down. If you think you’re going to fall any distance, tell your belayer not to take in all the slack, because that will cause you to accelerate and smack into the wall. Don’t jump out too far from the wall either because then your rope will go taut, and the aforementioned smacking will result. Your belayer can also soften your fall by giving you a dynamic belay by simply hopping off the ground like a bunny when your rope starts to go taut.

Trad climbing also has its own special set of rules for whipping, the most important of which is not to fall in the first place. Consider all your gear to be suspect. You may have placed that .75 perfectly, but gravity is sneaky and has a way of defiling even the seven iron of cams. If you’ve bitten off a little more than you can chew, try and down climb to your last piece to keep from over-loading it. If all else fails, and it’s time to fly, take this brief moment to yell some profane words and curse the force that got you into the mess. If you’re looking at a big one and don’t want to be spun like a piñata when you reach ground zero, try to hold the rope to one side or the other so it doesn’t get entangled around an arm or a leg.

Some preventative measures can be taken to keep your sack off the deck and your hands and feet firmly planted in whatever crack you happen to be enjoying. If a move looks hard, place two pieces of gear below it instead of one. If it gets really hard, place three. But be warned – placing more than three pieces before a move will most likely lead to heckling from your belayer.

All in all, falling is pretty easy. It’s a necessary and, when done properly, safe part of climbing. So, get out, take a few good ones, and enjoy nature’s free rollercoaster.

Sam Powell is a climbing guide living in Charlottesville, Va. He can be reached at samatcvilleguides@earthlink.net.