PXL_20240910_162628222 Photo courtesy Gerry Egbalic

Mammoth Trip, 2024

September 10

Crystal Crag



I belay Jo on lead. She'll place protection along the way, and should she fall, the Grigri belay device on my harness will lock up and catch her fall, yanking me off my feet as a counter-weight. But the first rule in trad climbing is, don't fall, so this won't happen. I need to keep enough slack in the rope not only to give her a soft catch, but also so she can pull as much rope as she needs without locking up the Grigri. Keeping the Grigri from locking up is something I'm not as good at yet as I would like to be. -F.