Reducing a dangerous Fall Factor.
Firstly we need to understand what a Fall Factor in the climbing context is and why it can be a danger on multi-pitch climbs, that have semi-hanging or hanging belay stances. It would not be so important on routes where each pitch starts from a big ledge. Briefly, a Fall Factor is a simple calculation of how much force a climbing rope absorbs during a leader fall. Take the distance a climber fell above the last running belay, until the rope began to absorb the shock load, divided by the length of rope between the belayer and the leader.
Example 1: a climber fell 4m and was 8m up the route. 4 / 8 = 0.5
Example 2: two climbers high up on a stance. The leader climbs up 4m and has not put in any running belays, then falls off. That is a total of 8m, yet only 4m of rope was in use. 8 / 4 = 2.
This second example is the highest Fall Factor a leader can take and it puts huge strain on the system. (The rope is best discarded).
Even a Fall Factor of 1.7 can be cause for concern. This kind of force impacting a belay stance could even cause it to rip out, especially on ice climbs or sketchy Trad protection. The simple way to get around the danger, is to place protection immediately above the stance and then again soon afterwards. On Sport climbs, the bolt station can be clipped as the first running belay.
Safe climbing!
For more information on course like the MDT Multi-pitch Supervisor contact gavin@peakhigh.co.za