What happens if the lead climber falls?
When you’re on a top rope, you won’t fall far if everything is set up properly. A lead climber faces the possibility of a longer fall, but still within the limits of safety. As she climbs, she’ll put protection into the rock. Protection can take many forms, but often it’s a simple wedge-shaped chunk of steel with a wire attached to it, known as a chock. The leader finds a small irregular crack, and wedges the chock in, so that a downward pull will merely drive it tighter into the rock. Then she runs the rope through a carabiner, which is attached to the chock. The rope can pull through the carabiner as the climber ascends, but it’s attached to the rock at that spot. If she gets 10 feet above the protection and then falls, she’ll fall 10 feet down to that protection, then another 10 feet until the slack in the rope is taken up, then a few more feet due to rope stretch. Climbing ropes are intentionally designed to stretch slightly; it reduces the jolt on the rope, the protection, and the
