As a guide with the AMGA I literally cannot recommend Cody Bradfords videos enough. They single handedly made me a more efficient and smarter climber. He unfortunately passed away earlier this year, but his content is a gold mine that will be useful forever.

Ive never been so stressed watching a climbing fails lol

My stress while watching the "multipitch simulation": 📈📈📈📈

You have the singing voice of an angel.

I remember watching the first video and being nauseated. So many things done wrong it's a wonder they're still alive.

The Expanse books taught me that those who don't double check everything that has already been double checked tend to leave the gene pool early.

Almost spit out my drink when i watched the helmet of the final belayer pop off his head when the climber took the fall.....was hoping you caught it too lol

That belay device in guide mode on the first clip is more trustable hands free than a GriGri when belaying a climber from below.

Five stars for the Oompa Loompa routine!!

The first guy pioneered the "trinagle of quickdraws" method. Lord.

Gnarly video. Beautiful song.

Came for the new video, stayed for the MUSIC VIDEO WHERE DID THAT COME FROM OH MY GOD

Good catch about the two quickdraws at the anchor, I have used that method, but not thought about my partner cleaning the route and just unclipping subconsciously,

That guy probably wasn’t looking up because he didn’t want his unbuckled helmet to fall off.

Thanks, Joshua. I am delighted to see Cody in this video. Rest in piece

That Oompa Loompa bit had me dying!!😂 Great vid🤘

@24:55 the belayers helmet also panicks and dives off the belayers head lmao

in the last video, in my opinion, the fact that the first piece pops out it is actually the end of the world because as a consequence all the other pieces could have been unzipped

I hope the person who takes away the most from this review is the climber. We all make mistakes, but if you are consistently making this many errors, eventually gravity is going to win. I’d bet a biner that he peels off an anchor in the near future.

my drugs must have kicked in around minute 11.... great video!

One of the first things I learned for multipitch/ TR/ belay from above is to carry up a pre-made quad. Also this guy will be so much more stoked once he learns a bit more.

RIP CODY!!!!! I learned so much from his videos!

Thank you so much for the Oompa Loompa routine. Laughed my ass off. Brilliant.

I like red lockers too. Mostly so I can say: “If it’s red, you’re dead”

Today I had the scariest experience ever. I was climbing in a gym with only automatic belaying systems... One guy was at the last move, 13 meters from the ground, when my friend said, I think the guy is not attached... And guess what, the guy climbed a 6A free soloing and he realised he was not attached at the very top!!! Luckly I screamed to him not to move any further, one guy climbed right next to him with two belaying systems, and he was able to help him attach himself and safely come back to the ground... But knowing that the last move was a dyino and that I screamed right before he jumped... Well I am still shaking, I had to stop climbing and went home, thinking what would have happened if 6 people didn't manage to help this dumb guy!

To be fair to that belayer at the end, it looks like his climber was well out of sight. What would he be looking at if he was looking up? On some routes, there's not a huge amount you can do once your climber is out of sight. You just gotta watch the slack in front of you and feed out as needed.

In the last video, the belayer seems to have a "grigri". If it were a normal plate device (e.g. atc), the climber would touched the ground, none of both hands are holding the brake lane properly. Even the helmet of the belayer went off at some point. Ridiculous. Again great analysis. Thank you.

The first thing you said about the unclipping mindset is so true and people never think about it

I wondered why this video took so long, I see now 🤣 and it's so worth it! Oompah loompa 😂

would like to see a little longer videos, but enjoy your content and think its very educational for us newer climbers! Always better to learn from others mistakes. They say experience is recognizing your mistake the second time you do it, but we don't always have that option in this sport.

I could only watch the videos of this guy a little bit at a time... then go de-compress. I guess they are educational, perhaps even more-so than many of the videos with actual falls, so on that level including these clips really does serve the stated educational purpose of posting these fail videos, but lordy. All of the fumbling about is unnerving enough, even if the person were getting things right along the way (albeit painfully slowly), but fumbling about while still making glaring mistakes along the way with no redundancy, letting go of the brake hand, etc., is just painful. Yes, practicing on the ground, as was mentioned, is essential when you are at this point in the learning curve... provided that you're self-aware enough to actually be practicing those techniques correctly, of course. Wow!

😆 That oompa loompa thing was hilarious.

That song sequence was the best thing ever!

Look up the comments the person in the fall on Cactus Head (Cactus Massacre wall in Red Rock Canyon) at 23:25 left on their tick list on mountain project. They 100% blamed the first ascensionist for not "trundling" all loose rocks from the climb rather than take any personal responsibility for their or their inattentive belayers errors. Absolute clown

this. video is amazing! love the singing

Couple tips for improvement for the first guy. Build a quad anchor on the ground. Arrive at anchor, put a quickdraw on a bolt and clip the rope to protect while you install the anchor. Install the quad, clip PAS (or clip carabiner and clove hitch) to masterpoint. Weight check quad then remove original quick draw and call off belay. If you know the follower will be lowered, belay off harness with the rope redirected through 'biner clipped to the masterpoint. If for some reason guide mode belay is required, when the time comes to lower, ensure follower is secure (either they have clipped to master point or you have tied off the brake strand. To lower, install prusik on brake strand and clip to leg loop. You can use a carabiner or a sling threaded through the hole on the nose of the device and rerouted through a higher piece of protection to assist in defeating the autolock. Maintain hand on brake strand/prusik when attempting to defeat the device. If the climber is light or the distance to lower is short, you may be able to get away with tilting the device by hand or wiggling the biner that is touching the rope. For the second scenario where he was rapping down, I would install two opposite and opposed draws and then clip them with the PAS to achieve redundancy. Alternatively, you could girth hitch a sling to your harness or use some quick draws to clip the second bolt. Now you can come off belay. Instead of untying, you should be able to push a bight of rope through the lower rings. Once the bight is through, tie it off with an overhand and then clip that loop to your belay loop with a locker. Now you can untie from your harness and pull the slack through the rings. Now you can weight test the system before getting lowered. I think ethically it is ok to lower through the hardware, as long as you don't plan to continue to TR on it. Note, sometimes a rappel is called for, usually because of a sharp edge. Acronyms that I run in my head every time I set an anchor SRENE - Secure, redundant, equalized, No Extension, Efficient. Lots of opinions about this, my general rule is that if the anchor point is bomber beyond question and achieving redundancy will result in significant faff, I am willing to fudge a bit on redundancy (this is primarily for trad anchor scenarios, for bolted anchors, no reason not to clip both bolts every time). Good article here discussing this topic www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/thoughts-on-redundancy-in-climbing-anchors Every time I start a climb, start a belay or am preparing to clip out of an anchor, I run this BARK - Belts (check harness), Anchor (SRENE, rope threaded correctly), Rappel (or belay) device set correctly, Knot (knots in end of rope, personal tie in knot) - also checking these on my partner, if possible. Also, always always always weight check before unclipping, that is your final failsafe.

15:23 OMG i almost had a heart attack watching that 🤣

Holy shit. What a great video. The Oompa Loompa song made me laugh out loud.

I Don't know if it's good: but i can't get the song out of my head since yesterday..... :) :( :/

Damn I loved the vids Cody made. Never knew him, but I’m sad that the world lost him.

I'm usually not one to hit the like button, but the Oompa Loompa video? How could I not!

Here lad, that "Climbing like you've just smoked a joint" line in your song was uncalled for like.

It would be good to show that first video at the start and end of a week long climbing course

This guy really likes keeping his gates against the rock for some reason.

Lost it at Oompa loompa! You win the internet! :D

This gave me a nauseous feeling to watch. Especially when he was saying "I love this shit", I expected him to drop his climber to death.

The first two ones gave me a heart attack!

8:35 made my blood freeze

Just one thing: it is not OK to build an anchor with just one quickdraw on each bolt! If you are actually doing multi-pitch, a fall from the leader on the second pitch could move the quickdraws in ways that could unclip themselves, or depending on the situation and how you are belaying (e.g. with a Munter hitch and a factor 2 fall), the carabiners can open by themselves under the load, and with the carabiner elongating, they will not close back, effectively leaving you hanging on two carabiners with an open gate! If top-roping, it would be acceptable if you placed two quickdraws with the gates opening to opposite sides. And yes, this is pretty scary. If this guy does not take some time to learn things the right way, I am afraid he will eventually have a pretty bad accident.

Dude your content is the best

The fact that the thumbnail font makes it read as "Cumbing fails" still cracks me up

Joshua, please could you post a video recreating the first video in this one in betaclimbers style? (maybe with a quad and a regular ATC guide... or however you would do it?) Despite all the things the guy could have done better, he had a great that camera angle that clearly showed everything he was doing. The internet would benefit from a updated version of this video with less fails!

She's going to feel that in her neck the rest of her life.

Belaying is a formality until it isn't.

❤loved your thumbnail 😅

An ATC/tube device in guide mode is great when used correctly, but that can be said with most gear. I personally prefer a tube over a grigri with the exception of top roping newer climbers, but that’s just me.

His lowering of that guy is the most stressed I've been watching a climbing video. Okay, hand of a brake rope on an assisted braking device is a no no, but it's not *that* bad on its own.. But then he's actively attempting to disengage the braking feature, repeatedly, with his hand off the brake rope. Wtf? His partner is lucky to have made it down fine.

Wow, some people have no regard for basic safety. I'm no expert, but will happily point out things to others and have never had anyone complain or tell me were to go. Always better to try and inform rather than hear someone has died.

I died 100 times watching this

That oompa loompa skit is going to give me nightmares

That last video looked like the belayer was trying to catch the fall by grabbing the live strand. I think someone got saved by a semi auto device there.

hooolyyy shiiittt that first video made me flinch, so many things wrong :/

I like the oompa lumpa so much 😁

Dude, I am a shuddering watching the belay techniques of the first vid....

There is the a great difference between gymnastics skills and overall climbing aptitude. You see spectacular rock ascent videos, swimming in the buy-the-gear market and you are fit. If you see through mountaineering history in the alps and the continental united states, you will look well trained climbers: goals, not oversized egos; common sense, not daring behaviour; and, something that matters in the mountaineering activity, humility, and not a narcissism.

This lowering method with carabiner in little hole of reverso is in petzl manual. not talking about lack of thirdhand, but only about unlocking device.

Everybody has these fancy personal anchors lol I just use a nylon sling

So many of these, I struggle to understand what they're doing... they seem to make everything way more complicated than it needs to be...

Thumbs up just for the intro song!

Man, the cringe in this video is very strong. The crags of the world should get a restraining order against this guy. Very lucky to not have caused any accidents.

When in doubt let go of everything, repeatedly.

If that personal anchor is a Petzl connect it was rated for Fall Factor 1; just checked can’t find any rating ! Instructions show do not climb above the anchor; ( as when he was going over an edge

What a big mess he did 😆

Pivots are easy to lower on, you need a quickdraw to release them. They are designed to be easier to lower, that's the whole point of them. With normal guide mode you are supposed to use a munter on the brake strand, that guides method looks like a complete clusterfuck. I've also got no idea why you would use a prussik instead of a munter on a biner. No mention of toproping on inward facing gates, they are supposed to be outward facing because the gates can interact with each other.

The trouble is even if you have your redirect to the atc unlock carabiner it can still result in an uncontrollable fall as the atc does not lock on demand even when the redirect is stopped being pulled by the belayer. There's another video with the guide showing what happens when the atc id completely unlocked using this method. The climber falls before you even know what's happened. The advice is to tie a prussik on the break line with catastrophe knot below. Then untie the catastrophe know once everything has been checked. If in case the belayer pulls on the redirect too hard or the climber starts falling uncontrollably, the prussik will lock the brake strand pulling the belayer towards the anchor and unweighted the redirect. Climb safe

don’t know why the guy in the first video couldn’t just bring a piece of webbing to use as an anchor. hell of a lot cheaper, safer, and easier than fumbling with a bunch of quickdraws.

Hey. In Norway it's a lot of bolted sport routs with two non-locking carabiners at the anchor. .. Would it be safe enough to make a figure eight with bunny ears and clip one ear to one carabine and the other ear to the second carabiner for top rope solo?

Finally some dancing.

What about clipping into rings where you would Rappel down later from? They are making them sharp so that the rope will suffer

Was friends with a guy who was a guide in some basic ass DC area TRing. Apparently people tried to untie/other Weird shit all the time. Got some good stories

That last belayer's helmet just pops off! And his brake hand is up/forward! Gggaaahhhh!!

a very tuneful voice. I wonder if you sang in opera 🤣😅

The guy rapelling on fireman's @15:03 is not bomber. Too little extension on the rappel device, the prussik can jam in to it, and gravity'd take over.

i really missed these videos :V

RIP Cody Bradford

oompa, loompa doopa dee doo....!

RIP in peace Cody B.

That the carabiner recommended for the petzl connect

getting a little slower climbing out of there😊

your telling me don't watch youtube and just send it off a 55 foot cliff

In A world of climbing annihilation lmfao

Anyone have a link to the original videos?

This was painful to watch on so many levels. For starters, if this guy would just use a quad or cordelette anchor system with lockers it would be an improvement and probably simpler than all the stuff he’s doing.

one thing I cannot understand is how these helmets constantly pop off...

OMG... This couldn't be real

Minute 19 the gate on that Attaché is unscrewed. Bad looking deal there.

This video is exactly why I wouldn’t climb with other people. Oh… I forgot I don’t climb.

i got the master protection because i don't smoke joints at the wall i bring the bong

Thank you for this video. This guys rappel was a disaster. He's using a Quickdraw! And I agree about rigging ahead of time, but also weighting each part of the system to make sure the system works, and the redundancy is too close to the rappel device, which renders the redundancy useless. Hand to brake the rope before going over. Too many deaths are from going down, not up. I wouldn't want to climb with this guy.

Are we happy climbing with someone who can't tie a clove hitch?