“I had some really good, famous, climbers come in and fail the belay test,”
Climbers still complain about the belay test, especially older climbers who cut their teeth outdoors and same late to the gym scene. But most gym accidents involving top roping or lead climbing are going to come down to a failed safety check or a mistake on the part of the belayer. And a failed safety check is at least partially a belayer failure.
Experience level doesn't necessarily correlate with safe technique. Beginners can be highly conscious of the consequences of a fall, where more experienced climbers can get complacent and sloppy when the negative consequences fail to materialize.
For example: the coach of an internationally competitive athlete dropped his climber on a grigri because he was casually chatting with someone on the ground and failed to control the brake strand.
Climbers still complain about the belay test, especially older climbers who cut their teeth outdoors and same late to the gym scene. But most gym accidents involving top roping or lead climbing are going to come down to a failed safety check or a mistake on the part of the belayer. And a failed safety check is at least partially a belayer failure.
Experience level doesn't necessarily correlate with safe technique. Beginners can be highly conscious of the consequences of a fall, where more experienced climbers can get complacent and sloppy when the negative consequences fail to materialize.
For example: the coach of an internationally competitive athlete dropped his climber on a grigri because he was casually chatting with someone on the ground and failed to control the brake strand.
https://youtu.be/WBGkKqLhM8Y?si=p58XDsgOG5O2dbJP