In reply to johncook:
> Even the end of a rope hitting you after a 10 m fall can leave a nasty wheal! I somehow manage to hit myself quite often when pulling the rope from clip-ups. But the is preferable to hitting others! What has happened to crag courtesy over the last few years. It was always the practice to check and then shout before throwing a rope, although personally I prefer to lower the rope carefully so it doesn't land in the assorted cans, bottles, finger tape and dog shit, etc that seems to be appearing more and more frequently at the bottom of crags!
I was just coming at it from the physics angle, I'm sure it must hurt still. I was schooled in how to behave by my Dad, and I guess clubs play a part in that too. Hopefully a person with a civilised nature able to think through keeping safe while trad climbing would be able to not disrupt other peoples' days by throwing a rope down on them etc. It's hard to remember what one has been taught and absorbed by osmosis, but it more or less comes down to 'being quiet and self contained'.
Post edited at 01:09