Pilots have checklists for just about everything. These tools help prevent accidents from negligence, and they are an invaluable tool in aviation.
Climbers may benefit from a similar methodology.
Remember: These checklists do not represent everything that must be done to be safe. They are non-inclusive of all best practices.
In fact, there is no way to guarantee your safety while climbing, as climbing is an inherently dangerous sport. When you climb, you do so at your own risk of injury or death.
Ideally this list helps you reduce the liklihood that you will have a "bad day".
There is no substitute for your own personal safety judgement. This list is just to externally double-check that judgement.
Say, for demonstration purposes only, we have the following checklist:
- 1
- 2
- Verified by partner.
- 3
Some things to know about checklists:
- Order matters.
- Some items should be cross-verified by the climbing partner, as indicated by the sub-item "Verified by partner" for the second item on this checklist.
- Gear Storage
Please, please, please contribute your thoughts (via Pull Requests or Issues). I am a novice climber and have little idea about safety, which is why it's essential for the community to come together to develop these best practices.
All of these checklists will always be incomplete and flawed, but with enough perspectives, we can make this a resource that can help save lives.
- Please cite cases in which not completing this item has caused an unsafe situation.
- Please cite resources (such as AMGA books) supporting items.