Static belaying is (more) dangerous

Climbing has published an article on how to belay. In the picture, the belayer is connected to the ground which is a good piece of advice when the climber is more than 30% heavier than the belayer. The downside of being anchored to the ground is that the fall will be rather static, which especially should be avoided on trad climbing. Sure there might be some weight difference in the picture but normally grown-up males do not need to anchor themselves to the ground.

Personally, I would have taken my stance two meters to the left and possibly lifted my leg up on the first shelf there. Leaning a bit backwards with one foot against the rock is my best recommendation when it comes to situations with small weight differences. This would also have meant that the risk of getting the rope in between the legs would have been reduced for the climber in the picture, had he taken a fall. A further downside of being anchored to the ground is that you can not move in case of rockfall.

A middle way option is to connect the petit climber to a bag filled with 10 kg of rocks or similar. If you anyhow must attach yourself to the ground you should clip into the anchor with quickdraws so you can easily get rid off it.

I must also mention that in the article it says "the belayer could find somewhere comfortable to sit". This is, I am afraid, totally wrong. A belayer should never be recommended to sit down! It is also strange that in the first picture, the belayer does not use a helmet. If we were to give advice for any gym rat going out, the use of a helmet is much more important than anchoring the belayer to the ground.