Ever held a person's life in your hand

Last weekend I literally had my friends life in my hand and I was the one who was scared. On Sunday, 21st Feb '10, when me and my friend went to the wall at Kanteerva stadium none of our friends who knew belaying came along. It was just me and my friend. My friend has been climbing for quite a few years and knows climbing so I was secure in the knowledge that at least I would be able to top rope the wall. However his climbing was a problem since I had never belayed anyone before.

After I had my turn climbing the wall, my friend taught me the basics of belaying, how to use the belay device, proper use of the belaying hand among others so that I could belay him. Fortunately we met someone there who knew belaying. My friend started his climb with me as the belayer under the watchful eye of our new acquaintance. It was scary to know that I was the safety net for my friends in case he slips off the wall and also for his descent. We had fixed the rope in the middle of the wall but we were climbing at one side since the routes in the middle and at the other side of the wall were pretty tough.

After he reached the top, the rope connecting his harness and the top of the wall was nearly parallel to the ground. He contemplated letting go and taking a swing before being lowered by me or moving towards the center of the wall. He decided to move to the center of the wall. The first two hold were simple to reach but the next was a bit tricky. In trying to move his body in position, he slipped off the wall. I had been pretty tensed till then holding the rope with my belay hand with all the strength left in it after the climb. My friend slipped, I was lifted off my feet for a fraction of a second, but there was hardly any force on my belay hand. It held on easily. Friction from the belay device did all the work for me. I lowered him down slowly. His fall actually gave me confidence in my belaying abilities. But belaying for the first time was still somewhat scary.