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General Climbing Discussion

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Roped Soloing Techniques 5-Mar-2009 At 1:15:28 PM Capt_mulch

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On 5/03/2009 NZclimber wrote:
>
>This should be fine for top rope soloing too?
>I'm guessing these mods will still let the gri gri function as normal?
>It'd be a bonus if I could manage to get a gri gri and a soloing device
>in one
>
Yep, can be used for top rope or lead solo. Top rope is really easy when you have a small crag as you can abseil straight down again when you finish the climb (or part thereof) without mucking around with gear. Tie a knot in the rope at about first boltish off the ground height to minimise any decking potential. Tie your pack to the bottom of the rope to keep it taut.

If you are leading, tie (overhand on a bight?) knots at 1/2, 3/4 and 7/8ths along the rope to prevent it sliding back through the gear. To start, I highly recommend going out and trying it on some really easy routes where you don't have to worry much about the climbing, so that you can concentrate on the gear and what you're doing with it. I had a few good sessions at Mitre Rock where I just did routes that were grade 8 to 11 (Penny Dreadful was great). You can take it quite easy too as you can hangdog as much as you like without pi$$ing anyone off. Make sure that your bottom anchor is really solid (like a big f@*& off rock).

You will be guaranteed to be freaked out the first few times, but the buzz at the end is worth it.

>
>Hmm chest sling, this is a problem, being a sport climber like I am this
>won't look as good whilst climbing with my shirt off
Use a large dynema sling - twist it into a figure eight, putting an arm through each 'hole' in the eight and making sure that the sling crosses over on your back. Clip the biner through the front where the ends of the eight meet. This will enhance your gladiatorial pecs greatly and will have skinny sports boys eyeing you off lustily.