Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Poll Option

Votes

Graph

Yes, Freeclimbing roped-lead-soloing

10%

Yes, Aidclimbing roped-lead-soloing

10%

Yes, Freeclimbing top-rope soloing

33%

Yes, Aidclimbing top-rope soloing

Yes, all of the above

15%

Yes, Lead free climbing soloing (nil rope).

15%

Yes, Aid Lead soloing (nil rope).

No way Josê!

15%

Author

Roped Soloing - Who Does It? (for OP)


westie

5-Feb-2008
3:50:41 PM

microscenders, shunts, ascenders & grigris.

Thanks everyone - food for thought... but not exactly emphatic feedback. I'll try a simple proposition - what is most likely to catch me safely on a fall without damaging my rope? Not fussed if I fall 1 ft or 3ft.


nmonteith

5-Feb-2008
3:55:26 PM

A knot. Clove hitches work well for self-belaying.


Icarus

5-Sep-2008
3:12:21 PM

Bring this back from the depths. Sorry!
Would a ATC Guide (in self-belay mode) work for top rope soloing?
The only problem I could really see is that I'd probably have to pull rope though.
Dan.

EDIT: Actually, after playing around with the set up in the lounge room, it could be kinda dangerous. If
the 'locking' beiner gets pulled on by anything, in any direction, then the device looses its grip on the
rope, and becomes a very fast abseil. I'll just buy something safe.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

5-Sep-2008
4:05:14 PM

On 5/09/2008 Icarus wrote:
>Bring this back from the depths. Sorry!
Why be sorry? I do it all the time much to others chagrin, heh, heh, heh.

>Would a ATC Guide (in self-belay mode) work for top rope soloing?
>The only problem I could really see is that I'd probably have to pull
>rope though.
One could improvise with it, but the problems I see would be the amount of jiggery pokery involved in getting it to run free and yet lock off securely when needed. The rope secured above you is not in happy combination with it hanging off your harness, and once on the route the rope weight below you would start to become an issue, (not so much the weight itself, but the weight causing alignment issues?).

You will have to pull rope through anyway.

Depending on alignment it may not lock off.

It is not designed to be at the 'leader end' of a fall.

~> May be better to simply use it in normal mode and tie off knots behind you in the toprope when/if stances allow?

Post edit;
In 'guide mode' it relies on the overlap of rope with climber weight on top portion to cinch off - lock it. A top rope situation would effectively prevent this from happening imo.


Andrew_M

5-Sep-2008
4:46:09 PM

Since this thread is being resurrected...

There's an interesting method of roped soloing described on mountainz.co.nz that uses a reverso (ATC guide could be substituted) for leading:

http://www.mountainz.co.nz/content/article/article.php?article=220406_ropesolo.php&direct=general

It actually works pretty well. Feeds OK and does hold a lead fall.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

5-Sep-2008
6:18:34 PM

I can see that it would work for lead self-belay climbing, but for a top-rope-solo it would effectively be in 'locked-up' mode for the entire climb!

Have seen that site before* A_M. Probably because there is more than one thread on this topic and you have posted the (good), link before?
[*I remember quips about belaying off a plant etc!]


Andrew_M

5-Sep-2008
6:36:55 PM

On 5/09/2008 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>I can see that it would work for lead self-belay climbing, but for a top-rope-solo
>it would effectively be in 'locked-up' mode for the entire climb!

Agreed it wouldn't work in this seup for top rope.

>Have seen that site before* A_M. Probably because there is more than one
>thread on this topic and you have posted the (good), link before?
>[*I remember quips about belaying off a plant etc!]

er yeah, I might have done. I went through this particular thread just now and didn't see it but me or someone else could have posted it already. Probable first sign of developing alzheimers...

stonetroll

6-Sep-2008
11:47:08 PM

I climb by myself regularly, and have done so for about a year and a half. Climbing with a fixed rope on self-belay useing a Petzl ascender ( jumar ) attached to my harness as my catch and the Petzl croll as a back up. It's a great way of getting climbs in when your buddys are out of touch or you just wanta be by yourself. But wank wank .... solo is SOLO, that means climbing without pro' or ropes. To climb on a rope and call it solo is an oxymoron. To me it makes more sense to call it what it is and that's top rope self-belay or lead self-belay. Either way getting into self belay can really open up your world and opportunitys for climbing. Keep safe groovers.

rod

15-Sep-2008
12:45:17 AM

I use the Petzl Basic for TR solos when working vertical routes beyond my limit (oft accessed via gri-gri assured lead rope solos on easier routes).

For a long while on TR solos I didn't back up at all but this year I've taken heed of the multiple warnings and started deploying back-up. Basically, I preplace gear and clip it to knots in the spare rope during the rap down. As part of the cleaning process on the way up I transfer the clips from the knots to a sling attached between the belay loop and an improvised chest harness. I reason the sling set-up will keep any back-up clips and rope away from the ascender limit the chance of snarling during a slump.

Overall, I find this better replicates the pumpy gear placing conditions I'll face on lead with an added halo effect from having back-up.

There are 49 messages in this topic.