Rope Soloing.
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So, not always do I have a partner and still have the itch to go work on my projects. I have a new static rope to set up a fixed line so i can solo the route and work the moves. What are your prefered devices with the least resistance, the clove hitch or gri-gri? |
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I use a gri-gri, dynamic line, and this setup |
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I've climbed alot on a silent partner which involves the clove hitch. This works well and provides a soft catch. It's difficult to figure out moves though, because you fall around four feet each time. I've also used the grigri for toproping. Both of these are inferior to a human belayer, but if I had to pick one I'd go with the silent partner. |
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Ushba. Me and my buddy went to Ouray this year and had some fun. I have a mini-traxion and it works great but it has teeth and I always felt like a fall on that device would do damage to the sheath, even if it does not do that much damage to the rope over time I'm sure it will add up. My buddy had an Ushba and it is made for rope soloing and nothing more, where as the mini traxion has multiple uses. The Ushba is smooth and works great even if the rope is covered in snow. I dont think I will ever rope solo with another device. I'm sure you could use the Ushba on a static. |
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Another question. If I weighted down the free end of my rope with a pack or clove hitched to cam, would I be able to climb without stopping to pull my rope thru the device. |
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saw this over on the taco just now: |
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I've used a Petzl Croll for TR-ing for at least a decade and like it well. For backup I use to add a QD to my harness and tie a loose clove hitch on a 2nd strand of rope. It worked okay to roll the backup clove hitch intermittently. However, I recently added a mini-traxion as the backup device as a nice improvement over the clove hitch. |
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If you are top rope soloing, I would suggest the Trango Cinch. It is what I use and the benefits that I see |
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I know there are about as many different rope soloing systems as there are rope soloists....but having used a half dozen different devices ( grigri, basic, soloist, shunt, Silent Partner, and Minitraxion) I can tell you that the minitraxion is the best device I have used for top rope soloing. The teeth are a good thing, as they insure that the device catches....I have a rope that I have TR solo'ed on for several years almost weekly that is still looking great. I would second the dynamic rope comment as it allows you to use the rope as your backup. Just tie one or two knots in the rope per pitch and leave them hanging. The minitraxion will self feed with only a little bit of rope hanging so you do not need to attach gear to the rope. If you are climbing something really hard and don't want to stop to tie knots then I usually have a second traxion hanging down off my harness. |
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RalphE wrote:But given the overhead of rope drag and rope management, it seems that free soloing is a more aesthetic choice. I 2nd Brian's note about using a dynamic rope + abrasion padding, and that climbing with friends is a better way to spend the time.I'm not at the level of soloing 12+ finger cracks yet, or will I ever be. If I had a consistent partner I wouldn't have to do all these shenanigans to get closer to sending. Thanks for all the info guys. |
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One more thing. I think for most of these systems a new or newer rope works best. They have less friction because of the dry coating and smooth sheath. |
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Updated my setup recently. I was pulling rope at stances through an assender. Now ive tied a figure 8 at the mid point and use one strand to lower and the other as progress capture for a fall. It seems like the system will never be under incredible forces. Let me know what you guys think. |
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As one of the posters above said, there are as many top rope solo set ups as top rope soloists. |
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Bruno Schull wrote: Dave Macleod uses a Shunt. It's a camming device with no teeth, and it looks like it slides easily. The drawback is its a super simple design and could potentially get pinched in the open position is some scenarios, but I'd trust it as a backup. https://youtu.be/kd13IaWS8gQMe personally, I just use a prussik as my backup and pull out the slack whenever I can. I'm not climbing super hard on TR Solo, and I'm probably trusting my grigri+ more than I should. I like the grigri+ set in Top Rope mode, it catches super quick. The Lead mode, I assume is very similar to the 2, slips occasionally and freaks me out, even if it's just a few inches. Granted, it only slips when I weight it slowly. |
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Ma Ja wrote: My experience with the shunt is that it doesn't slide easily. It is great otherwise, but I had to put a heavy weight on the rope to avoid slack. I switched to a camp goblin that works vastly superior to everything else. |
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I do a lot of TR soloing and I use a micro traxion with a kong duck as a backup on separate ropes. I don't have to pull rope through my devices which is nice for harder routes. My micro traxion did actually fail on me once because the tag end of my chalk bag somehow got stuck between the teeth of the camming device and the rope. The Kong duck caught me just fine. Weird stuff can happen so I personally always use a backup. |
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Fig 8 on a bight at the anchor |
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Mounir Fizari wrote: Fig 8 on a bight at the anchor I do separate figure 8s on bights for each strands for the redundancy. The extremely slim chance of your locker failing or something cutting the bight does exist and creating a second one takes seconds. |
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sean connors wrote: So, not always do I have a partner and still have the itch to go work on my projects. I have a new static rope to set up a fixed line so i can solo the route and work the moves. What are your prefered devices with the least resistance, the clove hitch or gri-gri? Smoothest feed on the market for TR soloing: https://www.rockexotica.com/unicender/#product-tabs |
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MorganH wrote: Can you clip it directly to your harness and have it trail up the rope as you climb? I'm guessing it would require a chest harness also maybe? |
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MorganH wrote: I’ve heard of people using that device at Index. Do you have to use a fatty rope (device specs say 11-13 mm), or can you still use it on a thinner line? |