Top-roping a cliff that is taller than half the length of your ropes

-sp wrote: I can't imagine how dragging an ATC (with a carabiner) up and down the cliff face all day; clipping it in as the climber ascends, and then having the climber unweight the rope so you can unclip it as they as they are lowered, could in any way be less problematic than tying in short and having the climber clip a small coil of rope to the back of their harness, but if it works for you, what can I say?

The place I've done this the most is Indian Creek. I usually climb with a 70m there, but there are plenty of pitches there that are in that 130'-160' range. When the 70 doesn't reach, you tie another rope on. For a 150' pitch, using the tie-in-short method I'd have 80' of rope hanging in a coil off the back of my harness -- no thanks. And climbing single pitch routes (particularly at the creek) with a backpack on is out of the question.

The device doesn't end up dragging up and down the wall -- it's in the air away from the wall. If you don't like that approach you can put the device on each time, like Stich suggested, but I haven't found it to be worth it.

Maybe this doesn't work at your crag, but I've found it works well.

-sp wrote: Mark, I'm seriously asking why you have to fight the rope when you tie in short? Why not coil it and clip it to the back of your harness or shove it in a small back pack? I can fit the entire lenght of a 60m half-rope in a Black Diamond Bullet pack.

I totally agree with -sp, unless you're able to (and want to) belay from the top, tieing in short is the best option. You can always carry the extra rope so it won't impede your climbing. If you have to climb carrying gear on a route as a leader, you can certainly do it with extra rope. All other mentioned options introduces extra variables for no reason, especially puting an ATC past the knot. Not only will you damage the device, but if it gets stuck, what next? If a large knot can easily get stuck in a crack, why not an ATC?