Ice Park Rope Soloing

Every time I visit Ouray I seem to see a number of climbers rope soloing in the gorge. Would any of you cold individuals like to chime in and describe your setup?

I have rope soloed thousands of feet on a Petzl Shunt running through double strands (apparently no longer recommended), but I've been a little hesitant to trust it on wet/ icy ropes when ice climbing.

Petzl has a great article online outlining the best practices for rope soloing, petzl.com/en/outdoor/produc…
but I was wondering if anyone could reference personal experience and offer any suggestions.

Given the following scenario, what setup would YOU rig?
-You're at the top of a 125' pitch of ice with some bomber trees to build an anchor off of
-You have a 60 meter rope
-You brought 2 petzl ascension jumars, 1 petzl shunt, and a gri gri and have a variety of runners/ quickdraws/ cordage

Thanks in advance for your civil and constructive contributions!
-Dylan

(In other news, I need a partner for Ouray this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday...)

Most avid rope soloers in the Ice Park use an Ushba. It still freaks me out but they say it works great. Caution with the grigri. I watched a friend deck after his grigri didn't grab and slid 50' down a rope. Not a hands-free device.

That isn't a photo of someone soloing.

Chris Wenker wrote:That isn't a photo of someone soloing.

Agreed. No rope below them.

My system is a Mini-Trax. I back it up with knots every now and then.

I always carry a sling so I can hang on my tool if I get pumped, and/or to tie a backup knot if I need one and there's not a good stance.

I also carry an extra sling and a pair or Ropemans or Tiblocs for jugging the rope, in case I drop a tool or something.

I much prefer static line.

You do have to wonder when Petzl will release an a device that was designed from the ground-up for soloing. I've been considering a dual Mini-trax setup for a while, but even with all the people recommending it I would somehow feel more comfortable knowing that I was using the things truly as they were designed.

Single mini Traxion. With some knots as I climb. Has yet to fail me. And I dont worry about wet or icy ropes (To a certain extent!). The only problem I have ever heard of this "system" is when someone was surmounting a ledge and fell. The release mechanism caught the edge, causing the cam to open, and the person almost decked. It did catch him eventually, however it did rip apart his rope. In order to prevent this he ground down the little knob that releases the cam. I dont plan on ever grinding mine though, as I use it for crevasse rescue as well. And to me, If you stay focused and keep your device positioned properly, it is completely avoidable. When solo'ing, the most important piece of safety gear is your brain. Solo'ing, regardless of set up, is much more dangerous then climbing with a partner. As long as you ALWAYS treat it as such, you will be ok. But as soon as your mind slips, so will you. Be careful, ask questions (LOTS), and watch others. I wouldnt mind explaining my set up to anyone who asked. So If I were you, I would ask questions in person whenever I get the chance to. Stay safe.

petzl.com/en/outdoor/produc…

i use a microascender and a second line with draws placed every so often that i clip in with ...

when the new microtraxion is out ill use one of those on a second line ...

ushba or gri for me

ushba is reliable, don't grab it when you fall and don't let the biner cross load. if you don't have one of those fancy belay biners a bit of tape on the belay loop works. or the "string" from a petzl draw if you have a really skinny belay loop. don't let a bunch of slack build up, either pull on the rope a bunch off the deck or weight it somehow. tie a backup knot if you get scared. i used to do this a lot but it gets kind of boring after a while. its pretty safe if you are moderately competent at rigging. lots of people like minitrax too, but i haven't used it for this purpose so i can't say if its better or not. if you were to buy one or the other the advantage is the minitrax has more uses.

oh ya, just saw a new microtrax, looks pretty slick, and harder to accidentally jam open than the mini.

Earlier this season I was taking to someone soloing toprope ice with a mini-trax. He ended up cutting his session short because the device was acting up and not grabbing. Conditions that day were terrible for freezing a nice thick layer of ice to the rope. (We gave up toproping because it was getting too difficult to belay.)

I'd probably still use a mini-trax, but always with knotted backups. Also, I'd keep an eye on the rope and bail if it glazes up badly.

Phillip

Ushba with backup knots or a second rope with a Gri Gri on. C.A.M.P. has come up with an Ushba knockoff, called Lift. The gear shop in Ouray carries it. Make sure to show up at the park at 3pm, just in time for the full-on alpine experience with the sprinklers going off at 4.

Hey Dylan given your scenario and assuming TRing is my plan. I would rig a fixed line off the bomber trees. Use the grigri, and tie a knot every once in awhile, say 20ftish, depending on the conditions and how strong i was feeling.

@Fleetwood Matt
Would you describe the conditions that led to your friends accident? Were they TRing if so fixed line or sling shot? ice conditions, wet dry? Also do you know how thick the rope they were climbing on was? any other details would be great. Thx.

brian, pretty sure it wasn't ice climbing but working on a new sport crag. he tried to sit on the rope and it didn't catch. not positive about the rest of the details. all the info i got was second hand, haven't seen the guy since his accident. snow and ice certainly don't improve the performance of the grigri though.

Although its not recommended, I use an petzl ascender or a ropeman and back up with knots. Its what I have and I lost my Ushuba about 5 years ago.
However I have seen a GriGri fail on an icy/wet rope about five years ago in Upstate NY. They scare me now.

Hi,
I never heard or have seen a Ushuba device. Interesting.

Can anyone elaborate why this would be better than say a Petzl or Clog ascender - per se?

Hi,
I never heard or have seen a Ushuba device. Interesting.

Can anyone elaborate why this would be better than say a Petzl or Clog ascender - per se?

ushba.com/catalog/access.ht…

It seems to me, for an iced rope, the Ushba moves much more smoothly since it works by pinching the rope.

Scott M. McNamara wrote:http://www.ushba.com/catalog/access.html#basic It seems to me, for an iced rope, the Ushba moves much more smoothly since it works by pinching the rope.

My understanding is that the Ushba is no longer available, as of about a year ago. Last year I placed orders from four or five various retailers whose online catalogs showed it was in stock, only to be told later it was discontinued. However, I finally managed to find one outfit that still had a few left; I'll see if I can dig up which one that was.

It's a great, simple device that feeds well, works on a fairly wide range of rope diameters, and supposedly works well even on icy ropes. I also like that it doesn't rely on teeth to grab the rope. Many climbers who use them are comfortable without using backup knots (though personally I'm not that bold).

bumping an old thread to learn what folks are doing in 2019 for a top-rope solo set-up