Systems for rope solo climbing

I was just curious what type of solo systems you used for rope soloing.

Currently for lead rope soloing, I build a multi-directional anchor meant mostly to resist an upward force and tie in one end of my rope to the master point on that anchor, I then take about 10-15 feet of slack from the rope end tied to the anchor and clove hitch it to a locking biner on my harness. As I climb up, I place gear and clip it. I also have to continually pay out slack through the clove hitch as I climb. This system is kind of annoying because I must continually adjust the clove hitch to give myself slack. Once I top out the climb, I rappel and re-climb the pitch, cleaning the gear on a top-rope solo.

My top-rope solo system is to climb up with my belay device fixed to rappel. I back up the belay device with a prusik knot on a locking biner attached to my leg loop. This system is annoying because I have to feed rope through the belay device as well as through the prusik, which is a real bitch, especially when there's a massive loop of rope hanging underneath me.

Any ideas to improve upon these systems would be greatly appreciated.

-Dan

use a gri instead of a clove for leading and a mini/microtrax for TR soloing.

So instead of paying out rope through the clove the rope just feeds through the gri? And how does the mini-trax work?

Dan.Schultz wrote:So instead of paying out rope through the clove the rope just feeds through the gri? And how does the mini-trax work?

You can use a grigri but it won't protect you from upside down fall. Not clear how often that might actually happen though. Silent Partner seems to be the best method/device but not cheap.

As for TR solo with a minitraxion, see here:

highinfatuation.com/blog/ro…

and

supertopo.com/a/How-to-Set-…

There have been several recent discussions of this on MP so it is probably worth searching for them.

JIm

I use a Mini-Traxion and you file off the bump that allows it to lock open as a pulley. You don't want it accidently locking open if you fall.

I have two Micro Traxions (smaller than the Mini, orange) for top rope solo.

This is a beautiful set up.. Once you have it rigged and triple checked, it really requires zero attention as you climb: the Traxions glide up the ropes and stop you without effort or hesitation.

[However, even though it works attention-free, you should check it often as you climb any way, to make sure you haven't built up slack. A large shock load onto the Traxions is bad.]

Dan.Schultz wrote:I was just curious what type of solo systems you used for rope soloing. -Dan

Barnett.

Search! There is a lifetime worth of threads on here about this.

jim.dangle wrote: You can use a grigri but it won't protect you from upside down fall. JIm

Grigris will catch an inverted fall in a roped-solo system. I would imagine you're thinking about the Soloist self-belay device that isn't expected to catch invertered falls everytime.

Dan,

My advice is this:

Use a belay device that has been specifically manufactured for rope soloing and then hire a guide to teach you how to use the thing.

The Gri Gri has not been built for this. A very good friend nearly died last fall when the biner attaching his Gri Gri to his harness broke when cross loaded under a low velocity fall. This was a very experienced climber who rope soloed on a regular basis. My buddy took a 50-60 footer to the deck. Lucky for him he hit a ledge on the way down that slowed him. He had massive ortho trauma that he is still recovering from.

What is about to happen to this thread is that someone will try to say, "Oh no, I have used the Gri Gri for years and I'm fine." or that "Your buddy screwed up and that is why his system didn't catch him." (which is true...) Ignore all of this crap. If you want to solo get a device that is built for it. Then, hire a guide to teach you how to use it.

Best of luck and climb safe out there.

Will Cobb

yeah, a gri will catch upside down falls. Still, you're really dumb if you don't use a backup, and will die fer shure. A locker clipped into the belay loop below the gri with a overhand on a bight works perfect and only takes a few seconds to lengthen.

Buy a silent partner and throw the rope in a small rucksac with backup knots tied every 20 or so feet. It's safe and simple.

I use the Silent Partner for both freeclimbing and Aid. I've used a grigri for soloaid as well as a Soloist for freeclimbing. The Silent Partner is worth the price. period.

Backup knots or die.

I usually clove hitch my waist. Then my ankle for a back up.

The Soloist and GriGri are both nice in that sense - there are no hidden parts that cannot be inspected for wear.

For aid I like a Grigri, but I use a quick link instead of a biner specifically to avoid the cross loaded biner issue.

When I used a grigri for solo aid, I used a steel biner so that cross loading became less of an issue. The SP used two biners so steel isn't needed. With a SP though you'll still want to have a grigri (I use a cinch) for lowering out, rapping fixed lines, haulbag gymnastics and pendulums since the SP doesn't really work efficiently for that. But in the end, the SP is well worth it because you're in a better head to get out of the aiders to free a section knowing you won't have to fiddle with a grigri locking up in the middle of a dynamic section.