Top Rope Self-Belay

Does anybody have any advice/comments about self-belaying with a top rope set up? I've looked over Petzl's advice on the issue, and they sound a little skeptical about the safety of it. I just moved to a new area, and there's a great crag really close to me now, but I don't know a ton of people in the area yet, and it's not always feasible to coordinate climbing with a partner due to my crazy schedule. Constructive advice is greatly appreciated!

Buy a static rope and anchor it as a fixed line in an acceptable fashion (natural anchor like a tree or bolts etc...). I like to use a microcender as my self belay device. As I climb up the rope I will periodically tie an overhand on a bight below the device so that if it were to fail the knot would catch me. I have used this set up for almost 5 years now and have never had the device fail. One issue to look out for while starting up a climb is making sure the rope is feeding through the device. I never waste my time weighting the bottom of the rope, you can just pull the slack through with one hand pretty easily but if you want you could attach your backpack, waterbottle, shoes... I also keep a sling, prussik cord and a locking biner to ascend the rope if I get stuck in a section. You can also use it to transfer onto your belay device if you want to just rappel down instead. Ive seen people just use a grigri instead of the microcender but it doesnt feed through the device, you have to constantly pull it through. Not an issue if you are climbing routes below your limit.

my advice on self belay (which i use frequently) is to find someone safe and experienced to show you how they do it

and even then you need to take it with a grain of salt as i see folks use a single unbacked up ascender all the time

when you are first starting on it its worth being a bit paranoid and follow the way petzl recommends ... with independent back ups ... keeping a cell phone on you is a good idea

also your rappel and self rescue skllls better be top notch

remember that you may well be on your own, so if something like a rock smacks you there aint a partner who can run for help

whatever you do dont learn how to do it via an intraweb forum

even experienced folks screw up ... heres a recent accident report

publications.americanalpine…



At approximately 11:40 a.m. on July 12, I greeted a solo climber as I was rappelling Chicken Delight on the Barber Wall at Cathedral Ledge with a client. I observed that the solo climber had just rappelled Double Vee/Jolt on a static line, and appeared to be preparing to rope-solo back up, using an ascender rigged to a chest harness as an auto-belay. I also observed a party of two on the nearby climb Nutcracker.

I short-roped my client, J.M., over to the climb Upper Refuse, which is a couple of hundred yards away from the Barber Wall and out of sight. I had just started leading Upper Refuse when one of the climbers who had been on Nutcracker appeared below and asked if anyone was an EMT, as a climber had fallen 70 feet and was seriously injured. I asked if 911 had been called, and he confirmed he was on the phone with them. I left a piece of protection in the climb and quickly downclimbed back to J.M. I then pulled my rope and short-roped J.M. back to the accident scene.

I arrived at the base of the Barber Wall at 12:12 p.m., about 12 minutes after the fall. The victim, B.D., was conscious when I arrived, but the two witnesses confirmed he had been unconscious for at least five minutes after the fall. He had come to rest crumpled around a tree, with his head downhill. I immediately noticed what appeared to be a left femur fracture, as well as some trauma to his face. The victim was in quite a bit of pain. The obvious femur fracture seemed to be top priority. I found no signs of a head injury on the back of the victim’s head, even though he was not wearing a helmet.

B.D. was able to communicate his name, age, residence, and where he was, but not what month it was. In order to put traction on the left femur, I had the two recreational climbers and my client aid me by supporting his head and arms while we straightened him into a position where I could get traction on his leg and look for other life-threatening injuries.

Once I found no other immediate threats, I called Mountain Rescue Service to update them on the severity of the victim’s injuries and confirm they knew exactly where we were (since 911 sometimes does not relay an accurate location).

During my secondary exam I discovered an open tear in the victim’s lower right arm, where it appeared he had sustained an open compound fracture and the bone had reduced on its own. The 10-inch laceration was not bleeding much, so I put slight traction on that arm, which eased the pain as the victim confirmed.

B.D. also complained of his right leg hurting, and while there was no obvious fracture we applied slight traction on that leg, which seemed to lower his pain.

Over the next 50 minutes the victim stayed “AOx2” (alert and aware of name and location). He continuously complained of difficulty breathing and confusion about what had happened. Two sets of vitals recorded a heart rate of 100 and difficulty breathing. A couple other climbers had arrived, and I facilitated a rotation of people applying manual traction, giving each person an opportunity to stand and rest. I continually checked on my client, J.M., who was steadfast while we cared for B.D.

At 12:50 a Mountain Rescue Service member made contact with me from the top of the Barber Wall, and 15 minutes later the paramedics arrived. The lead paramedic took over medical care, and I redirected my focus on scene safety as we now had non-climber paramedics on scene, with questionable footing where they were accessing the victim. I anchored the one who appeared to be the least sure-footed and most exposed, then started gathering my gear and my clients’ for the carry out.

Mountain Rescue Service had set up a traversing hand line as well as a belay line for the litter, in order to facilitate the carry-out in third-class terrain. After checking in again with my client and finding him steadfast, enthusiastic, and focused, I decided we could continue to assist with the carry-out without any undue risk.

While stopped at a rope-switch point I noticed the victim staring at the sun, and placed my hands to shade his eyes. His pupils were unresponsive. The lead paramedic was notified that the patient’s condition had changed, and he made a few last-ditch efforts before calling him “coded.” As rigor had started to set in, and the cause of death was likely severe internal trauma, no CPR was performed. The time was approximately 1:50 p.m. After 15 minutes Fish & Game received authorization from the New Hampshire attorney general’s office to continue the evacuation of the victim, and we carried B.D. to the top of the cliff to be handed over to the appropriate authority.

We reached the parking lot at about 2:40, and I submitted a written statement to the Fish & Game officer

Analysis

Because the victim was climbing alone, I can only speculate on what happened, based on the evidence I saw. When I arrived no one had touched the victim. He had a single strand of static rope threaded through an ATC clipped with a locking carabiner to his belay loop. The carabiner was locked. His ascender, clipped to an improvised chest harness, was not attached to a rope. He had another locking carabiner on his belay loop that was not in use. There was a fair amount of slack in the rope on both sides of the belay device.

I confirmed from the Mountain Rescue Service member who had arrived at the top of the cliff that one end of B.D.’s rope was anchored to a tree above Double Vee with a bowline, and then redirected off another tree, presumably to position the rope over Jolt. The other end of the rope was unsecured at the top of the cliff, leaving a “loop” that hung down to where the victim came to rest. The nearby climbers said his fall had started from the very top of the cliff.

From this info I speculate that B.D. rappelled a single strand of his static rope to the base of Jolt. He then used his chest-rigged ascender to self-belay an ascent of Jolt. At the top of the climb he removed the ascender and installed his belay/rappel device on the rope, but he appears to have attached the device to the wrong point on the rope, with 70-plus feet of slack between it and the anchor. He then leaned back to descend. Another theory is that an unknown medical condition caused him let go of his brake hand while rappelling, but the fact that there was a fair amount of slack in the system where he came to rest doesn’t really support this. It’s also possible he had left the ATC on the rope while ascending Jolt, then pulled up all the rope after removing his ascender and then somehow fell, with the free end of the rope somehow getting caught at the top of the cliff. None of these scenarios would be forgiving, as there is a vertical, 70-foot fall to a flat ledge.

It should be noted that B.D., age 56, was a well-known New England climber with experience spanning three decades, across the country, and countless hard first ascents to his name. The list of renowned climbers that knew and trusted him as a safe and extremely competent climber is long.

I use two Petzl micro traxions. I have two lines and I tie figure 8 back up knots to clip in to in the second line.

I use two micro traxions on two separate lines, too, and if I feel sketched for any reason, and at points strategically placed to keep me off the deck, I'll knot the ropes.

I feel very safe with this setup: when the bottom of the ropes are lightly weighted (4 quickdraws clipped into a free-hanging bight), the traxions require almost no upkeep. They stay with me. This system is redundant and in general fall forces generated are extremely low.

One Traxion is on a chest harness, and tethered to my belay loop, which keeps me from flipping upside down (I always wear a helmet, too). This also keeps the traxions from ramming into each other. The tether keeps the upper Traxion anchored lower, so it doesn't creep up when I weight it.

And I did have an experienced partner show me this setup before I tried it on my own.

In a perfect world one of the lines might have a non-Traxion device.

i fix the rope to the anchor using a figure 8 on a bight at the halfway point.
i like to use a micro traction slung to my hard points and with a sling around my shoulders (not to catch a fall but to keep the device around navel level) on one side of the line
on the other i back it up with a tango cinch(feeds WAY better than a grigri) i. if i get super tired i pull up on the cinch and sit on that because i don't like the way the traction bites the rope. i usually coil the rope at the bottom so its hanging right off the ground, if you don't have enough rope clip a pack to it or something. this will keep the rope feeding better.
be ready to ascend the rope if you can't finish the climb, or be prepared to escape the belay and rap off (you can lower yourself with the grigri or cinch).
i use this climbing rock and ice, and it feeds super well, feels really secure, is safe, and pretty easy to set up. just make sure you double check yourself because you don't have a partner to do it!!

In lieu of the Petzl Micro Traxion I like to use the Petzl Microcender and the Rescuecender - both are non-toothed devices. One for my main line and the other for my back-up line.

Most of the climbing I do solo is not multipitch and I can use just a single rope. The rope is doubled over with an eight on a bight at the middle. This will give me two indepedent lines. I also take one of those lines (the back-up) and anchor it to a secondary anchor point with another eight on a bight for redundancy.

The Rescuecender goes on my climb line while the Micro goes on the back-up. I also tie knots as a third failsafe on the back-up line. Sometimes, at a weird stance, it can be easier to fiddle with the rope that is not stuck between you and the rock.

This has worked very well for me so far. I tend to not climb too hard which keeps me comfortable when climbing alone, so your mileage may vary.

I agree that it is best to have someone show you the how and why first before venturing out to figure it all out for yourself. Everything you are doing solo is just that, SOLO. You screw up, you pay the price alone.

The guys here at MP may laugh, but I started on easy fourth class stuff just so I could figure out my preference. I probably looked silly roped up on scramble terrain, but I got dialed in, so to speak, and found out what worked and what did not. I did this for some time before going vertical.

Find someone with knowledge on solo climbing and take your time to work out the kinks. You may think you look stupid, but you would be even more so mangled at the bottom of some crag because you don't know what you are doing.

This is what I do. Works well for rock and ice.

I have two slings on a locker with biners on the ends and I clip the knots as I go up, making sure that I'm always clipped into one. I figure pausing to clip the knots is like placing gear so I'm not too hassled by having to clip them.

Provided you have a solid anchor, don't weight the rope over a sharp edge, and use redundant devices are two lines or back up knots necessary?

Ryanb,

Necessary for climbing, no. Ideal for safety, yes.

2 lines are especially important because if you need to bail it is much easier to switch to rap down the unweighted line. If you're pumped out from the climb you might not be able to pull your weight off the rope to unhook the ascender, especially if it's toothed not camming