In the past we worked out sequences by trading leads with a usually unwilling partner. On The Prophet, Leo Houlding and Jason Pickles worked solo off a Grigri on a fixed line. Leo noted two advantages in his video. First, you can work things out solo, on your own time, without annoying your partner, who needs to show up only on the red point try. Second, the Grigri allows you to build in as much slack as you will ever get on the lead, so when it comes time for the lead, it actually feels like a done deal. Also, the Grigri beats working with jumars where more than likely you would be unwilling to take a fall. I mentioned this to Diana Rogers who felt that the Grigri might be huge disadvantage in the event of falling upside down. I've compared the Houlding-Pickles to other solo methods and it seems dramatically better than most other choices for dialing in a red point. Any other thoughts?

....a link to the video would help.

I used a Gri Gri to TR solo a project last summer. Most climbers find the slack to be annoying, I felt that it made me stronger, since pulling up the slack was similar to stopping to place the protection. I tied backup knots every so often.

...and the fact that you can quickly descend and immediatley begin climbing again without having to futz with two pieces of hardware as is the case when using a Mini Traxion, e.g. rig rap device to rope, remove Mini Trax (or at least disengage cam), descend and then before climbing re-engage MT, remove rap device. This is especially beneficial when working a crux section repeatedly. The ability to quickly descend, often times a short distance, and 'get busy' is hugely significant. The Mini Trax is great for mileage/laps but a bit tedious for re-working crux sections.

how do you keep the biner from cross loading? use a quicklink?

Guys have been solo top roping on grigris for a long time. I don't think I'd call it a game changer.

The reason the traxion method is so popular is because you don't have to face those lobs onto a grigri. It does have the disadvantages of being harder to work a section and having to switch devices to lower.

The world's most famous toproper once told me that he only uses the cinch, that way if he falls he can lower straight to the ground.

I use a Trango cinch with a DMM belay master biner, works awesome. rope goes through the cinch easy and you can just rap right back off your fixed line

Only a game changer for the dolts like myself who have always worked projects with a climbing partner/belay slave.

video link: www.iclimb.com/products/Psyche-2-Download.html

make sure you back it up with knots or something else ...

Top roping being a game changer.

Wack.

Its not the top rope that's key, it's working out cruxes solo. However, if you'd be okay serving endlessly as my belay slave, I'll happily forgo the Grigri !!!!!

Rapping a single line with a GriGri will singe your rope. Or at least in my unfortunate experience. It was a 10.5 too.

Edit: it was a long ways & didn't waste any time getting down. I don't use the GriGri for rope soloing anymore but after this experience I started using an ATC to get down. The extra 30 seconds to switch over was worth not trashing the rope.

LOL at "game changer". Higgins was working the Owl Roof self-belayed with a jumar in 1973.

Guys- the crossloading on the biner won't break the biner, but will break the Gri gri. It will happen on a quick link or a beefy steel biner. The best thing to do is to put some tape rounds on either side of the grigri to keep it where you want it. Don't die man.

Self belay with a jumar is exactly not the point. We've been doing that for a couple of decades as well. Slack built up with a jumar results in the jumar inverting, and by no means can you fall on it. Running a jumar above the Grigri creates a standad top-rope, perfectly fine if you are just checking things out. It's worth taking a look at Houlding/Pickles on the Prophet, if you have not. They build up enough slack to generate truly long falls, then reel in the slack, and they are both doing it on hard overhanging 5.13. "game changer" may over state the notion, but I have not seen anyone around our local crags working cruxes in just this way. In playing with this system recently I've started out using a jumar and Grigri combination and then dropping the jumar when I think I'm close. For me anyway, my actual time working a crux has been multiplied ten fold.

A link for a $15 on-line video? Don't think I have the stoke you do.

I know i'm behind the times, but is there any difference for this purpose in the gri gri versus the gri gri 2?

Try this one, it's more expensive but its a good video:
www.chesslerbooks.com/item/11336-psyche-2-rock-climbing-dvd->>>

Grigri 2 lets you work off a thinner lead line. Mine is 9.6.