Texas Quickdraw Chain Free Solo Guy

So down there in Texas, they got themselves a do it yourself solo guy who likes to climb so much, he doesn't call any friends at all. He just goes! And he doesn't read none of them dang John Long books, he just buys some quickdraws and figures it out, you know?

Did you see the chain of quickdraws draped in front of him? Yes, this is how he "protecc." He clips the bolt above him with that chain and then unclips it once above, reaching above for another bolt to clip. If he falls, he falls on the chain of draws. He has not gotten seriously injured yet, apparently.

Attempts so far to talk reason into him or showing him the Gri Gri self-belay rope leading method have failed.

So what would you do in this situation? He also tends to rain rocks down on the crag when "walking off" cliffs meant to be rappelled or lowered from.

I'm thinking of that old Pace picante sauce commercial.

Attempts so far to talk reason into him or showing him the Gri Gri self-belay rope leading method have failed.

So what would you do in this situation? He also tends to rain rocks down on the crag when "walking off" cliffs meant to be rappelled or lowered from.

texas quickdraw massacre

What’s his excuse?  I mean at least get a daisy or better yet a via ferrata setup. 

I would try to talk to him a bit to understand him and his motivations before explaining how there are safer alternatives. If he isn't interested in being safer I'd explain how it affects other people by making them uncomfortable or forcing them to get involved in a rescue when he falls.

I've done a little soloing (the unroped kind and roped kind) and I know that sometimes it makes people uncomfortable. I'd tell him that I try to solo away from people for that reason.

If he doesn't listen to any of that and I'm in the mood to practice my rescue / WFR skills, I'd stick around and keep climbing. Otherwise I'd move along to avoid being involved.

I encountered this guy yesterday.

Before someone makes the inevitable post about passive-aggressive shaming posts instead of talking to the person, let me state that people have talked to him. Yesterday alone, as he was showering rocks down, I and someone else from my party called out to him telling him to say something. We got no response at all, not even anything once he was back down and walking past us. And then he went up another route and did the same thing all over again, including the rockfall.

I also know at least one person who has spoken with the guy directly, and to no avail. The guy is clueless or indifferent.

If he wants to put himself at risk, I really don't care, but he is dangerous to others, and about that I do care.

Austin-area climbers who are not on local FB groups where there have been posts about this guy, please be on the lookout for him and leave if you see him. His favorite spot seems to be Myth Wall at Gus Fruh in the Greenbelt, but I also saw him in the Fern Bar area.

Good thing he has that water bottle to stay hydrated, dehydration can kill ya!

Robert S wrote:
I also know at least one person who has spoken with the guy directly, and to no avail. The guy is clueless or indifferent.

If he really won't listen regarding rockfall then I guess you could call the police on him? If you don't want to involve police, throw rocks at him when he starts the next route to see how he likes being hit by rocks?

Rew Exo wrote: If he really won't listen regarding rockfall then I guess you could call the police on him? If you don't want to involve police, throw rocks at him when he starts the next route to see how he likes being hit by rocks?

Defund the police!

WTF.

Did Bear Grylls start a climbing school?

SinRopa wrote: What's his reasoning for the "advantages" of his method, as opposed to tying in on a short length of dynamic rope with one biner at the end of it?

No one knows. The guy I know who talked with him said he seemed oblivious.

At this point he guy is probably hopeless but my only suggestion would be show him how two biners when twisted can come apart and that his quick-draw McGraw setup might not be very safe.

There was a guy like this soloing in the eastern Sierra with gloves and a 60 ft piece of webbing that he would haul a backpack on.  There’s tons of YouTube videos of him being sketchy on 5.5 terrain.  He took a 50 footer and shattered his leg, but get this: he’s back at it.

SinRopa wrote: What's his reasoning for the "advantages" of his method

What’s his reasoning? You clearly didn’t take in the story.

Anyway, this is the kind of beautifully stupid information I needed to hear. 

I'm bothered he is determined to rely on this ridiculous safety system. Commit to the solo or go home. This is dumb. 

Sick Pete Bishop on him. End of story...

Christopher Smaling wrote: There was a guy like this soloing in the eastern Sierra with gloves and a 60 ft piece of webbing that he would haul a backpack on.  There’s tons of YouTube videos of him being sketchy on 5.5 terrain.  He took a 50 footer and shattered his leg, but get this: he’s back at it.

yeah, the dude you're talking about should be banned from using SAR services. He also still brags about how badass it was that he had to be rescued by chopper. but as for our texas climber, i'm not sure him nor the people here realize how unsafe this is. Knocking down even a small rock can kill someone. Once I tried to set up a rappel in a chossy area with tourists below and sent a few rocks down on accident. The second of slow motion where my mind was trying to figure out if my rocks were going to kill someone will stay with me forever. Something needs to be done about this guy, or at the very least everyone around him needs to know they are not safe. 

Tim Stich wrote: So down there in Texas, they got themselves a do it yourself solo guy who likes to climb so much, he doesn't call any friends at all. He just goes! And he doesn't read none of them dang John Long books, he just buys some quickdraws and figures it out, you know?

Fun fact: the fall factor is higher than normal, because the carabiners can not absorb any energy.

There are 5 quickdraws between him and the bolt. So total length is 5*32cm= 160cm. But the total length than can absorb energy from the fall is given by the dogbones' total length so 5*12cm= 60cm.

Max FF= 2*160cm/60cm = 5.3 (instead of FF2)
FF at bolt height= 160cm/60cm = 2.6 (instead of FF1)
FF below bolt= 0.5*160/60 = 1.3 (instead of FF0.5)

Not that it matters much; one of the dogbones will break, if a pair of carabineers does not get disconnected, in any fall he takes close to or above the bolt.