Best rope solo belay setup for a 15 foot home wall?

Hey all,

I have a 15 -17 foot rock wall in the back chimney of my outdoor pavilion, that i can climb for training.

I'm looking for some type of self belay setup ( with an anchor at the top), so i can climb to the top, then lower myself down, and repeat. also to catch me in any falls.

I know its not very high, but I do not want to jump down, or fall and twist an ankle or something at my old ripe old age of 64.

Any help appreciated!

Cheap will be fidly, requiring pulling rope through every few feet: GriGri + Dynamic rope, stopper in the end, hopefully keeping you off the ground, barely

Middle will be more expensive, slower changeover: Camp Roller chest ascender TR Solo setup... or some other TR solo setup, then switch to GriGri to descend. Going 2 device is the norm for TR solo... but for 15ft? You will spend more time changing over than you will climbing.

Fast will be expensive: TruBlu or other gym autobelay system

I think you are better off not climbing it at all. I can't imagine you actually set any of these systems up and then use it more than a hand full of times before you get bored of it.

Taz Love comes to mind. I'd definitely back it up as I have had mine fail to catch. Microtrax works well as you can disengage the teeth, lower on the Taz then re-engage and keep climbing

So you’re talking about Top Rope Soloing(TRS). You’ll get a lot of opinions on the right way to TRS, most of them very similar but with fine small nuance differences. What’s generally accepted is two progress capture devices. Some people stack them on one fixed  rope and others use them on two separate fixed ropes. On my home wall I use two devices on one rope. Pictures below… I use a Taz Lov 3 held up by a neck lanyard above a mini-traxion. I do this on a harness with 2 belay loops. This is not a cheap setup, but is very convenient because both devices can be installed/removed from the rope without taking them off my harness. I personally feel that never having to take either device off my harness increases my margin of safety.  Once at the top of the climb, I can disengage the cam on the MT and lower with the Taz. The list of progress capture devices ppl use to TRS is extensive… gri gri, mini/ micro/nano tractions, roll-n-lock… the list goes on and on. If you don’t use a device that can also lower ( tax lov, gri gri, etc) , then you have to switch to a rappel device once you get to the top. This is a dangerous step and I’d recommend avoiding it by using a device that can lower you.

That’s my 2 cents, I’m sure it’ll get blasted with criticism. YMMV

Also… YGD (yer gonna die) if you TRS, good luck!

TThurman wrote:

*warning, thread drift* What’s the purpose of the red ribbon coming off of the foothold?

That’s how I set routes. Counter-sunk magnets + flagging tape + a small ball bearing. Different colors for each route… had to swap out stainless bolts for zinc coated bolts to make the magnets stick. It’s a work in progress, not having to fight adhesive tape when resetting routes is awesome, but sometimes I kick the flags loose when I’m flailing around…

I live in SE Ohio… similar problem as the OP has, nothing to climb and no one to climb with. You either gotta make do with what’s around or build a backyard crag.

John R wrote:

Hey all,

I have a 15 -17 foot rock wall in the back chimney of my outdoor pavilion, that i can climb for training.

I'm looking for some type of self belay setup ( with an anchor at the top), so i can climb to the top, then lower myself down, and repeat. also to catch me in any falls.

I know its not very high, but I do not want to jump down, or fall and twist an ankle or something at my old ripe old age of 64.

Any help appreciated!

Thick bouldering pads?

closer to bouldering than pitched climbing - I agree with Li that some bouldering pads or old gymnastics mats might be good 

Clip a bolt every 18"?

I would recommend one of the two devices that feeds well that allow you to lower for such a short wall. Those two devices are the Trango Vergo and thr Taz Lov. The Lov is the better of the two, but costs 2.5x as much. I would back up with a microtrax or roll n lock or jumar or whatever you fancy. 

Ben Podborski wrote:

closer to bouldering than pitched climbing - I agree with Li that some bouldering pads or old gymnastics mats might be good 

The guy is 64, he could fracture a hip or suffer a torn retina by falling even 5' onto a pad.  

If you don’t mind getting a boost up the wall, could you just rig up a counterweight at ~80% of your bodyweight? 

I use this setup for TRS using a Vergo for the last 4-5 years and helped my son adapt it to his home wall (I'm 73).

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CfIUM7rDpSc/?igsh=N3o2bGZ0dmtvZjlt

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEMlAMODl1x/?igsh=dmc5NHJvNXgxNGFm

Doug B wrote:

The guy is 64, he could fracture a hip or suffer a torn retina by falling even 5' onto a pad.  

At that advanced age, probably shouldn’t even be getting out of bed, tbh

Doug B wrote:

The guy is 64, he could fracture a hip or suffer a torn retina by falling even 5' onto a pad.  

Climbing is dangerous

Mark E Dixon wrote:

At that advanced age, probably shouldn’t even be getting out of bed, tbh

lol, you are probably right.......I shouldn't have climbed Snake Dike on Half Dome 3 weeks ago with the 16 miles of hiking on top of that!

I just use pads to safeguard a fall if I'm just doing easy problems but I use a Taz Lov set up if I'm pushing hard moves up high where I know a fall is likely.    

If it's easy enough to downclimb, I would just use pads and run laps up and down, plan to never fall and the pads are there just in case. Have to transition from a TRS setup like Camp lift/ microtrax back to a gri/gri for lower every 15 feet is going to be tedious. 

Here's a terrible idea you should definitely NOT do, but would require NO CHANGEOVER and also be awesome:

• ±15 feet of dynamic rope tied to ground anchor. Also a bouldering pad.
• Bolt or other anchor-ish thing + fixed draw at about 10 feet.
• Tie in to the end of the rope. Adjust rope length and anchor height to just barely keep you off the ground with the draw clipped.
• Upclimb and downclimb to your heart's content, clipping and unclipping as you go -- with a bouldering fall before clipping, a toprope fall if clipped and still below the draw, and a lead fall if above the draw.

JR, just want to say keep it up, I just turned 40 and if I’m still climbing hard at 60+ I’d be damned proud, good on you friend.