Lead Solo Tips

I'm gonna start lead rope soloing and wanted to get some thoughts. I've never really lead rock climbed, just one day top roping but I boulder at the gym occasionally and can work the v4-5 routes there and I'm probably the strongest person at the bouldering meet up. I've googled rope solo techniques and watch lots of youtube videos so I'm very confident that I know what to do. Also i have lots of experience working with horses so I know my way around ropes systems and knots so I'm not worried about that. I'm planning to go to a popular crag in case something happens but I feel like I could free solo the routes I will try so nothing can go wrong. Any advice?

0/10 troll. If not, don't do this. 

Usually when people say "Yer gonna die" they're kidding. In this case though, the odds are heavily, heavily stacked against you if you decide to be this naïve as to think that you can lead rope solo safely from watching some videos and doing a little reading. Until you have a significant amount of lead climbing experience, anchor building experience, understanding of how climbing/rope systems work, and can genuinely say that you know and have practiced self rescue techniques, I would not even go down the path of thinking about rope soloing.  -Sincerely, someone who lead rope solos and doesn't want to see you f--k yourself up

My advice is to learn how to lead climb and do it regularly for a couple years. Learn self rescue techniques. Learn how to ascend a rope. Learn how to build good anchors that can withstand upwards and downwards forces. Bouldering and top rope climbing have next to zero carryover to lead rope soloing. 

Learning to lead climb is my advice. That will give you plenty of excitement for the foreseeable future. Do not attempt to lead rope solo. You almost certainly don't even realize the extent of what can go wrong, how easily and fast it can happen, and if it does, how to fix it without getting yourself seriously injured or killed. Be smart, be safe. Just learn how to lead climb for now.

 when I started climbing we did not have the videos all we had were books... most of us didn't die.... 

Between the bouldering and the horses you are good to go

Rope soloing your bouldering projects might be one way to learn. Just bring lots of pads and maybe a giant net made from horse halters. You should be fine. 

It sounds like you have good rope skills, but be careful with lead rope soloing since you don’t have much lead climbing experience. Start with easier routes to build your skills, and always double-check your safety systems. It's better to be cautious, even if you feel confident.

Use a horse as a ground anchor 

I’ve used several methods over the years. The past couple years I settled on utilizing the wild country revo. Some good videos out there on how to use the revo (modified, unmodified, and two of them) solo. Have fun and be safe— in either order. 

Remember never to lead on bolts you didn't place, as they can be suspect. Better buy a triple rack and just start soloing on gear. In exchange for me giving you this valuable tip, please name me as the beneficiary of your rack in your last will and testament.

Ur gonna do great kid 

Scooby scoob wrote:

...I'm planning to go to a popular crag in case something happens...

Sorry to pile on but just to drive the point home, no one wants to see you splat. It isn't fair to anyone else at the crag to see someone get hurt/injured/expire. It is traumatizing & very inconsiderate to expect strangers to call 911 or scrape remains into a bucket. We're all out there, trying to having a good time & if something happens, everyone's day is done.

You won. You got a bunch of people to respond. I agree with JW. 10/10. Bravo. Now go make some friends at the bouldering meet up & get some mileage before attempting something as technical as LRS.

No one has recommended weed scooby but in this case I will. Do weed 

Responses here seem overly harsh. I actually started climbing in a similar situation. After weeks of trying to teach my horse how to belay I realized it just wasn’t going to work. Her hooves just can’t really work the lever on a grigri and I couldn’t find anything in the Edelrid ohm instruction manual about using it with my horse (780lb weight difference). So, I did the logical next best thing. I intentionally chose a popular crag because I assumed that nobody would mind helping me out when I inevitably became tangled, and I figured there would probably be at least one EMT in the crowd to give me CPR in case I took a 100ft headfirst digger. Despite having only been toproping once, I was confident I could freesolo the routes. After all, I’m the strongest person at the beginners bouldering meetup I went to. My trad climbing friend told me “you should really learn how to build an anchor first.” I said “neigh! I disagree.” He said “didn't the guy in the video warn you to only do this after years of climbing experience?” I told him to quit horsing around. My best friend told me that I needed to hold my horses, and that I was going to make a foal of myself. Well… my friends all got real quiet after I told them that I had a LOT of rope experience from my cowboy days. Anyway, I narrowly escaped death that first time and went on to be a great climber.

Have fun!

Sincerely,

Margo Hay(es) is for horses

Matt Schilowitz wrote:

Responses here seem overly harsh. I actually started climbing in a similar situation. After weeks of trying to reach my horse how to belay I realized it just wasn’t going to work. Her hooves just can’t really work the lever on a grigri and I couldn’t find anything in the Edelrid ohm instruction manual about using it with my horse (780lb weight difference). So, I did the logical next best thing. I intentionally chose a popular crag because I assumed that nobody would mind helping me out when I inevitably became tangled, and I figured there would probably be at least one EMT in the crowd to give me CPR in case I took a 100ft headfirst digger. Despite having only been toproping once, I was confident I could freesolo the routes. After all, I’m the strongest person at the beginners bouldering meetup I went to. My trad climbing friend told me “you should really learn how to build an anchor first.” I said “neigh! I disagree.” He said “didn't the guy in the video warn you to only do this after years of climbing experience?” I told him to quit horsing around. My best friend told me that I was needed to hold my horses, and that I was going to make a foal of myself. Well… my friends all got real quiet after I told them that I had a lot of rope experience from my cowboy days. Anyway, I narrowly escaped death that first time and went on to be a great climber.

Have fun!

Sincerely,

Margo Hay(es) is for horses

All of this is terrible except for the Margo Hayes joke, that bit is actually brilliant

You don't need any specialized devices. Ever heard of a clove hitch? You can basically tie a loose clove around your waist while tugging a few feet for slack as you vertically make your way up. In the event of a fall the clove will tighten around your waist. GLHF

Matt Schilowitz wrote:

Responses here seem overly harsh. I actually started climbing in a similar situation. After weeks of trying to teach my horse how to belay I realized it just wasn’t going to work. Her hooves just can’t really work the lever on a grigri and I couldn’t find anything in the Edelrid ohm instruction manual about using it with my horse (780lb weight difference). So, I did the logical next best thing. I intentionally chose a popular crag because I assumed that nobody would mind helping me out when I inevitably became tangled, and I figured there would probably be at least one EMT in the crowd to give me CPR in case I took a 100ft headfirst digger. Despite having only been toproping once, I was confident I could freesolo the routes. After all, I’m the strongest person at the beginners bouldering meetup I went to. My trad climbing friend told me “you should really learn how to build an anchor first.” I said “neigh! I disagree.” He said “didn't the guy in the video warn you to only do this after years of climbing experience?” I told him to quit horsing around. My best friend told me that I needed to hold my horses, and that I was going to make a foal of myself. Well… my friends all got real quiet after I told them that I had a LOT of rope experience from my cowboy days. Anyway, I narrowly escaped death that first time and went on to be a great climber.

Have fun!

Sincerely,

Margo Hay(es) is for horses

This made me laugh so much.