Top Rope Solo Incident.

Saw this posted on Reddit and thought I’d share here. For some reason, mobile won’t let me actually insert as a link…

https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/2/11/the-prescription 

Unfortunately for the injured climber it was the one and only time she used a single progress capture device in the TRS setup.

Interesting that this is being (re)posted two years later - I recall very well when this happened, as it reminded me of my own near miss, with the sternum strap defeating my single micro (yep, idiot). Was on crux of serenity, so I did have a nice fingerlock but the 200ft fall I faced was not an enjoyable experience (was tied in, so at least the rope would have eventually caught me).

After that I try to always wear two devices when it counts 

Patrick Leonardo wrote:

Saw this posted on Reddit and thought I’d share here. For some reason, mobile won’t let me actually insert as a link…

https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/2/11/the-prescription 

I'm surprised they were able to get a picture of Julian from the Trailer Park Boys top rope soloing.

Though I hadn’t thought of this failure mode, my personal system avoids this - it’s a little more bulky though. I made a chest harness out of 1” nylon climb spec webbing that crosses on my back, runs over my shoulders and around my ribs, connects a little below my chest with an oval locker on two bights (that the trax goes on) and then continues straight down and connects to my belay loop. If the trax catches a fall, most of the weight ends up on the belay loop and there isn’t anything small enough near the trax to get sucked in. (Then a second backup device goes directly on the belay loop, well below the trax, usually on a second rope.)

Tone Loc wrote:

Though I hadn’t thought of this failure mode, my personal system avoids this - it’s a little more bulky though. I made a chest harness out of 1” nylon climb spec webbing that crosses on my back, runs over my shoulders and around my ribs, connects a little below my chest with an oval locker on two bights (that the trax goes on) and then continues straight down and connects to my belay loop. If the trax catches a fall, most of the weight ends up on the belay loop and there isn’t anything small enough near the trax to get sucked in. (Then a second backup device goes directly on the belay loop, well below the trax, usually on a second rope.)

Twice I’ve had the zipper tab string on a jacket go into a micro and block the teeth. Lots of ways to accidentally defeat the cam. They are great tools, but I’ve been concerned with guide-fluencers who seem to show them as infallible, and climbers who use them without a backup or real understanding of the many failure modes.

https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/2/11/the-prescription

"Top-rope soloing is an integral part of modern climbing." ?? Just because lots of people today are watching youtube videos of people fix-and-following on El Cap doesn't make something an 'integral part' of climbing in my mind... 

The people in this story seem competent and experienced and made a choice about how to climb their route (which, from the couch, seems sensible if unsafely carried out). But I have recently felt like I'm hearing often of people micro-traxing on like, 6 pitch routes. I'm just surprised the AAC would call that TRS standard operating procedure, rather than a specific solution to specific difficulties, which (like any technique) has drawbacks and tradeoffs.

take TAKE wrote:

"Top-rope soloing is an integral part of modern climbing." ?? Just because lots of people today are watching youtube videos of people fix-and-following on El Cap doesn't make something an 'integral part' of climbing in my mind... 

The people in this story seem competent and experienced and made a choice about how to climb their route (which, from the couch, seems sensible if unsafely carried out). But I have recently felt like I'm hearing often of people micro-traxing on like, 6 pitch routes. I'm just surprised the AAC would call that TRS standard operating procedure, rather than a specific solution to specific difficulties, which (like any technique) has drawbacks and tradeoffs.

Agreed. My first thought reading this was that it wasn’t really a TRS accident - it was an ascending a rope accident. Which isn’t really the same thing.

As I have said before, paraphrased:
Everyone I know who does a significant amount of TRS has had something happen to defeat a device (strap, shirt, rock, weird angle, etc), or has locked out a device and forgotten to re-engage it. Use two devices. Always.

Desert Rock Sports wrote:

As I have said before, paraphrased:
Everyone I know who does a significant amount of TRS has had something happen to defeat a device (strap, shirt, rock, weird angle, etc), or has locked out a device and forgotten to re-engage it. Use two devices. Always.

In this vein, even with 2 devices, just put a catastrophe knot (or several).
It's one thing that can't really be defeated or be over come by the human condition...

Mr Rogers wrote:

In this vein, even with 2 devices, just put a catastrophe knot (or several).
It's one thing that can't really be defeated or be over come by the human condition...

Consider the situation of a cat knot at the end of the rope or high enough off the ground to keep you off the ground...
If its a dynamic rope, great!
If its a static rope... your back/device will likely break... so what is it actually protecting you from? Food for thought.

Desert Rock Sports wrote:

Consider the situation of a cat knot at the end of the rope or high enough off the ground to keep you off the ground...

haha. absolutely crucial to consider.

If its a dynamic rope, great!
If its a static rope... your back/device will likely break... so what is it actually protecting you from? Food for thought.

Very much depends how much rope is in the system and what rope. As you know low stretch rope (static) varies quite bit on what that % elongation is and at what weight.
Crashing into a back up knot with 200ft of static line above you is way different than 10ft.
Worth considering, but I think taking the chance of hitting a knot vs. the ground, I'll take the knot.
=)

I use a Rescusender by Petzl. I've crammed all manner of foliage and frozen water and ice in there but cant defeat it. It flows over the rope like a hotdog in a hallway and if i traverse or downclimb, it lets me. Will I die? 

steveoxley oxley wrote:

I use a Rescusender by Petzl. I've crammed all manner of foliage and frozen water and ice in there but cant defeat it. It flows over the rope like a hotdog in a hallway and if i traverse or downclimb, it lets me. Will I die? 

Yep, the first time you grab the body of it as you fall.

steveoxley oxley wrote:

I use a Rescusender by Petzl. I've crammed all manner of foliage and frozen water and ice in there but cant defeat it. It flows over the rope like a hotdog in a hallway and if i traverse or downclimb, it lets me. Will I die? 

I'm no doctor, but I'm almost certain...

yer gonna die

I'm surprised they were able to get a picture of Julian from the Trailer Park Boys top rope soloing.

He's just missing his rum & coke

steveoxley oxley wrote:

I use a Rescusender by Petzl. I've crammed all manner of foliage and frozen water and ice in there but cant defeat it. It flows over the rope like a hotdog in a hallway and if i traverse or downclimb, it lets me. Will I die? 

interestingly enough the only major issue i have ever had TRS or jugging a rope was with a microscender, which is pretty much the same thing.  i was jugging an approximately 400' free hanging line using a microtrax and a microscender, with a grigri backup. i was cruising along, everything going swell until i was about 300 feet up and for some reason the microscender completely stopped grabbing the rope. for the life of me i could not figure out why the f*** it was happening. the rope wasn't dirty, wet, or aything else. the device just would not grip the rope. after a few minutes of spinning in space i was in the process of putting on a prussik when my partner flung an ascender down the line on a carabiner. after that i got rid of the microscender and got another microtrax.

slim wrote:

interestingly enough the only major issue i have ever had TRS or jugging a rope was with a microscender, which is pretty much the same thing.  i was jugging an approximately 400' free hanging line using a microtrax and a microscender, with a grigri backup. i was cruising along, everything going swell until i was about 300 feet up and for some reason the microscender completely stopped grabbing the rope. for the life of me i could not figure out why the f*** it was happening. the rope wasn't dirty, wet, or aything else. the device just would not grip the rope. after a few minutes of spinning in space i was in the process of putting on a prussik when my partner flung an ascender down the line on a carabiner. after that i got rid of the microscender and got another microtrax.

This is surprising because the microscender is a “direct load” ascender where the climber’s weight is hooked directly to the cam and forces it into the rope.

With a microtrax, if something interferes with the teeth, all you have is a little tiny spring pushing the cam into the rope. But with a microscender, in theory it should work even if a sling gets between the cam and the rope; the cam should just squeeze the sling into the rope with the same force. It’s not like the cam has aggressive teeth or anything; it just works on friction, like a Grigri.

I guess maybe if the cam axle or ascender body got bent, it could prevent the cam from rotating freely? Did you check the microscender later to see if it was damaged?

I don’t love reading this as I’ve always felt like the microscender makes a nice backup to the microtrax. It is also what Petzl recommends for TRS. (Or at least they used to, looks like they updated their tech tip now.)

Mr Rogers wrote:

In this vein, even with 2 devices, just put a catastrophe knot (or several).
It's one thing that can't really be defeated or be over come by the human condition...

I remember reading about an accident with I think a shunt where a weird inverted fall popped the device completely off of the rope. If I remember correctly the climber had catastrophe knots lower down, which of course did no good. Most devices used in TRS form a closed loop that can't physically come off the rope without exploding, but it is something to keep in mind for the few devices that can. Clipping your catastrophe knots into your belay loop solves this issue, but can be a bit clunky.

Alex R wrote:

I remember reading about an accident with I think a shunt where a weird inverted fall popped the device completely off of the rope. If I remember correctly the climber had catastrophe knots lower down, which of course did no good. Most devices used in TRS form a closed loop that can't physically come off the rope without exploding, but it is something to keep in mind for the few devices that can. Clipping your catastrophe knots into your belay loop solves this issue, but can be a bit clunky.

There is a reason the shunt is....how should I say this.....shunned upon.
There has been several very bad accidents with the shunt in the history of its use as a soloing device.