Self-belay set ups for soloing

[eldiente]

I' When free roped-soloing I do free-solo pitches, but I never attempt to mix unprotected and protected climbing in amy pitch. Doubly so if the climber isn't way solid and highly experienced climber..

 

I'd agree on this one, getting sketched out mid-solo and fumbling for gear is not a good place to be. It'd be less work and perhaps safer to take a deep breath and work through the moves. Any transition in climbing, (aid to free, solo to daisy belay etc) is bound to be clumsy and perhaps dangerous while soloing. That said, I often wear a harness and carry a small rack, especially on new routes I've never been on before.

Edited October 1, 2009 by eldiente

[billcoe]

I've free soloed with a couple of pieces and a sling....just in case. Haven't ever used the pro yet, and now I'm probably too old to be carrying on like that anyway. As much as aging, seeing some top notch free soloists like Bachar dieing, along with the great climber Dwight Bishop, really changed my mindset.

 

I was in the valley when Derek Hershy fell off the Steck-Salethe while free soloing, but attributed that to the rain that afternoon.

[Five0]

Like you're advice eldiente. i'm intrigued by the "upside down TR" idea, but too much drinking and altitude have made me dumber than the rocks i try not to fall off of - can you elaborate? i get the anchor part, just not the tie-in and self belay end of things...

 

 

 

 

[eldiente]

can you elaborate? i get the anchor part, just not the tie-in and self belay end of things...

 

There are lots of ways to rig this system, all of the involve the very real possibility of taking a big fall onto the anchor, only useful for steep routes with clean falls.

 

*Run rope though anchor, tie into one end. Take out as much slack as you think you'll need to get where your going, tie into that with a locker. You've now just made a big runner out of your rope harness/knot(s) acting as the sewn part of the runner. Climb as normal, when your done with the hard moves, untie pull rope up and into your pack, keep climbing. If you need to add more rope as you climb, consider using grigri or be prepared to retie the second knot as your move along.

 

This method is really only useful on routes with chain belays and hard climbing close to the belay, you'd have to be brave to get 100' feet out from the anchor with 100' feet of slack in the system, may as well leave the rope at home IMO.

[NoahT]

Colin's solo of Supercanaleta where he uses various self-belay techniques.

 

He says: "I tied into the middle of the rope so that I had one 30m length for hauling my pack, and the other 30m length to quickly set up a self belay where necessary."

 

And then he mentions a couple of times setting up a "quick self-belay."

 

Here's a look back at one:

 

 

I've always kinda wondered exactly what's going on there...whatever the anchor is composed of (pins/slung something-or-other/gear) how is he attached so that he doesn't have to go back and undo himself. He can just pull the rope, pop, the bag comes off and he's off the anchor.

 

He mentions specifically on the crux pitch using a traditional self-belay where he lowers back down, cleans and jugs the pitch, so it isn't that.

 

Can someone explain?

 

Cheers!

[JosephH]

Hard to tell from that photo as it's clearly after-the-fact. But in general, you're either leap frogging two or three daisies with gear, or, if you're using a longer piece of rope off of an anchor and leaving gear, then you're going to have to go back down and retrieve it one way or another.

[NoahT]

He says of that pic:

 

"I immediately set up a self-belay for a 5.9+ traverse, and after climbing through it spent nearly fifteen minutes dealing with my rope and pack as they snagged on all the fins of rime sticking out from the rock."

 

Sooo...he sets it up, climbs through, and then deals with rope and pack...(?)

 

It is hard to tell in the photo, but doesn't sound like leap-frogging or rap/jug.

 

Perhaps there's no mystery, though: maybe he's tied in half way, loops one end through fixed gear ties it back to himself, other end goes to the pack which is hung on some rime, so as to just lift off when hauled.

 

 

[Buckaroo]

""how is he attached so that he doesn't have to go back and undo himself. He can just pull the rope, pop, the bag comes off and he's off the anchor.""

 

Just guessing but it looks like the rope is tripled. IOW he's got it set up like a rap for the belay, with 2 lengths of the rope. So he does the lead then pulls it like a rap. Then another length of the rope, presumably the end is going to the pack and it's on a fifi hook.

 

After reading his blog TR. He's tied into the middle of a 7.5. That's a twin. So he leads with it doubled in a self belay. Tied into the middle, then the rope going through a ring at the fixed belay and back to a belay device at his harness, (gri-gri?).

 

he also mentions solo aiding with 2 pieces in at all times, so climbing with 3 pieces. But that's aiding, where you are essentially top-roping on each piece, no slack like free climbing.

 

If Colin does it, it's probably because it's the fastest way. Climbing mostly easy ground with short harder sections that need a belay but not the time consuming full rope solo belay.

[JosephH]

Don't know what he said, but common sense would say you if you are on a rope and going more than an ape's reach then you are either abandoning, fixing, or doing without anchors and pro - or you're going back and retrieving them - there can't be any other way.