Lead Climbing (via Rope Soloing) Help/Tips?

I'd like to get really good at rope soloing and welcome any climber's input on how to master this. And when I say rope soloing I mean lead rope soloing. I have rope soloed "Bongeater" and "Prowser" from a fixed rope at the chains but this gets old eventually. I have rope soloed on lead a few times but to me it is way harder to move up the route...so I lose patience and free solo the route instead and, as a result, have had some close calls....

List of gear:

- 3 sets of C3's
- full rack of C4's
- set of DMM Walnut/stoppers
- couple of GriGris
- Reverso and several ATCs
- lots of webbing
- lots of draws

I use the GriGri to self belay when I'm rope soloing lead but I am getting a ton of rope drag. As for anchors, I just place a couple of cams at the bottom of the route, Clip one of my slings to those cams, tie a figure 8 knot with the rope around the webbing, and then I give it a few good tugs upwards to make sure they won't pop out. I clip that rope through my GriGri and I'm ready to lead.

But here is the problem: I have to pull about 6-7 feet of rope through the GriGri after I place each cam and then clip it through the rope. The rope refuses to feed through easily even though its a 9.4 mm Maxim. To be clear, the end of the rope is anchored down, comes up to me through the GriGri, and then goes back to a flaked pile on the ground. So it feels like I'm playing tug of war while climbing.

I know they make devices - like the soloist ($250?) - but I'd rather save the money and just use the GriGri.

How do you rope solo on lead? What knots do I need to know besides the figure 8? How can i cut down on rioe drag? What is the best way to rig everything up? I figure this forum has some industrious and inventive trad climbers so, given my list of gear, how can I rope solo trad routes on lead without aid climbing or killing myself??

I feel your pain dude, it's torture to make progress with that setup. Grigris seems to feed much better if you run the free end over your shoulder so it comes down into the device.

However, it really works best if you put the rope in a pack and THEN feed it over your shoulder. Feels basically like a real belay that way, just make sure it doesn't start feeding TOO much when you get near the rope end and all that weight is out below you. Also makes it a bit harder to do backup knots though if that's your thing.

"As for anchors, I just place a couple of cams at the bottom of the route, Clip one of my slings to those cams, tie a figure 8 knot with the rope around the webbing, and then I give it a few good tugs upwards to make sure they won't pop out."

Sounds a little iffy!

1. If using gear for an anchor, you should place a piece of gear above your anchor to hold your anchor in the direction of pull. In your example, as you are leading you constantly pull rope and the rope is constantly slipping back down to the anchor (The rope is always becoming taught and loose). This movement could walk your pieces of gear into an angle that is not in the direction of a fall or it could come completely out of the rock.

2. Only clipping one sling to a couple cams with the rope tied to the sling?
If I'm understanding this right, your method does not equalize your pieces of gear. Also, Rope directly tied to the sling? Use a couple lockers to connect anchor to rope.

3. Rope solo free climbing with a grigri is very difficult. Most people use a Soloist or Silent partner for free climbing; they are substantially easier to feed slack for clipping.

My Solo Rig: First choice for an anchor are trees. If there are no trees and only places for gear, I will use at least three bomber pieces equalized with a cordelette tied into a figure 8 (with a piece of gear above my anchor keeping the pieces of gear in THE direction of pull). If I'm using trees, I will sling the tree bases and I will make a huge two or three tailed figure 8 with my lead rope and equalize them. Connect the rope to the slings (in the case of tree anchors) or Cordelette (in the case of a gear anchor) with two opposing locking biners.
I then use a grigri for aid climbing and a soloist for free climbing. As I climb, I BACK UP my belay system with knots every 15 feet(clipped to my harness).

Also, sometimes when aid climbing I will integrate a screamer into my anchor to provide a softer & safer fall.

So go spend some money on a Soloist or Silent Partner, It's worth the money if you're going to be free climbing. Just back your systems up!!

backup knots, use them, especially if you're leading on a 9.4.

Methods: modified grigri, clove hitches, soloist, silent partner (my preferred).
Things to have: bomber anchor, back-up knots, helmet, cell phone, self-rescue skills, fresh pair of undies.

You'll never have fun free climbing on a grigri. It works pretty well for aid though. Silent partner is the best free climbing self-belay for tons of reasons. It will take awhile to sort any system out so do easy routes until you have it dialed. Soloing does give a sense of accomplishment, but climbing with a partner is inevitably more fun. YMMV. Finally, 3 sets of C3s is too many; I could get rid of one them for you.

I've found the link below to be have a lot of good info on self belay, especially the posts from Healyje;

rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/fo…;search_string=roped-soloing%20eddy;#1610582

A question for any(every)one; Aaron suggests rebelaying by clovehitching a piece. Won't this increase the FF because you're minimising the amount of rope in the system that can absorb a fall?

Wait you have three sets of C3's? A couple grigris and ATC's?

And you were the person a month or so ago looking for a hand out for the silent partner............

Put the rope in a back pack on your person or use long loops clipped to your harness. That will solve the rope drag issue. Also making a non load bearing chest harness to keep the grigri oriented the right way works well with the backpack.

Also don't tie your rope directly to your webbing. Thats dumb

Use a "Screamer" on your anchor at the bottom. If you fall this will reduce the force a little so it is not totally static.

Oh god not this guy again.... I thought he would have killed himself by now??

BSheriden wrote:Oh god not this guy again.... I thought he would have killed himself by now??

Yeah...sorry to disappoint you prick!! Yes, in some climbing circles I have a reputation for being reckless and sometimes can be somewhat of a jerk...not to the level of Tony Calderone....but, really, I feel like "reckless" is a very relative word... I do plan on going out in a fall but it has to be at least 300 feet...preferably 1000+ feet. And just because I have a lot of gear doesn't mean I can't panhandle for more!!

Lead soloing with a grigri sucks. Get yourself a Soloist or a Silent Partner. Climb easy routes until you get your system working well. The best tip I can give you is to always milk the rests on whatever route you are climbing and be sure to tie plenty of back-up knots.

Oh, and if you're out soloing, always let someone know where you are going and when you expect to be back.

rebelay with a 3 foot prussik clipped to the end of a 2 foot draw (if you fall the rope can run 10 feet before the fall factor starts getting fucked with. Only an idiot would clove the rope directly into a piece.

Skat, yer actually gonna die.

Skat B wrote: Yeah...sorry to disappoint you prick!! Yes, in some climbing circles I have a reputation for being reckless and sometimes can be somewhat of a jerk...not to the level of Tony Calderone....but, really, I feel like "reckless" is a very relative word... I do plan on going out in a fall but it has to be at least 300 feet...preferably 1000+ feet. And just because I have a lot of gear doesn't mean I can't panhandle for more!!

You suck at life.

Here is a video using a SUM belay device but you can use a modified gri gri the same way. Shows re-belay with a prussik.

vimeo.com/4148256

Just man-up and get a Soloist, use a pack and pre-tie backup knots. mod'd grigri is fine if you NEED to be a dirtbag so your friends think you're cool, but it sucks. silent partner is cool, but Soloist works better if you're using a pack. I use velcro strips and thin bungee(my invention) every few pieces of pro to keep weight off the rope. good luck.

Use heavy rubber bands, tied onto the rope with a prusik knot, to "anchor" (suspend) the rope to the occasional piece so it's not pulling itself down. Depending on friction and the line of the route, you might need to start doing this at 30-40 feet. In a fall, the rubber bands break and the full length of the rope gets involved.

Gunkiemike, I used to use rubber bands, but I found that they were not long enough generally and sometimes that would cause gear to walk too much or invert if extension wasn't required. ...thus the 0.125 bungee/velcro combo. ~12" lengths an the velcro thin enough that it releases fairly easily. They're easier to deal with than it sounds and have worked flawlessly thus far. In a pinch, I would definitely use rubber bands again.