has anyone ever used a atc guide as a auto lock belay lead soloing aid or free with out dying?

Most climbers aren't that foolish.

Most climbers are that foolish. Never used an atc guide but I have roped soloed with the first gen reverso in autolock mode, a modified gri gri, two prussik knots back to back, a soloist, and my current favorite a Silent Partner.

i would guess that any climbers who have tried that method probably wouldn't be around posting about it.
If you want to be cheap and rope solo just use a clove hitch, with backups of course. It works fine but can be time consuming to feed out slack.

It sounds like you want a true rope solo set-up, but I like the Petzl Shunt for top-rope solo use. Affordable and simple, it works well for straight forward solo top-roping, but not so great for overhanging or convoluted routes.

just the facts not your fucked up opinion shit head ed. you'd be the guy i'd rap past and let die cause the world wouldn't even give a fuck when you bleed out.

Wow. Don't know if you're on drugs, off your meds, or just really, really, immature. But there's one dude I'll never climb with.

Edit- I just deleted the quote, in case you want to reconsider and delete your post.

That's too bad host2. I think everybody on here would stop to help you if you took a long fall soloing with inadequate equipment.

Hey everyone, give host2 a break. You'd be pissed off also if your Shift Key, Comma key and Syntax-Check were broken on your computer.

Damn host2 you need to chill out and find your happy place whether that's doing drugs, getting laid, or rope soloing. The climbing community isn't trying to nuke your imagination, we're just genuinely concerned about your well-being and safety, there's no need for that kind of attitude! I'm going to prescribe a shit load of climbing and lots of extacy!

Only done it with a modified Gri-Gri.

Hope you find someone on here with some climbing experience. Seems too many have a lot of knowledge of how to spray.

At least we know where to go to learn how to talk shit.

Joe.

Zowie. Heaven forbid this thread gets momentum. To be fair Nate, the bizarre tantrum was aimed at Ed, not all posters. Ed was kind of a jerk, but that's not excuse to wish cold-blooded death on him.

averagejoe, pull your head out. Apart from Ed, every poster before host2's return gave information that was substantive and responsive to the OP.

When the "spray" hit, it carried sewage from the Northeast. Every poster since then has displayed greater or lesser astonishment at host2's outburst.

I'm a jerk because I said that using an ATC as a solo belay device was foolish? Nobody else really answered the question either except to say how they self-belayed. Personally I have used modified gri-gri, clove hitches and soloist for lead solo belaying.

host2: in spite of the fact that you are obviously a total asshole I would stop to help you if you were in a desperate situation.

My problem and I imagine Host2's problem, is that when you ask a question, you hope that whomever answers will have some experience with what you are asking. Too many times we get the "I haven't done it, but I heard it's a bad idea so I'm going to tell this person it's a bad idea, even though I lack the experience to back up my statements" spray job. If you know why it's a bad idea then post that. If you haven't done it and don't have any examples of climbers getting hurt doing it, then shut-up and try being supportive.

There are a few of us out here who are cheap because we don't have much money. Not because we want people to think we are poor dirtbag climbers and therefore cool.

Out comes the "East coasters don't have big wall's. East coasters have little mountains. East coasters are a bunch of poopy pants. Yawn..... You have bigger mountains than we do out here, but they're not that big.

I don't find myself saying I want to go to the west coast so I can climb big mountains, because I'd rather go to South America, the Alps, or the Himalayas to find "REAL" mountains.

To those who offer advice with experience and examples, great, thank you. Those who need to fuck off, should.

Joe.

Dear Jesus...

Anyways, back to the actual question. I've dicked around with my reverso, which locks in the same manner as the guide, for a while now. I'm 99% sure that its impossible to rig for an effective or safe, lead rope-solo. The problem is that the guide/reverso can only lock the rope when its at the system's apex and the device itself is upside down. Re-creating these conditions in a lead fall is...well I can't figure it out. Now, if aiding or reaching the top by rappel or a walk is an option, (aiding solo via clove hitch method - it's slow, but it works; not recommending it, but I often stay short roped to three pieces and move them up) you *could* rig the guide in auto lock mode at the top, rap down with another device, and pull down slack as you went.

Not as nice as a grigri, but an option, yes?

• **edit to take out my commentary on the fight***

• **Note, I said "can." I haven't seen anything in literature approving this, but have used it to see it work. If you ever get stuck touching the void style, without prussiks, you might be happy to know this.

If I for some reason say something that pisses someone off...not my intention, but....

I would like to hear from someone who has taken a leader fall while rope-soloing. I have NEVER heard of (first hand at least) somebody falling on that system. It is there as a back-up. The few times I have lead rope solo'd it was far below my limit and I would have been injured in the fall.

Having said that, I top-rope solo all the time. I use the tried and true "Yosemite system" of two mini-trax devices. This allows me to climb at or above my limit. You can even back this system up with a ti-bloc if you want, although that seems a little excessive.

In answer to the original question: no I have not and no I would not.

I have intentionally and/or unintentionally taken a lead fall on all the systems I've used rope soloing. The largest fall I've ever taken on the Reverso was probably about 15ft? It engaged quickly and arrested my fall. The biggest caveat I've found with all the systems is rope drag. Tying clove hitch backups every 20-25ft on biners alleviates the problem to a degree.
Test out your system before going out, climb WELL below your ability levels initially until you've worked out the pros and cons of your system, and always use a backup when rope soloing.

Shameless promotion here, the Silent Partner is by far the best system I've used for Rope Soloing. You can check out pics on my page of me doing multi pitch trad in Muralla Grande using the Silent Partner.

I was noticing those pictures recently, Suprasoup. Looks like some crazy good stuff. You should post a TR or two! Tell some of the stories that go with the pictures. You found yourself 40' out on rock where those three microcams were all you could get??

So, when you're rope soloing, do you rap-clean and jug every pitch?

To the OP, a reverso and guide are functionally the same, so Supra's answer is exactly what you're looking for. Though, it would be interesting to hear how he rigged it to be oriented right for catching a fall.

I have taken a lead fall while rope-soloing onto a Wren Soloist. The fall came when the rail I was standing on cut loose. The device locked up just like it was supposed to and I walked away uninjured. The Wren Soloist can be used for free climbing, but I found it to be a little awkward. For aid climbing I thought that the device was great.

I used to TR solo all of the time with a mini-traxon. I also took a few, ahem, hard and unexpected falls onto it. It worked and did not cause any sheath damage to my rope. I only owned one, so I would tie back-up knots at regular intervals. Great for doing laps and building endurance.

I have no direct experience with the Silent Partner, but my friends who own them swear by them. Great for lead climbing, either free or aid is what I am told.

For what it is worth my advice would be to do what it takes to make a little extra cash, talk first hand to folks who have used all of the affore mentioned devices, and buy what you think will work best for you.

Best of luck,

Will

I've been rope soling with a solist since the device was sold. I've proably lead 2000 pitches with it, and taken 100 lead falls. Two were inverted.

My 2 cents.

The biggest danger is bonking while alone. There is no one to notice when you make obvious screw-ups.

I've used the silent partner, but do not like it as well because it will not lock off on really hard pitches. While soloing, i've sometimes found it critical to lock off at the bolt, and then go for it quickly-on "children of the sun", as a for instance.

Always use a back-up. Count on falling further than you would if you had a belayer. Laybacks and roofs require special care for rope mangement. I use clove hitches once or twice on steep pitches to keep the weight of the rope off me, and to prevent the rope from pulling through the device. One must plan where to put the cloves. Occasionally, I climb to solid gear, and then go down 10-15 feet to place a clove.
I use a grigri to clean. Be sure to set directionals when you clean. I once sliced a rope 1/2 through, when I was going back up a meandering pitch that I'd cleaned (and onsighted). I've also bruised myself when I've forgotten to remove all the slack when passing a clove hitch, returning back up a pitch after the lead and cleaning.

About those inverted falls--I once caught the rope in my hands, and another time I went a long way and glanced off a slab- cutting my arm.

I highly recommend rope soloing--realize it is much more demanding, and there are an extra 10 "errors of ommision" that can kill you. Start easy, and pretend you are free-soloing.

This is probably the closest I've seen to the setup I used with my reverso, though I didn't use the chest harness.
http://www.mountainz.co.nz/content/article/article.php?artic>>>>>

Like I said I used the original Reverso not the Reverso3 which has the anchor point oriented differently. Not sure how it would change the setup up but just something to consider. I believe the ATC Guides is oriented the same as the original Reverso.

When Rope Soloing I'll normally Lead, Rap, then clean the pitch as I'm TRing. The Sandias has a lot of wandering routes so it's easier (and safer) to leave pro as a directional. The Silent Partner works well as a TR as long as the top is fixed and there is weight at the end of the rope. I use my second rope that I carry in a metolius porta cord to weight the end of the rope as I TR. Then I just haul it up using a mini traxion.

In regard to the 40 footer just my own retardedness, not paying attention to how far above my last pro I was. When I realized how far I was I just plugged in cams like there was no tomorrow:) I'll probably do a TR since I've got some exciting ones from the last couple of trips.

Edit: Rope Soloing, like Free soloing or any of the myriad forms of climbing that is out there has it's own special requirements. If you choose to rope solo please familiarize yourself with the equipment, techniques, risks involved. Be Safe.