Solo with Gri-Gri

I understand that the Gri-Gri is rather finicky when it comes to solo (whether TR or aid), specifically when it fails to lock during a slow fall, or when the brake side of the unit is pressed against a rock. It seems to me that most use some sort of fixed knot in the rope (either a clove hitch that can be moved, or a overhand-on-the-bight that can be retied as needed) as a backup to the brake. The problem with either of these techniques is that the knot is time-consuming to move or retie, and on easy climbing (which is most likely to lead to the "slow" fall that will not lock the gri-gri), the climber may not move/retie the knot as often, creating the potential for a long, cheese-grater style fall. After trying both the knotting techniques, I experimented with backing the Gri-Gri up with a ATC-like device (a Trango Pyramid, specifically). The Gri-Gri was attached to the belay loop as usual, and the brake-rope from it was fed through the Pyramid, which was attached by carabiner to my right leg-loop. The small resistance provided by the Pyramid seemed to be enough to convince the Gri-Gri to lock. In my flat-land tests, I was unable to create a situation where the Gri-Gri did not lock after expending the rope between it and they Pyramid. Furthermore, as tension builds up in the brake rope, the Gri-Gri "wants" to break, and is quit hard to hold open without the handle.

I also tried placing the Pyramid alongside the Gri-Gri (in a separate krab) in the belay loop. This slightly diminished the breaking rate, and made moving rope through the system very difficult.

In both cases, I found a "keeper" device on the Gri-Gri's krab to be essential, the Pyramid can pull the device to the side, and without a keeper, it can creep down the spine of the krab.

At this point, this seems to be a reliable technique, but I was wondering if anyone else has tried anything similar to this (such as a munter hitch in place of the ATC), and had any success (or, more importantly, failure).

Couple of comments....

You are going to have to use a rope bag on your back to climb with your setup and even then I think you will find that feeding slack is going to be a serious pain.

As for your concerns with the Grigri I would be more concerned with the sharp edge on the bottom of the brake and the single carabiner attachment. Having climbed multiple walls in a day with a modified Grigri I will only use it now when I am trying to go super light and do not plan to be doing much free climbing. Otherwise I will use my Silent Partner.

The best test for your system is the real deal...let us know how it goes.

Tweak wrote:I understand that the Gri-Gri is rather finicky when it comes to solo (whether TR or aid), specifically when it fails to lock during a slow fall, or when the brake side of the unit is pressed against a rock. It seems to me that most use some sort of fixed knot in the rope (either a clove hitch that can be moved, or a overhand-on-the-bight that can be retied as needed) as a backup to the brake. The problem with either of these techniques is that the knot is time-consuming to move or retie, and on easy climbing (which is most likely to lead to the "slow" fall that will not lock the gri-gri), the climber may not move/retie the knot as often, creating the potential for a long, cheese-grater style fall. After trying both the knotting techniques, I experimented with backing the Gri-Gri up with a ATC-like device (a Trango Pyramid, specifically). The Gri-Gri was attached to the belay loop as usual, and the brake-rope from it was fed through the Pyramid, which was attached by carabiner to my right leg-loop. The small resistance provided by the Pyramid seemed to be enough to convince the Gri-Gri to lock. In my flat-land tests, I was unable to create a situation where the Gri-Gri did not lock after expending the rope between it and they Pyramid. Furthermore, as tension builds up in the brake rope, the Gri-Gri "wants" to break, and is quit hard to hold open without the handle. I also tried placing the Pyramid alongside the Gri-Gri (in a separate krab) in the belay loop. This slightly diminished the breaking rate, and made moving rope through the system very difficult. In both cases, I found a "keeper" device on the Gri-Gri's krab to be essential, the Pyramid can pull the device to the side, and without a keeper, it can creep down the spine of the krab. At this point, this seems to be a reliable technique, but I was wondering if anyone else has tried anything similar to this (such as a munter hitch in place of the ATC), and had any success (or, more importantly, failure).

No, as there is no need to. You've posted this in the aid/big wall forum, so I'm assuming that you're not free climbing with this setup.

The easiest, most trouble-free method I've found, short of not using a b/u knot, is utilizing a clove hitch. Here's the thing:

Anchor the end of your rope, properly thread the grigri, pull up a 20' loop of the slack end and tie your clove to a locker on your belay loop. When you run out of slack, time to pull up another loop, tie another clove, then replace clove #1 with this new clove. Your "exposure" to not being backed up is miniscule, but if it makes you feel better, secure it with a different locker, then undo the first one. When you're far enough up your line for the weight of the rope attached to the anchor to pull the slack end through your grigri, pull the rope from the anchor somewhat taught, then affix a sling as a klemheist hitch to your rope and clip it to a piece. This will support the weight of the rope, keeping your slack end from self-feeding through the grigri, while continuing to keep that length of rope in play should you fall from above this piece. Continue on to the next anchor.

Caveats: Solo-aiding, as with any soloing, exposes you to increased risk. Evaluate your ability to recognize and mitigate those risks before you decide to undertake such activities. The less complicated your system is, the fewer opportunities there will be for things to go wrong.

I"ve used most of the main solo roped techniques and right now I'm sticking with using a silent partner since it feeds so well and locks up every time. free or aid.

The grigri I've used is not modified and I've never believed it should be. If you search over on supertopo.com forums you will find hundreds of posts describing the pros and cons on using a grigri.

Also, whatever method you choose make sure you use a backup knot. I use a fig 8 as sometimes the clove hitch is really hard to undo. Use rubber bands and klemheist etc to stop rope slip.

Last week I was soloing in high winds and got a rope stuck and had to chop it up. If I was with a partner it wouldn't have been an issue. By its nature rope soloing is complicated and time consuming and things can go wrong so its nice to stop and have a backup knot. It's also a lot of fun.

Also check out bigwalls.net's forum and wiki for information on using a grigri as a solo device.

I basically do the same thing as Stymingersfink with a grigri. Mine is not modified. As long as you clove hitch the rope in as a backup for yourself every 20ish' and clove hitch the rope into multi-directional pieces along the way, you should not have a huge issue with the rope weighting the grigri. I also use a solo-aid and I think I like it better because it is really easy to feed slack with only one hand. John is correct in saying there is pros and cons to every system. Try them and you will figure out what you like best.

Hard to tell from the poster if he's aid climbing or free climbing. If you're aid climbing, rope solo belaying with an unmodified Grigri is pretty much perfect. Grigris - like any belay device - can and do slip. That's why you have to tie a backup knot, because eventually it will save your life. I am wary of buddy's suggestion of using an ATC-like device to back up the Grigri, because it is knott a knot.

When Tom the Brit [last name escapes me just now] attempted a push solo of Eagle's Way, he took a factor 2 fall onto his Grigri [too much backcleaning, busted cinch-style rivet hanger, which is weaker than the loop style] and he actually broke the carabiner attaching the Grigri to his harness! He could well be dead without an actual knot to back him up. As it was, he sustained some bad rope burns to his hand[s] and I believe he also injured his back.

When aid climing, which by its very nature is slow, it is not unduly onerous to tie a backup knot every fifteen feet or so. Forget eights-on-a-bight or butterflies - a simple overhand loop is sufficient.

If you are rope solo free climbing, the superior device by consensus appears to be the Silent Partner, in spite of its high cost and klunky size. I have never tried a SP, since I am retired from free climbing, and I am happy with my Grigri.

Voice of Borat: "My brother is retard!"