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eclarke98
Mar 10, 2003, 6:07 AM
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I've been using a SP for a while now, both on aid and free climbing (not that it makes a difference) but I'm not quite sure the best way to do a pendulum with one. I'm thinking that I should just tie a clove hitch in the free end of the rope and attach it to a locking biner on my belay loop so the rope can't run through the SP, after I've lowered my self down far enough. Is this the easiest/safest way to do it? Any tips would be appreciated.
-Eddie
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mikeehartley
Mar 10, 2003, 3:20 PM
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What I do is tie a friction hitch attached to my leg loop around the rope opposite the SP away from the anchor rope - the brake strand. Similar to the way many people backup a rappel. Make sense?? That way you can easily feed rope through to get to the elevation that you want. At that point you are free to let go with both hands and have at it.
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passthepitonspete
Mar 10, 2003, 3:21 PM
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I've never used an SP, but penduluming and lowering-out is said to be a disadvantage with that device, for sure. My first big wall solo was using a Solo Aid, an even more clunky device. I switched to my Grigri for pendulums and lower-outs. [Had I known then what I know now, I would have chucked the Solo Aid into the scrap heap, where it now resides, and kept the Grigri on the whole time]
The problem with the system you describe, Eddie, is that it is not adjustable. Pendulums can be among the most difficult aid climbing moves you will ever do! Strenuous, awkward, athletic, your body contorted into strange positions, with pathetic scratches of your hooks desperately trying to bite into the rock somewhere - anywhere! - before you go winging back across to lose all your ground.
My point is - a few inches either way can make or break your attempt. Man, you should have seen me clawing my way across the Nothing Atolls on P.O. or the Hook or Book on SOD. Those things were hard! And on hard penjis, you MUST be at exactly the right length of arc, or you're toast.
If you cannot quickly and easily adjust your length of swing, on anything more than the most routine of swings, you are going to be in a hurt locker.
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mikeehartley
Mar 10, 2003, 4:15 PM
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I agree with Pete in regards to the SP for aid climbs. I don't think it is the best device for strictly aid since it is large and clunky. Better to go with the Gri-Gri or Clove Hitch. It is the best device I've used for solo freeclimbs or "mixed" free and aid though.
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eclarke98
Mar 17, 2003, 2:44 AM
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Mike's idea for the friction knot seems good, but would it not be better to attach it on the side of the rope coming from the anchor? So essentially you would be hanging off the knot (prussik, kleimheist, autoblock, etc) while swinging. This way you could adjust the length of the swing (only increase the distance I guess), and not have to worry about the knot getting caught up in the SP as you might if you tied it on the brake hand side.
Secondly, I was looking over topos to see where a good place to practice some pendulums would be and I saw that the first pitch of New Dawn has two of them. Any thoughts?
Hey Pete, I don't think you've talked about how perform a pendulum in this forum yet, how about some words of advice before I head up and flail mercifully about the rock.
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mikeehartley
Mar 17, 2003, 2:58 AM
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eclarke98
You can tie the friction knot above the SP but it will be harder to loosen after weighting and (I imagine) harder to adjust if you need to go back up a bit. I tie the knot below the SP all the time on rappels and as long as you keep it tight to your leg loop there is plenty of clearance and it doesn't get close to the SP. It's really pretty easy.
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iamthewallress
Mar 17, 2003, 5:10 PM
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Here is how I penji with my SP....
1. Get to hight piece.
2. Daisy in. Hang on daisy.
3. Get out gri-gri. Attach to rope below SP.
4. Remove SP. Get tight on GriGri.
5. Lower and swing.
6. Climb on gri-gri for rest of pitch or until you get to a bomber piece once you are no longer in top-rope mode to switch back to the SP.
In a nutshell...To get the SP to lock up you have to take a little fall. I prefer to avoid that even on a bolt. Then after lowering out which isn't too bad on the SP, and swiniging over, you have to start climbing up. The SP will feed very poorly if at all in this situation, and you'll find yourself shoveing the rope through the clove and inventing new cuss phrases. Unless there's scarey free on the penji pitch, I'd probably just do the whole thing w/ the gri-gri.
Man, you should have seen me on insane swing to micro-nothingness...A foot too low and it was the land of grass and dirt filled micro-nothingness on a piece of mank on the West Face of Leaning Tower. Friggin C2 horror show! Read about it.
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