Roped Solo Free Climbing - The essence of self-reliance, one path among many

Background

Also check out this forum post

I've been roped-solo free climbing since the mid-'70s using lots of different systems with and without any devices. Back when I just used knots I had a special harness with lots of full-strength loops made for doing it. But for the last quite awhile I've just used a grigri with the triangular tab by the biner hole removed. Last year I switched from that grigri and a Mammut Supersafe 10.2 rope to the Edelrid Eddy and a Metolius Monster 9.8 rope.

The thing I really love about roped-solo free climbing is that everyone has to come to it on their own terms and accept total responsibility for themselves in the process. As part of that, you need to figure out what works for you, and then get it dialed in so you can just climb. What works for me isn't necessarily going to work for you or anyone else and vice-versa.

Grigri

So here is a shot of my grigri setup - that's a heavy, 10mm, INOX SS, CE-stamped Mallion Rapide rated at 25kN.

I have a half circle one which withstands crossloading better on order. You can also see the triangular aluminum tab by the biner is cut-out - some folks just cut back on the size of it by notching it for the rope as opposed to removing it all together.

Eddy

And here are two of the Edelrid Eddy rig I've switched to. The design of the Eddy precludes the use of a mallion rapide, so I back it up with a Mammut dyneema sling to one of Trango's great Superfly lockers. The Eddy is better for soloing because it doesn't use a spring and so long as both sides of the rope (to the anchor and the climbing slack in my backpack) hang downward it just runs. The second either side of the rope moves to an orientation above the device it locks. It also has a safety feature where the release handle will drop off the cam locking up the rope if you pull it back all the way, unlike a grigri which just screams rope.

Watchful Eye

Also I should say, I monitor the belay device, the rope path, the rope, and the orientation of everything like a hawk all the time. Not in a 'big deal' sort of way, more like in an unconscious, second-nature way as a continuous background task.

Other Devices

There are lots of devices you can rope solo with. Here are my opinion on free climbing with them:

Soloist: Just don't - it won't hold upside down falls and won't even hold falls with your body in a horizontal orientation. Some folks say a backup knot will then stop you, but I've known folks who've decked on pitches with low cruxs. I also despise climbing with a chest harness connection to my waist harness so it's out on that count alone.

SoloAid: I have mixed feelings about these older devices, mainly due to the business of having something on your chest/stomach while climbing just way doesn't appeal to me.

Silent Partner: These work best, but for me I keep coming back to their size, needing a second device to rap, and what I keep perceiving as the 'hassle' of it relative to fast turnarounds at the tops of pitches. Mark Blanchard, the inventor and a fine guitar maker, and I were at a recent gathering where he demo'd it for folks and I promised I'd give it another whirl. I'll post up a review if I change my mind about it. It's a marvelous device, works the best of the lot, but I may need to circle it a few more times.

Cinch: Don't do it - Malcolm expressly doesn't want folks using it this way and I also don't think it's a good idea - for TR soloing, maybe, but definitely not for leading.

Unmodded Grigri: A bit of a hassle but I used mine for a couple of years before modding mine.

Grigri modded for chest harness: People do it, I don't - see comments above...

Clove hitch: Works fine - and you get good at planning ahead.

Rope Setup

So here are three shots of me on one of my favorite routes to rope solo. The first shot you can see the GoLite 'Race' backpack I use to carry the rope. I use it without the top flap compartment and it's modified by adding two gear slings ala Metolius' 'Big Wall Gear Sling'. I also got a size small so it rides high off my harness. I rack gear on my right side and trad draws on my left. I keep the rope in an old A5 rope bucket inside the pack and have a biner on the right shoulder strap to direct the rope over my shoulder cleanly.

A Fave Climb

The second shot is just of the pitch, lovely every inch of it, and a full 60m up to the tree. Sometimes I break it up into to pitches lately I haven't been.

Anchor Setup

In the last shot you can see my anchor right off the ground. The yellow thing is an old-school Screamer called an 'Air Voyager' once made by Wild Things. What you should note is the Screamer is rigged in a [slack] loop of the rope formed with an Alpine Butterfly. The amount of slack should accomadate the extended blown length of the screamer.

Backup Knots

One thing you should also note is there's no big loop of slack rope or extra biner on my harness for a backup knot. Now Majid and many others will scream bloody murder about how 'you have to use a backup knot', but I don't. I've been doing this for thirty years, I move fast, and f#cking around with a backup knot free climbing is just not worth it to me as I feel it breaks my rythmn and that rythmn is keeping me safer than I'd be after the trade-off of using them. But - that's not a absolute statement. I do keep a locker on the back right loop of my harness and if I'm onsighting something or on a route with something really peculiar or awkward I will throw it on and whip in a clove backup for just those moves and then it's gone again. Also, I do use them religiously when solo aiding.

Bottom line - if I were starting out I'd probably use a backup knot until I had everything relentlessly dialed for quite awhile before I made this sort of judgment call...

Anchors

You have to build bomb anchors. On multipitch routes you either have to build omnidirectional anchors at the top of each pitch or you have to build one for rapping and cleaning and then reset it up for the next pitch so it holds an upward pull.

Rebelaying

Sometimes you need to keep some tension in the rope at your first piece in order to keep the anchor oriented right; don't clove or clip for this purpose - use either a rubber band, a slipknot that sits above the biner, or a long sling with a klemheist to rebelay the rope. A rebelay is used both to keep tension on an anchor when necessary and to hold the weight of the rope once you have enough out that it wants to just run through your device under its own weight.

Pace and Rythmn

So that's my system. I've been doing it for so long I don't have to think about it all too much and move quite a bit faster over multiple pitches than I would with a partner - I probably cover the same ground in about 2/3 - 3/4's of the time. I don't mess around when I get to the top of a pitch, I set up an anchor, hang the pack, and rap. When I get back up to the anchor after seconding I quickly re-stack the rope in the pack - which should take only a minute or three max - put the pack back on, re-rack the gear, re-check / reset the anchor, and hit the next pitch. Sounds like a lot, but it goes very fast in practice once you have it down.

Seconding

I also always second my pitches. I occasionally will clean a piece on the rap, but usually not as I like seconding my own pitches as it keeps me in touch with the quality of my placements when I have to clean them. It's a 'reap what you sew' sort of deal that over the years has led me to a very light touch when 'setting' pro - I basically don't, and when I do it's only the slightest touch until I can feel some grit.

Getting a Groove

So something on the order of fifty percent of my climbing is free roped soloing and I just love it. The typcial deal for me has been that when I haven't done it in awhile it's semi-horrifying for about 15-20 minutes or a pitch and then it suddenly mellows out and gets utterly sublime. When I'm doing it all the time I'm mainly just hyper-attentive to everything for a bit and then it gets right into a groove.