Rope Solo Lead Climbing Tutorial Part 4 - The Climb

[climbup2]

Nice video series! I like to tie loop knots in the free end as a backup to the Soloist, which is well documented in the Soloist manual. I also like to rappel with the Soloist, especially on multi-pitch routes. The Soloist is a great device!

[themaxdog]

why you dont use helmet, if you fall and hit the head you could die ...

[AronSensei]

@themaxdog if you fall and hit your head, you probably fell upside down- in which case the device doesn't work and you will die anyway. Bottom line- never fall upside down and you will be OK.

[TheDustyChair]

@AronSensei lol fantastic point!

[bonerheadj]

@AronSensei falling upside down means that the rope got behind your leg for a split second and then you fell. I think the idea of rope soloing for me is a no go because in crux moves sometimes you realize "oh crap if I call right now I will be falling upside down" but you cant do anything about it until after you executed the move, so this sounds a bit risky to me but hell maybe if I was a better climber I would never fall upside down.

[bonerheadj]

@bonerheadj fall* not call lol...

[AronSensei]

@bonerheadj You are right- if sometimes you lose awareness while climbing and make mistakes then rope soloing is probably not the best idea. You can't afford to make any mistakes at any time for any reason- you have to stay 100% aware of all things all the time. However, if you did easy climbs and used tons of backup knots (in theory) even if you fell upside down you wouldn't hit the ground. You might still get hurt though.

[JRNY1605]

Great series man

[theimaginaryempire]

And then another question: In your experience, do you recommend starting doing this with a sort of backup rope in case things get tangled up or you realize you've messed something up...? Have you any experience of how to set up something like that?

Thaaanks!

[AronSensei]

@theimaginaryempire - You should do whatever makes you feel comfortable. I never tried a backup rope, but I felt comfortable trying a 5.7, and I had a very good theoretical knowledge before I started. Your other problem is going to be setting up the backup line. Who will belay you? You could fix a rope and then use a jumar or sometihng for self belay. That would get messy-ropes everywhere. Also, how do you fix the rope without lead climbing first? Maybe you can hike up there first...

[theimaginaryempire]

Hey thanks for that great demonstration! Some questions: 1.) Is the other end of the rope just in a ropebag at the bottom of the climb in order to feet out as you climb? No issues with the rope tangling up and you being stuck? That could get pretty annoing when you're hanging up there... 2.) How would you do it when you've done 1 pitch on a multipitch wall? Would You create an anchor, tie the rope to the anchor, rappel down, clean and then jumar up? Thanks!

[AronSensei]

@theimaginaryempire 1. The other end of the rope is in a pile flakd out so it feeds nicely. Flaked just like for sport climbing. Never had a problem with the rope getting tangled. 2.-yes thats exactly how you do it for multipitch

[linzenmeyer]

right on bro....thanks for the series

[AronSensei]

glad you enjoyed, be careful out there!

[GMAN2187]

thanks for this series.

[MrLebowski01]

Nice job on this!