Pete the invincible solo1/9/2024 ![]() I found it asphyxiating wearing so much crap at the start of each lead - I could hardly even breathe, let alone move! This might have been the part of soloing I hated the most. Only a few times did I have to rap back to the anchor to grab more stuff. Accordingly, I would just throw my whole lead rack on when I started the pitch. ![]() It was also too much of a pain to set up an anchor mid pitch But the rope was too short, and limited when I could do it. This is because the load is too heavy to do by hand, and I had to put the lead rope through a Micro-Trax to haul it up. What this meant that it was problematical tagging a load up to mid-pitch. ![]() I was using a 60m rope, instead of my usual 75m rope or so. This double tagging system was fundamental to the enjoyment of my big wall camping system! I only blew it once, but once I got it dialled it worked pretty much perfectly. As I rapped to clean the pitch, a hundred pounds of weight went up for free. I had two piglets side by side on fifis and I backed them up with my slippery overhand knot invention. I brought a separate mountaineering half rope, and used this as a double tag. This method above kicks the sh|t out of any other system like rubber bands or duct tape because of its simplicity and the rope rebelay benefits So instead of the rope rubbing across edges all the way up the pitch while you jug and clean, you can prevent it from rubbing *anywhere* with the Klemheists! What this meant was that I started my solo with a brand new unabraded rope, and I finished with a brand new unabraded rope! Properly tensioned, what this means is that when you clean, your weight is taken by each subsequent Klemheist directly above you, and not the upper anchor. These worked superbly! Not only did they prevent unnoticed and unwanted slack from slipping through the Grigri, they also rebelay the rope during cleaning. I used long upside-down Klemheist rebelays about three or four times per pitch. I self-belayed with a regular Grigri on 11mm rope, plus a backup knot Having just completed my first big wall solo in something like ten years, here is what I can tell you: I get really nervous when I see that gigantic loop of rope in Mark's photo above!!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |