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jakemachina
Mar 26, 2009, 5:33 PM
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Hey folks, looking for a few tips.
Right now, my gym is using static or very worn semi-static ropes for the toproped section of the wall (maybe 1' of stretch when there's 60' of rope in the system). Since I'm frequently there when nobody is able to belay, I roped-solo. I anchor one end of the rope and attach a microcender to the other end and climb, all is well. I can attach an ATC below the microcender and then escape it to rap down when I'm done a climb, which is all good.
Two things I'd like to be able to do:
1) increase rap friction. Since I'm rapping a single fixed line and I weigh 275#, the high-friction mode of the ATC-guide is just a little light. I'll try adding an extra biner next time I climb, but are there any other pro tips for this?
2) Add shock-absorbancy to the system. I'm not super-happy about shock loading the top anchor or bottom anchor on falls, and it would be more comfortable as well. I've got the system set up so that I'm maybe falling at most 3' before it engages, which is well within the working limit of everything I'm working with, but taking a 3' fall onto static line a few times a session still makes you wish for a little more plushness. I'm figuring that I'll either pick up a cheap dynamic rope and thread it through the anchors and climb on it, or if there's something which would provide elasticity where I'm tying to the bottom anchor (not a screamer, but a climbing-safe bungee or something) that would also help.
Thanks for any advice!
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shockabuku
Mar 26, 2009, 5:36 PM
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My solution would be to take the 3' of slack out of your system. I've used a microcender to rope solo many times and rarely fall more than 6". Never had a problem with it.
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jakemachina
Mar 26, 2009, 5:49 PM
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I've made big gains in slack reduction by tethering the microcender to my upper body (so that it doesn't hang low while climbing), but the biggest problem is that the live end of the rope doesn't much outweigh the fixed end, and so while I'm climbing overhanging terrain, if the rope touches my body sometimes instead of feeding through the microcender the free end moves up with me and slack develops on the fixed end. Any time I hit a jug I take this slack out (just a gentle tug tightens things up).
Maybe just weighting the free end better would do the trick.
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hafilax
Mar 26, 2009, 5:50 PM
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1) Use 2 biners for rappelling.
2) Get a dynamic rope.
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abe_ascends
Mar 26, 2009, 6:06 PM
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Interesting, I've never been to a gym that would allow anything but bouldering, TR, and lead. Does your gym have insurance coverage for TR solo using the equipment you mentioned?
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jakemachina
Mar 26, 2009, 6:16 PM
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abe_ascends wrote: Interesting, I've never been to a gym that would allow anything but bouldering, TR, and lead. Does your gym have insurance coverage for TR solo using the equipment you mentioned?
Couldn't tell you. It's a traditional gym with a small rock wall, open 24 hours but only has staff capable of providing a belay during the day. I asked the trainer that's in charge of the wall if it was okay, we sat down with the manager, they both okayed it and I've been climbing since. Their rationale is that the climber who does routesetting does so using a gri-gri on the harness to self-belay and hangdog while changing holds.
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shockabuku
Mar 26, 2009, 6:21 PM
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Yes, always weight the free end of the rope. It doesn't take much. Usually I just coil up my excess rope, tie it off, and let it hang. A full water bottle would probably work fine too. The microcender feeds very well with a little weight to keep the rope straight.
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rocknice2
Mar 26, 2009, 6:23 PM
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Instead of a microascender, I've use a Cinch. Works great.
The key to both set-ups is to weight the bottom of the rope and make a small chest strap to hold whichever device you use above your harness and close to the chest.
Static rope is fine but damn that 3 feet of slack is a bad fall for a static line.
If your going to pitch like that get a dynamic rope
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TJGoSurf
Mar 26, 2009, 6:45 PM
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rocknice2 wrote: Instead of a microascender, I've use a Cinch. Works great. The key to both set-ups is to weight the bottom of the rope and make a small chest strap to hold whichever device you use above your harness and close to the chest. Static rope is fine but damn that 3 feet of slack is a bad fall for a static line. If your going to pitch like that get a dynamic rope
Since everyone has their opinions here is mine, since I've worked with both and bar far prefer a grigri for any work belaying. When I am top rope soloing I use a grigri and i fall maybe a foot sometimes three if i havent fed the rope properly. My advice, get a gf and teach her to belay.
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rocknice2
Mar 26, 2009, 6:49 PM
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I've tried the GriGri too.
Prefer the Cinch. It's much better for self feeding.
Microascender is smooth too but can't rap with it
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angry
Mar 26, 2009, 7:02 PM
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I use a mini-trax and rap down with a grigri.
You won't have to white knuckle the rope on the way down. I just carry a couple slings to clip in (to something or just a prussick above the mini-trax) to set up the rappel.
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jakemachina
Mar 26, 2009, 8:49 PM
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I've been weighting the rope by coiling the slack, but there is only maybe 5-8 feet of slack in the lines, so it doesn't feel well until I'm at about the halfway point (then it feeds great, because of the extra weight of the hanging line below me).
I had considered getting a microtraxion, a cinch, and a gri-gri, but after reading a bunch of solo-toprope accounts the microcender seemed a favorite of experienced climbers. I don't use a chest harness to keep it high and tight, but rather a fabric ID lanyard girthed to the microcender and around the back of my neck. This keeps it high, it has a quick release buckle built in, won't keep it from engaging has a very low breaking point (something I look for when it's around my neck) and has a little elasticity for comfort.
I'll try putting a little more weight at the bottom of the live end next time I'm there.
As to getting a GF to belay me... I have one but she's not keen on climbing, and if I've got spare energy late at night, the last thing on my mind would be calling my girlfriend to go CLIMBING... 
Thanks for the advice everyone!
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rocknice2
Mar 26, 2009, 8:59 PM
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Are you anchoring the rope to the floor?
In either case add more wieght to the braking end. The outgoing end.
Live end sounds like the incoming side.
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jakemachina
Mar 26, 2009, 9:43 PM
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rocknice2 wrote: Are you anchoring the rope to the floor? In either case add more wieght to the braking end. The outgoing end. Live end sounds like the incoming side.
I'm anchoring one end of the rope to the floor, and then I'm going to be weighting the other a little better than I have been in the past.
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angry
Mar 27, 2009, 3:05 PM
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Possible dumb question.
Do you know what the ropes on the floor are anchored to?
I've seen a lot of gyms that they're just poked through a hole in the pad with a knot tied. It's fine to keep a light person flying upward but to stop a 275lb climber is a little different.
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jakemachina
Mar 28, 2009, 6:09 AM
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angry wrote: Possible dumb question. Do you know what the ropes on the floor are anchored to? I've seen a lot of gyms that they're just poked through a hole in the pad with a knot tied. It's fine to keep a light person flying upward but to stop a 275lb climber is a little different.
Well, I actually lied just a little bit. I don't anchor to the floor. I girth-hitch a sling around a 5" horizontal I-beam that's part of the support for the staircase next to the wall, and then use a locking biner to attach the sling to a figure 8 tied in the rope.
Shock-loading the biner and sling worry me, the I-beam is the very definition of bomber.
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lextalion
Mar 28, 2009, 7:29 AM
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In reply to: ..use a mini-trax and rap down with a grigri.
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jakemachina
Apr 1, 2009, 6:20 AM
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Well, after a few trips to the gym and a little tinkering, I'm now VERY happy with my setup.
Improvements:
An alpine butterfly just off the floor on the braking strand lets me velcro my bike shoes through the rope. The added weight helps the microcender feed smooth like butter, and every time I've come off the wall it's been a short and comfortable catch.
Double biners for a heavy dude on a single strand rap are awesome. I'm rapping faster, more comfortably, and with a much better sense of control.
Escaping the belay in mid-air is now super easy. Used to be that in mid-aid I would have to attach my ATC, then either grab the wall with one hand and brake with the other (not always an option if there are crappy holds or you're pumped), or put a prussik on the line above my microcender, step on it, and then get on the brake. New technique involves attaching my ATC, then throwing a loop from the brake strand around my foot, stepping on one foot with the other and standing. Lets me disengage the microcender, while maintaining one hand on the brake line (left hand takes care of cender, right hand is between ATC and feet). Then I can just sit back down into the harness and I'm all set to rap. Soooo much easier.
Other than that, I've made some progress on the wall, sent the overhanging section twice (once with brute flailing, once with a little more grace), and I'm enjoying working the wall.
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EvilMonkey
Apr 3, 2009, 4:19 AM
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maybe i don't get it. why are you soloing at the gym? if u dont have a belayer, then y not just boulder. that way you're basically working on the stuff that's gonna make you a better climber and not dicking around with a system that you obviously don't fully understand just so you can get 40 or so feet off the ground. btw, i TR solo with a garda hitch cause i'm too cheap to buy a mini-traxion. that's what i've heard feeds the best.
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jakemachina
Apr 4, 2009, 12:16 AM
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Reason for soloing at the gym is that it's not a climbing gym, it's a regular gym (weights, cardio, pool, etc...) that happens to have a small wall. No boulders, but open 24 hour. I do a lot of my climbing after midnight when there's only one person on staff, so I'm limited to the autobelays or the self-belays.
For two months I climbed only the autobelayed pitches, but they're vertical and not nearly as much fun as the overhanging stuff that uses topropes to belay. So I did a whole bunch of reading about TR soloing, saw that the mini-trax and the microcender were the two top pics for the job and that a lot of people had gome trax->cender, but not a whole lot had switched in the other direction. So when I picked up a device, I grabbed the microcender.
It feeds fine with just a little weight on the end of the line, but since the ropes on the wall are cut to just the right length, coiling the excess isn't quite enough to make it feed well, hence adding a little weight.
Other than that, the issues I'd had with the rap were that normally I'm either doing a double-rope rap (don't need two biners) or lowering a lighter climber, with the added friction of the top anchor. But rapping a single fixed line was a new experience for me.
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EvilMonkey
Apr 4, 2009, 1:03 AM
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a fairly standard way of weighting your rope is to tie a knot near the end and clip your pack to it. i'm not so sure about how difficult it would be to rap a weighted rope. if you aren't getting enough friction on a single line from your atc, u could try omega's SBG II. you can feed the rope through it a certain way for more control, and one side has deep v-grooves for extra braking power. conversely, if the weighted rope is applying the brakes for u, try running the rope through 2 biners, side-by-side, attached to your belay device.this will make it feed more smoothly.
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milesenoell
Apr 6, 2009, 2:14 AM
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My preferred way to weight the rope when TR-soloing is to clip my Nalgene to it. REI carries a bottle-belt (great for keeping your bottle from swinging around and banging against your leg while backpacking, too) that is perfect for this. That way you don't put so much abrasion on your rope/pack/shoes/whatever, and at the top of the pitch you can always reel in your water. My Nalgene looks like it got dragged down a few miles of highway from all the contact with the rock, but I have to believe that it can take more abuse and is cheaper to replace than my rope or pack.
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