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The Rock Zone

By Howard Peel. Contact howard@therockzone.co.uk

A guide to self belay and fall arrest techniques.

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This article is intended to give a comprehensive survey of the techniques that may be used for roped soloing and the limitations of the devices used. Apart from being of help to those who want to try roped soloing it hopefully will provide useful information to those who already use such a technique when training and may highlight some limitations of their current system of which they might not be aware.

1) Introduction.
A common topic on climbing forums is just how one might use a rope to protect oneself from a fall when a belayer is unavailable. Self belaying takes two different forms 'Top Rope Soloing' and 'Roped Soloing'. With a top rope solo one sets up a belay at the top of the route then attaches oneself to the rope with a device that will follow you up the rope but will lock onto the rope if you fall. With roped soloing one attaches the rope to the bottom of the route and to runners placed as one climbs, again using a 'one way' locking device to (hopefully) arrest any fall. On a multi pitch climb one would then set a top anchor, abseil and clean the route, re-ascend the route using a 'top-rope' technique and the repeat the process. Although multi-pitch roped soloing is popular with some big wall and aid climbers, it has definate limitations on normal multi pitch crags. For example, if you take a fall and are injured there may be no one around to help.

2) The limitations of top rope soloing.

Single pitch top roped soloing removes the 'head' component of climbing and will do little to teach a climber about placing protection on lead or dealing with the pressures of 'running it out' above gear. One cannot honestly claim to have climbed any route (at least not at its usual on sight lead grade) as on many routes stopping to place gear adds greatly to the strenuousness of the route. From a purely practical point of view it is also the case that many routes do not lend themselves to top roped

soloing and multi pitch climbing really does require a traditional rope of two or more. I would suggest that the best use of top roped soloing is when one needs to develop a set of skills to be used when doing 'proper' climbs in the future. I first used the technique when I had time off during the working week and had no available partner but wanted to try out some finger crack climbing for the first time. To climb a route such as Embankment 3 at Millstone needs quite good crack climbing skills that cannot be developed on an indoor wall. In addition, trying to climb such a route for the first time is strenuous enough without also having to place gear. Top rope soloing allows one to develop new techniques in a relatively short period of time so one may then attempt similar routes on lead and in a more ethically pure style. Ah! ethics...

3) Ethical Considerations.
Given its 'top rope' connotations some may object to top rope soloing on various 'ethical' grounds. However, it is all very well being an ethically pure climber when one is lying at the foot of a crag with serious injuries. Being safe when climbing demands that the individual develops a high sense of 'oneness' with the rock. The inexperienced climber may well fail to place reliable gear so that even if they stick to 'easy' routes they may still take a fall , have their gear fail and so be seriously injured. Ultimately, one must be responsible for ones own safety and ones partner might find it hard to understand the importance of 'ethically pure' climbing when one is off work for many months and the family home is at risk of repossession. That said, risk and adventure are central to the climbing experience and climbing in a risk free environment might be thought of as being nothing more then exercise. Given this top rope soloing should be seen as a method that will help a climber to develop their technique and ability to 'read' the rock more quickly so they may then be better equipped to do some 'proper ' climbing. The great 'ethics of top roping' debate could fill a whole book and the details are beyond the scope of this article. However, it is the case that elite climbers almost universally top-rope the hardest routes before leading and claiming the route. On many harder routes are very thin and the loss of a pebble or the breaking off of a flake may even render a route unclimbable. In comparison, even if a mid grade route does become polished it will still in all probability be climbable, even if its grade increases. Consequently it might be argued that the ethics of pre-practice would seem to apply even more strongly in the case of the harder routes where, ironically, it seems to be more acceptable! Whatever the ethical status of top-roped soloing the following suggested 'rules of top-rope soloing' should see everyone fairly happy. 1) No one should attempt any route on a top rope that is obviously way beyond their ability. 'Trying out' that E7 classic on a top rope when you can only just scrape a up a 'soft' HVS is simply foolish. 2) Never hog a route. If a team comes along who want to lead the route, pull up your rope and maybe go elsewhere. 3) Top rope soloing is practice, you cannot claim a route until you have actually led or soloed it. If you have pre practised it first the ascent is tainted and the grade effectively is reduced. 4) Do not use the technique on routes which may be rendered unclimbable if they become over polished or if vital pebbles or similar become lost.

4) Is top rope soloing 'safe'?

Top rope soloing can be fairly safe and the techniques used are not dissimilar to the fall arrest methods used in rope access work. The rope access link also means that

many devices have been tested under realistic conditions and their likely performance and limitations are well known. However, such studies have also shown that many devices commonly used for roped soloing offer a very small margin for error. Whatever system you might adopt you should ideally always have back up system as well. One way to do this would be to use a 'rope grabbing' device on your main line and to clip into pre tied loops in a second line where it is possible to do so. Another alternative might be to again use two ropes but this time use a modified Gri-Gri on the main line (see below) and a purpose designed fall arrest device such as a Troll Rocker, attached to your harness via a lanyard, to the second. (This would approximate standard practice in rope access work). Simply tying knots at intervals in the main rope would also act as a partial backup in case the rope grab device failed and you went sliding down the rope. Remember that when roped soloing there may be times when you are totally dependent of your equipment. For example, if you top anchors fail the whole system fails. Perhaps top rope soloing should only be used on those routes where you might consider soloing, so that it is only there as an emergency backup. However, if you are top rope soloing to push your techniques you will be falling off... Always have the right equipment with you for self rescue/ an abseil retreat, especially if a fall at any point might see you dangling in space... Always use a dynamic rope of the correct diameter for the device you are using. With a static rope you might experience a very high fall factor, especially if any slack builds up in the system or if you fall when you are getting close to your anchors. A static rope may also put a high load on the anchors causing them to fail. Always keep an eye on your system and avoid the build up of slack. Whatever device you use don't attach it to your harness with a sling. Using a mallion rapide is probably the best bet. (See the Gri-Gri section further down). A carabiner is larger the a mallion and less able to hold your fall device in its correct orientation so may end up being cross loaded. A well managed top-rope solo system which is used within its limitations is probably safer then climbing with an inattentive belayer or leading on dodgy gear... Of course, ground up roped soloing is another game altogether....

5) Desirable device characteristics.

1) We want a device that will easily follow us up the rope as we climb and will reliably grab the rope in a fall. 2) It should not cause rope damage or cause the rope to fail. 3) Ideally it should be possible to reverse moves or climb down without the device locking off. 4) It should not drag on the rope so making it likely that a lot of slack will build up in the system or that a heavy weight will have to be used on the end of the rope to make the device to feed cleanly. 5) The device should 'catch' a fall whatever orientation the climber is in or whatever rthe angle of the rock they they climbing.

6) It would be very nice if the device allowed one to abseil without having to do lots of complex rigging first. As we will see few devices meet many, never mind all of these criteria.

6) A review of various fall arrest devices and techniques.

Almost every device that is capable of grabbing a rope in a fall, ranging from various ascenders to the humble prusik knot, have been used by someone, somewhere, for roped soloing, many have even been used for ground up roped soloing! I have attempted to arrange these in order of suitability with the most unsuitable/difficult to use first. The USHBA basic ascender.

Although similar in design to the Troll Rocker (more on this one later) this Russian made titanium ascender is perhaps the last device you should choose to go top rope soloing. In tests for Lyon Equipment this device severed the rope each time its ability to catch a fall was tested... Wild Country Ropeman, Mk 1. The Lyon Equipment report states that this device did not slip with a load of up to 4kn. However at a load of 3.5 kn the device stripped the sheath from the rope and at 4 kn it severed the rope completely... The Petzl Basic.

Like the Petzl Shunt, an old favourite of self belayers. Although it is certified for self belay use by Petzl, feeds easily and grabs the rope reliably it has a number of real

disadvantages. 1) It uses a series of sharp teeth on the actuating cam which will fur ones rope over time. 2) Toothed ascenders are not designed to absorb any sort of dynamic load as they cannot dissipate energy by slipping down the rope. 3) Getting extra slack in the rope for a sideways or downwards move is all but impossible. The cam grabs the rope and the only way to get any extra rope is to push the cam away with ones thumb. Unless the cam is pushed right back the teeth on the cam will catch on the rope and in any case as soon as the cam is released the rope will just slip back through the device. Obviously, disengaging the cam is a potentially fatal action if you fall and if the cam is pushed back far enough it will lock into the disengaged position... 4) The cam on a basic has rather a pronounced square edge which in a high factor fall might cause the rope sheath to fail or even the rope to be severed. The Petzl Shunt.

A long time favourite of many pre-practice devotees has been the Petzl Shunt. Its use as a self belay device is covered in the instructions that come with each Shunt. It can be moved down the rope if needed (although this must be done by hand) and has no sharp teeth that might cause the rope to fur. In a high load situation (such as might occur if slack built up in the system) it will slip on the rope so dissipating energy. However, this device has many shortcomings. 1) It is quite heavily sprung so the rope needs to be weighted more then other devices if the rope is to feed acceptably. 2) It is actuated by a lever cam which will be rendered inoperative if the climber reflexively grabs the device in a fall. 3) The lever cam may also fail to actuate if the climber is ascending overhanging rock as the device will tend to be forced into the climbers body as they swing away from the rock. 4) It uses quite a small circular 'cam' whose behaviour when arresting a fall is not entirely predictable. Cases have been reported where the climber has taken a fall big enough to cause the cam to slip where the resultant friction created has caused the cam to heat up sufficiently to slide down and glaze the rope, failing to grab the rope for a long distance, if at all.

5) Tests done on behalf of Lyon Equipment relating to the use of a Shunt as a piece of fall protection equipment in a rope access environment have shown that the body of the device is inherently weak and may open up in a very low load situation . In addition, as the opens it often creates a deep longitudinal cut in the rope. (See reference below). Petzl Multi-Traxion.

This has a number of similarities to the basic in that it uses a toothed cam. It is also certified by Petzl for use when self belaying. In comparison with the Shunt it has the advantage of being self contained so grabbing the device will not cause it to fail to grab the rope. In comparison with the Basic it has the advantage of having a large curved cam that will spread the load on the sheath more evenly. It feeds very smoothly and gives a high level of security when ascending a fixed rope as long as care is taken not to allow slack to build up in the system. However, as it uses a toothed cam it shares all the disadvantages of the Basic with respect the difficulty of getting any slack rope should one need to make a sideways or downwards move. In addition the came design means that any fall above fator 1 may cause the sheath of the rope to fail. Such a fall factor might be very possible as one moves close to the top anchor if any slack build up in the system.

The Petzl Microcender.

This is another cam actuated device but in this case grabbing the device is less likely to cause it to fail to engage. It has a very strong body and a well designed curved cam will cause some rope glazing in a high factor fall but reliably arrests a fall in a short distance. If is very light sprung and the rope feeds though it almost under its own weight. Disadvantages include the fact that the cam must be disengaged with the hand in order to move the device down the rope (as might be necessary where a sideways or downward move is required). Not only is this potentially hazardous the rope will immediately slip back through the device once the cam is let go off. Down climbing is not possible or is very difficult as the device will grab the rope as soon as it is weighted. If one takes a fall and wishes to descend the device must be have all weight removed from it before it can be disengaged from the rope.

7) Try these if you dare...

Prusik Loops... Many climbers have used simple prusik knots to protect both top rope and lead (!!) soloing. Although this brings to mind images of melted prusik loops and fatal falls, a number of tests have shown that such a simple system might actually work. (See the 'Technical Rescue' magazine reference at the end of the article). However, in a medium to high factor fall the friction generated will partially melt both the loops and the rope they are affixed to, rendering the both unusable. At least prusik loops won't sever your rope... Perhaps the biggest problem with prusik knots, as identified by the Lyon report into personal protective equipment ,is the difficulty in predicting just how a given combination of knot type, rope and cord used to form the knot will behave in a range of situations. Clove hitch on a HMS carabiner. The idea behind this 'system' is simply to tie a clove hitch on a screwgate HMS carabiner, pausing where possible to feed the rope though the knot at various places. Hard or impossible to do and guarantees a significant fall if you do come off. Might work for aid climbing where you can use both hands. The 'Looped rope' system. Loops are tied into the top rope every few feet. As one climbs each loop in turn is secured to the harness with a locking carabiner with the lowest most loop being released as the next is secured so one is always attached to at least one loop...

8) Recommended fall arrest devices.

As is apparent from the above comments, many commonly used devices has serious drawbacks. However, various reports, including the Lyon report on fall arrest devices, have identified a limited number of devices that seem to meet most of the required criteria. The best performing fall arrest device in the Lyon Equipment report was the Troll Rocker. The Troll Rocker.

This device, which should be secured to the harness with a mallion rapide or screwgate carabiner, travels along the rope with very little drag and if the rope is not too soft and flexible or if the rope is under a little tension and care is taken downclimbing is possible. Its action if fully enclosed, it has no teeth that might fur a rope or damage the sheath, it catches falls with great reliability and in a high factor fall will slip on the rope a predictable distance, causing some glazing but helping to dissipate the energy of the fall without causing the rope to fail. Downsides? The main disadvantage is that self rescue/retreating by abseil requires quite a bit of rigging.

Abseil/Self rescue.
One possible procedure for self rescue is as follows: (Note: a similar procedure might be used when using a roped soloing device such as the Silent Partner which is covered later). Preparation . a) Keep a belay device ready for use, secured to the belay loop by a short sling and clipped out of the way on the right side of the harness. b) Keep a shunt ready for use secured to the belay loop with a longer sling and clipped out of the way on the left hand side of the harness. c) Keep a spare sling attached to a carabiner somewhere on the back of the harness. Procedure. 1) If hanging in space or otherwise unable to fit the belay/decender to the rope above the Rocker unclip the Shunt at affix it to the rope at just above head height. 2) Affix the carabiner to the spare sling to the release hole in the Rocker. (In the picture above this is obscured by the small locking cam which is used to stop the device slipping down the rope when doing access work). 3) Stand in the sling to release the Rocker and so the weight comes onto the Shunt. 4) Affix the belay device above the Rocker with its short sling.

5) Wrap the rope around your thigh a few times to secure it below the belay device. 6) Pull down on the Shunt to release it. Disconnect the Shunt and clip it out of the way. 7) Descend using the Rocker as an autoblock for the belay device.

9) The 'Death Modified' Gri-Gri.

The Gri-Gri has been widely used for both top rope and ground up roped soloing. It has the advantage of already being in 'abseil mode' if one needs to retreat . It is also a very strong device which is highly unlikely to cause damage to the rope even when arresting rescue loads with a high fall factor (See the 'Technical Rescue' report below). If modified as shown below the rope feeds easily although a small weight usually needs to be attached to the end of the rope. Sideways and reverse moves are possible to a degree but downclimbing is far more difficult than with a Troll Rocker as the cam tends to actuate if there is any rope weighting the device. Although Petzl take care to emphasise that when a GriGri is used as a belay device a hand must always be kept on the 'dead' rope, when top rope soloing the weight of the rope and small weight attached to the rope to ensure that the device feeds correctly will effectively act as a 'belayers hand', causing the cam to actuate. As with most of the devices covered the Gri-Gri is sensitive to rope diameter . Always use a rope of the correct diameter, ideally about 10.5 mm. A thin or new rope creates much less friction and so may make it less likely that the Gri-Gri will lock off as intended. Given that the operation of a Gri-Gri relies on the free movement of its camming arm it is important to ensure that nothing can interfere wits its action. On 'interesting' aspect of roped soloing using the Gri-Gri is that although in most fall situation gravity will 'grab' you more than hard enough to lock of a Gri-Gri, there is the possibility that a very 'soft' fall may not cause the cam to actuate. This is particularly the case with a thinner then usual or new rope. In addition, the less the amount of rope there is below the Gri-Gri and the smaller the feed weight is on the end of the rope, the less the available force that is available to act as a 'belayers hand'. Although in general it is a bad thing to have too much slack in a top rope solo set up, a little slack is probably a good thing when using a Gri-Gri as it will ensure that the device is 'shock loaded' if you fall. Tests show the Gri-Gri to be a very strong device. the magazine 'Technical rescue' dropped 200kg loads attached to a rope held by a Gri-Gri with a factor 1/3 fall and found the Gri-Gri reliably held the falls.

The above picture shows a 'death modified' Gri Gri. The flap alongside the actuating cam has been cut and filed down so that the rope can pass through the device in a straighter line. The edges of the groove have been carefully smoothed down. The groove in which the rope runs does not extend below the actuating arm on the left so as to minimise the chance of the rope getting caught behind this arm which has quite a sharp edge. (More on this later).

As can be seen above the modification allows the rope to run though the GRi Gri in a much straighter line.

It is best to secure the Gri-Gri (or other device such as Rocker) to the belay loop using a mallion rapide. This keeps the device in the correct orientation and position and avoids unnecessary slack in the system. The barrel of the mallion also tends to prevent the device from sliding down. A small sling has also been used to add redundancy to the system and to stop the mallion dropping down the belay loop.

The image above shows the system rigged for ascent showing how the short (10 cm) sling helps to keep the mallion and Gri-Gri in position. A short length of cord could also be used.

The Gri-Gri arresting a fall.

The actuating cam on the Gri-Gri has a rather narrow edge. This edge poses the main hazard when using a Gri Gri for roped soloing, especially where you might take a leader fall...

It is possible for the rope to become wrapped around the edge shown above in a fall, and in a high factor fall the edge might even sever the rope. Although in a top rope situation it would seem unlikely that this would occur, in the unpredictable circumstances of a leader fall it seems far more possible. Despite this many climbers, especially in the USA and even in the Alps, have use a Gri-Gri successfully for ground up roped soloing, preferring the device to more specialist roped soloing devices such as the Silent Partner.

10) Purpose designed roped soloing devices.

All of these devices can only be sourced direct from the makers in the USA, Wren industries at http://www.wrenindustries.com Non of the devices are currently UIAA certified.

The SoloAid.

This device is primarily intended for use by aid climbers as it is not self feeding so the rope must be fed through by hand. This is not usually a problem for aid climbers who spend a lot of time dangling from their gear. It should be used in conjunction with a chest harness but will hold a fall whatever the position of the climber. It is not very useful for top-rope soloing due to its lack of automatic rope feeding. The Soloist.

This device MUST be used with a chest harness as it must be in the correct orientation to catch a fall. It is used for both ground up soloing and top-roped free climbing on vertical routes. Apparently it is also quite easy to go into 'rappel mode' when using it. Its big, big disadvantage is that it will not catch upside down falls or even backwards falls as might occur when ascending a not too steep slab...

The Silent Partner.

This is the 'device of choice' for many ground up roped solo climbers . It incorporates a centrifugal clutch around which a clove hitch is secured. It will catch a high fall factor lead fall whatever the orientation of the climber and unlike the 'Death Modified Gri-Gri' there is no chance of it severing your rope when catching a leader fall. However, it costs about 200 to get one, it is as big as a small baby, is apparently not much use for top rope soloing due to feed problems and you need to re-rig if you want to abseil off a route. (See the details given above regarding abseiling when using a Troll Rocker). In order to gate the device to lock off you need to be falling fast enough to spin the centrifugal clutch up to speed. It might be possible when using it in a top rope situation to grab the rope reflexively, so sliding down the rope sustaining massive rope burns in the process but keeping ones speed slow enough to prevent the centrifugal clutch from locking off.

11) Conclusions.
My personal experience suggests that a modified Gri-Gri is the device of choice for top-roped soloing due to its convenience (no re-rigging to lower off). A Troll Rocker is also good and is probabaly safer then a Gr-Gri and it is better for down climbing routes. However, re-rigging is necessary in order to descend. A maximally safe system would probably use a Gri-Gri as the main device and a Rocker attached to a lanyard as a back up device on a second rope, though obviously this would make rope management more complex. For ground up soloing, should you really want to do such a thing, the Silent partner seems the only sane option. However I have never used one.

12) Further sources of information.

The Lyon report on fall arrest devices.

http://www.ropesafety.com/site/technique/lyon_report.htm
Early and somewhat outdated pages on modifying a Gri-Gri for roped soloing.

http://art1.candor.com/fpage/doc/input.htm http://www.geocities.com/nate_beckwith/grigri.html
General information on advance climbing techniques including roped soloing.

http://www.tradgirl.com/climbing_faq/advanced.htm
An article on belaying rescue loads which gives an interesting insight into the inherent strengths of the Gri-Gri.

http://www.technicalrescuemagazine.com/arti/be.html
A review of just about every belay, ascender and other rope device ever made.

http://storrick.cnchost.com/VerticalDevicesPage/VerticalHome.shtml

Disclaimer. Climbing is dangerous, roped soloing even more so. The above is provided for technical interest only and it is up to you to decide if any of the information is sound and how appropriate it is to apply it to any given situation. I have identified many possible dangers and limitations of both technique and equipment above, doubtless there are many many more...