RRC Archives

Redpoint wrote:

KD wrote:redpoint - if i dont have a grigri, can i use an atc or a figure eight or something? i guess i could pull the rope real fast or grab a loop if i fell.

KD, why do you always act like the loop technique is retarded when in actuality, if you use that technique with a silent partner, it is the safest way to solo, if you could even call it safe...

I never acted like any technique was retarded, I just want to properly understand all this before i go out and try this weekend. I thought you tied loops to grab ahold of or something and I'm new to this this climbing technique stuff, kinda like pigsteak but not that new, so i wanted to rely on expert advise before i go out and do anything.

O, I thought you were makng a joke about being new and trying it. No the loops are to clip in to in case the gri fails by not locking up. I can't think of a way to do the loop technique if you are going to be sport climbing though. See you clip in to one loop, and then when you get to the next loop you also clip in to it, and then unclip the previous loop, and so on. You would want to use two beaners attached to your harness for that, because if you only used one, it would be too hard to unclip that previous loop. Don't attach the beanrs to your belay loop, it was never meant to takes falls from the climbers side. For instance, if a lead climber fell and generated 1300 pounds of force on himself, the belayer would see 700, and you combine those two to find out how much your anchor saw, which would be 2000. Bolts are supposed to hold around 5000, but at the Red with all the sandstone, I doubt the bolts would hold 5000 lbs.

O and if you fell you would most likely not be able to grab on to the brake end of the rope. Just another reason why you're not supposed to ever leg go of the brake side of the rope when blaying someone, it's because they say the rope whips around so much you can't normally even grab it. It's reasons like that, that I always tie overhand knots on a bite on the slack end of the rope while I am soloing. I tie one about every 4 feet, and that will make sure that even though your hand isn't on the brake end of the rope, at least if the gri doesn't lock up it will eventually get to one of those knots and prevent you from falling all the way to the ground. It is a little hard to tie a overhand knot on a bite with one hand though, but after a while you get the hang of it, I use a lot of leg pinning technique on the rope to assist me in doing that.

awsome! well i'm gonna take my atc and my rope and stuff to the red and try it on some of those climbs they have there. i guess i outta try it out on something steep so i cant hit anything if i fall i guess. I hate fallin because all i got so far is a harness i made out of one inch tube webbing that i bought at quest and it's hard to untie when you fall on it. it doesnt have belayers loops - you just clip those beaner things to the front of it after you got a bunch of knots tied in it. it works pretty well though. i'm gonna get some cool gear someday but my wife bitches when i spend money on climbin' stuff so i just got a few things so far.

Man, if you can wear a medium, I have a harness you can have. send me a pm we'll figure out how to get it to you.

man that would be awsome! I'm not sure what size i would wear. i weigh about 225 so that's probably a medium. I wore one at one of those gyms we have here the other day and it almost fit. i didn't have any web left to go back through the buckle thing but it fit real real snug anyway and the ropes they have go over these bars so you cant really fall or get hurt or anything. Kinda made me look funny in the front though. i was blushin alot when some girls looked at me.

medium is too mall. It was OK when my waist was smaller I don't wiegh as much as you and a large works for me now. Were you climbing at Rockquest in Cinci?

no i live in louisville - there's one here called rocksport so i went there. I had a rope an stuff before though. I found a real long rope hangin' over the edge of a cliff down there in the red while i was huntin last fall. it was over by the murray place and there are a bunch of bolts all over there. nobody was around so i guess whoever owns it forgot it so my buddy and i tied in to it and started climbin an swingin on it and all - ever since then i got the climbin' fever.

I bought a black diamond harness at quest for $32, but it was a small and so they had to order one. All of the ones they had in stock were larges though.

I don't think you should go out and solo just because you read some stuff on a forum about it. You would want to read many articles on it and have a perfect understanding of it. Solo climbing is the second most dangerous form of climbing, 1st being free soling(having no rope at all). People were giving you a hard time about it for a good reason. I personally figured that you would probabley attempt it anyways, you might as well know a little something about it. You should be aware that only a rock climbing expert should attempt to go solo climbing.

well then i wanna be an expert because this climbin' thing seems pretty cool. They got a place in the red over by that murray place where you dont even need gear because people leave their stuff hangin from the bolts and you jus clip them until you fall or get real real tired and have to rest then go to the next ones if they aren't too hard to get to.

I plead the 5th of Jack daniels