i watched this vid about 1 month ago, when i first started looking into TRS climbing. i was so confused, i had no idea what was happening. Now that i've been watching Betaclimbers for a month, i understand how to top rope solo, now i just have to go out and do it. safely and slowly of course. :) Seriously, most informational climbing channel on youtube.
Ballsy AF being that high with a single rope anchor, no rope protectors, and single anchor point... Cheers to you man... My palms are sweaty just watching this...I must be a chicken shit, because I need my redundancy's to be redundant. Thanks for the info.
It's not ballsy, it's dangerous. Takes no time at all to back that anchor point up and throw a rope protector on. Irresponsible and dangerous, but he didn't die so what do I know.
Yeah where is the rope protection? That's crazy stuff. Also that backup knot with two non-locking biners crikey i hope the knot just doesn't go straight through them. Not exactly best practise.
It is even safer if you put some waight at the end of the dead rope. So the device feeds the rope it self and you dont have to. I use a kong Notfall seilklemme and a prusik knot above it so the prusik gets pushed from the kong and in case the kong fails the prusik will catch me.
1)Build your anchor on a tree with webbing, and not your rope. 2)always use edge pro if your rope is running over the cliff edge like that. 3)Use a back up device rather than two opposing biners. Also see Dave Macleods video on TR Solo. Much more comprehensive using a totally different strategy.
Man I’m lmbo right now! 1st of all you’re a bad ass! And 2nd, how the hell I missed this video! I do expedition photography and I just started looking at doing solo rope climbing. Got a lot to learn!
Dope content man, also new to youtube but gonna focus more on alpine climbing mixed and ice! Awesome content was really helpfull and you act very antural on camera. Thats what i struggle the most with!
Lorenzo van Dee wow you think I looked natural! It didn’t feel that way to me lol yeah man you actually end up looking better than you feel most times.... Also it does get easier with the more videos you make. Who knows maybe one day we will collaborate! 👍🏻
Steven Wiegand Thanks been pretty constant dropping one once a week thanks to all the support from you guys showing me you like what I’m putting out! Thanks again
Instead of just the figure 8, also do a clove hitch followed by the figure 8. Then you should always tie the end of the knot to keep it from coming loose.
Using a chest harness even if kinda homemade out of slings helps the ascender to slide easier. Quote by Sharma "How hard can it be if you can take one hand off to clip" or pull the rope through. I've always wondered if the strength of any of these ascenders depends solely on the pin holding two sides together.
Had some issue, but finally found the Traxion. Searching jumar just gave me a ton of other ascenders. The Revo self feeds pretty well. It's only downside is that it let's you drop 1 meter before catching, probably not so good without the Kong Kisa on your static line. I have been doing lots of drop testing since June. The Revo caught more reliably than the Grigri, especially with rope slack, not directly under the anchor, and not enough rope under you. The Kong Kisa had a bit too much friction for my taste on with my 10.5 mm rope even on the least aggressive stopping setting. A guy would get 1500 lb force rather than 5600 lb, falling 2 meters, at the lower setting. Of course, I would take 1500 any day of the week. The other caveats of the Kong Kisa is the slide friction gets higher when rope is dirty or just wet, which makes the kisa rope weave tighter and less prone to slip. Mantel friction, mantel creep/milking, effect the numbers. Kong should just ship 2.5 meters of feed rope, or give people a rule of thumb on a Scaled drop test of a 40 lb bucket of water or dirt. I just don't understand taking one hand off to feed ropes through the belay. The Grigri is better for rappelling and a quicker stop than the Revo. I just have not figured out it can be used where both hands are occupied. I like the Revo also because I can lock it, so that if I am doing some work in one place, I do not have to worry about any drop should I fall or slip. I guess the Traxion would do the same but let me ascend. I am still trying to figure out the easiest protocol.
It is like the ideal would be the Traxion, hands free ascender, to ascend and stop to work. Get to the top, push a button to disable the Traxion on descent, then push a button to activate the Revo. The problem I am having with Revo is it is not hands free until there is 12 feet of rope below me. I then have to pause, find a place for all my tools in my right hand, while holding on with the left, pull out the slack. This is a safety Hazzard. The prospect of a 1 meter of unhampered fall before the Revo kicks in is a downside, but not a deal breaker for me. The hands free issue is a deal breaker.
The grigri *should* stop the fall when you have no hand on the rope. The grigri is designed to lock when the climber falls. But you don't want to rely on a single device saving your ass.
@@jort93z Just to be clear, the only downside for the Revo is the 1 meter before it catches, which means that you should calculate the kilonewton force on the anchor and consider the shock absorber. The grigri catches more quickly, but seldom caught unless the dead end of the rope had a bit of downward weight on it (like 30 ft, or xx feet of downward rope to equal a certain number of lbs of downward force). This was especially reproducible when the grigri was like 6 feet (1 meter) or more to the right or left under the anchor. I could not agree more with the 2 rope, 2 device, system. I definitely believe in redundancy and hybrid advantages. The Petzl ASAP lock looks like it catches faster than the Revo. But, for my purposes, I like the Revo's rope mm requirements better. My fear is that people might rely on the grigri, while not knowing why it can fail. I have seen several videos and posts talking about grigri failure, while not one person has analyzed and explained why. The reason is it needs dead rope weight to work. The other factor that I never see people test is wetness, dirt, and ice. This became apparent to me, because of my unique desired application conditions, which differ from the typical.
@@dennisgarber How well the grigri locks depends on rope diameter and type as well. It will catch thicker rope more easily. Thicker rope will also weigh more. People suggest to tie a knot of some sort into the rope once you've climbed a few feet. This will stop you before the ground(or slow you down at least, in case of rope stretch) if the grigri fails. And it will also add additional weight to the hanging rope.
@@jort93z I was testing on 9.4 mm. I can't tie knots for my usage. For my usage, I need self feeding because we don't have any freaking free hands. The lock feature on the Revo and the petzl asap is very useful.
Thanks for the vid. I like the idea of this for exploring areas on my own. I wonder if you should check out industrial gear like the s tec duck r . It would be way stronger and nicer to your rope than the micro trax.
dude i love your presentation style and laid back approach! super informative and entertaining. When you first tried this system did you have any safety backup like a second rope, I want to try it but am worried about dying as you say lols
I use a sling around the neck/chest, just so that the rope just slides even better trough what ever device, not with the grigri though. Maybe if you use it "up side down". I never tried.
I would not find the knot method safe. Under load supprisingly large knots can go through a hole that you'd not expect. Pulling a knot through a carabiner from the side loads the carabiner in bad position. In larger falls that can break carabiners. Why not just use a carabiner normal way to attach the knot loop to belay loop? They are meant for loads that pull only. I've had a traxion type lock open ie. to pulley mode due to equipment drag. I avoid anything you can lock open unless locking open after that, especially devices that are easy to lock open. Top roping can take supprisingly poor setups because the distance falled and fall factors are very low. Still I prefer to err on the safe side and use only more or less proven methods, two different devices to catch you (possibly with backup knots to belay loop) and so on.
@@BetaClimbers You're right that big knot wil get cought in traxion. I tend to think backup devices like removing the main device completely like it had exploded away totally or perhaps the carabiner got side loaded and snapped away with the device. In that case knot may slip through carabiners and there is nothing to protect any more. I agree that it is about a compromise. Too much devices makes a hassle at some point. The difficult part is finding a solution that is safe and yet has no hassle. In top roping I use 2-3 devices in one or two ropes. There are plenty of fall arrest devices that make great backups and feed easily. I tend to use one toothed and one non-toothed device. I make sure at least one device is used that works when falling upside down. (Many fall arrest devices fail in that) For bottom roping it gets much more difficult when one has to assume possible large fall factors and shock loading, all the hassle getting the rope feed well but not generating lots of slack and so on.
Great stuff! Thank you! Do you have any words of wisdom about where to keep the rope in relation to the feet? Do you avoid the rope from hanging in between you feet, and try to always keep it on one side? I have been TR soloing for years with two static ropes. I see you also use static, so it may not be too much of an issue, since the falls are minimal (the MicroTrax's engage right away), but I still try to keep the ropes to one side to avoid any entanglement with the legs if I swing on my falls. What is your opinion?
I never worried about that to be honest. I would be more worried about the rope getting tangled on bushes actually. So like you said the falls aren’t far enough
Hi thanks for the video, really like your style. Just one suggestion is maybe you would want to use trad gear to set some re belays since you are climbing bit away from the top anchor which if you fall you will swing to the other side like a pendulum.
Your hilarious! Just stumbled on to your site. I've also been figuring out how to top rope solo safely of course. You have some great tips ones I've been wanting to try. I like the static rope idea makes sense. Hope to see your jumar techniques. Do you have a video out yet on that? Keep up the fun videos🤟🤟
Karla Kuharic Haha right on! Thanks here is a link too my jumar video I also have a updated video on this topic as well 🤙🏻 th-cam.com/video/p5g0Cq8X9g8/w-d-xo.html
@@BetaClimbers thanks for the jumar video. Great tips! Gotta buy one for next climbing season no more ascending via prussiks it's a pain and very difficult. I have a petzl traxion too works well. Haven't tried it ice climbing yet. Thanks I'll be following your videos. Happy Holidays!
Cool video. It's all for the learning and the enjoying. I've always wondered about the elaborate effort put into making top rope anchors and then having the climber casually tie in with the double figure eight knot. Complex one end, straight forward the other. Figure eight method around a bomber anchor is the same as tying in right? On a static line perhaps, on a dynamic rope this would only lessen the impact force. Also, after watching some ultra cautious rope solos, I wonder how much more can actually go wrong with a complex system? Missing to clip something while undoing 3 back-up systems, getting flustered etc. Simpler sometimes can actually be safer. I also love the quote from Jim Bridwell "I don't need to solo, I have friends." Yep, I have friends too Jim, one might say but they're usually at work!!
Love it! I think there's a method to climb with bolts and quickdraws that's pretty similar but you have the rope in a backpack. Would you mind looking into that and maybe making a video about it?
HaasGrotesk yeah that would be a method where you start from the bottom then go up. Ill make a video on that one day I’m sure. I’ll call it rope solo on lead or something like that 🤙🏻
Thats lead rope soloing. The video here is top rope solo where you set the anchor above the climb first. Lead rope soloing is much more dangerous (imo) due to the fall factor and forces involved (much higher than top rope solo) - also due to the lack of gear built for that purpose (silient partner is discontinued) and reliability of gear used for that (e.g. grigri doesnt always catch on a lead fall). I would suggest to ONLY lead rope solo much lower grades and for e.g. setting up an anchor for a nearby route. NEVER lead rope solo on a project (that is close/higher than your limit grade). Top rope solo however should be pretty safe if you do everything correctly - many people use top rope solo to rappel down a cliff and work on their projects (like Betaclimber here).
Good question. I have my grigri on a separate locker. I clip the extra locker on my harness and the gri gri into the rope under the trax suck in the slack till the gri gri is now weighted once it is you can disengaged the trax or remove it to repel down.
Static ropes aren't really static, not like a dyneema sling or something is. A dynamic rope might stretch up to 30% while a static might go to 3-5%, or something like that. Note how in his examples he still bounces down on the rope when he does a mock fall, and keep in mind he has quite a few metres of rope in the system. Since you're never falling onto any significant slack in this example, so not generating much falling force, it should be quite comfortable still. If you were leading on a static rope however you would have a very bad time, unless your partner gives you an awesome dynamic belay.
@@BetaClimbers catchy, but devices with teeth are designed to ascend ropes to stop a fall (even a small one on a static). A shunt doesn't have teeth for this reason, it's designed for moving up and down the rope. If backed up by periodic knots it is safe.
If you're using knots as your backup, you should probably be using a semi-static line. Taking a whip like that on a static line sounds awful. GriGris are also not great TR solo devices (coming from a person who's had a GriGri fail to engage)
Bro, Your awesome! LoL Funny asf and on point with extra safety back ups. I did notice you didn't make a secondary knot after your figure 8 anchor knot. All in all sweet vid.
Sorry man, i have a question. i dont get it when you are showing the nut technique with the grigri.. why you rope is actually moving in both direction since the grigri it is supposed to autoblock? that is scaring since you are even anchored to that same rope.. did you open it somehow or what the problem with that grigri? thanks.
Felice Cavallotti the rope has to be attended to with the a Grigri because the rope doesn’t automatically slide through the grigri especially when there is no rope weight. The knots under the gri gri are backups if the grigri was to ever malfunction and slide it would only slide to the knot. Which is why I wouldn’t really recommend a grigri for rope soloing but it can be done that’s why I showed it.
Yo, if turn our DJI drone upside down when you grab it, it'll stop the props. Then you don't have to wait for it to do the auto land thing, way less sketchy.
While this system works and will probably work "most" of the time. I would not use this. The single tree anchor is fine as is the single rope. The issue is with your backups. GriGris and Micro Traxion both have known failures (very rare, but they happen). A backup knot with a GriGri is a safe method on a dynamic rope. You'll break your back if your GriGri fails and you fall to a knot on a static rope. And the knot can pull through carabineers on a big fall... No good. Again the odds of those devices failing and needing the knots is super rare.... But the consequences (death) are worth using a different setup: 2 devices at once or knots in a dynamic rope. Check out Yann Camus' TH-cam channel Blissclimbing for how a Grigri fails and how to properly top rope solo safely. th-cam.com/video/PPjN3oFncc8/w-d-xo.html
moreon doing this by yourself please, im new to climbing, dont have a partner yet, ready to go for it. used to be a tree topper in Canada for yrs. thx again
Eric Whitehead oh if your a tree toper you obviously know what your doing but I’d say get yourself a partner if your new to rock climbing would be a way better experience for you. You could find some on a climbing forum, or maybe even at a popular climbing location and hop on some ropes and make some friends. But either way I’ll be making more of these videos for you lol 👍🏻
billy collins yeah that’s about an 11mm it’s will be more grabby but check with the pretzel website on what they specify for your exact grigri. Some vary.
Some of the comments are worrisome. If you have no one to climb with (and teach/mentor you) find a class or an instructor to teach you. Many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.
hey mike can you give me a time stamp, I think I remember mentioning that you should always bring a set of jumars with your setup so you can escape if you cant climb out. thanks!
I don't think you understand what redundancy means. That tree isn't going anywhere, absolutely nowhere. If you were to assemble an anchor on two trees, you'd be introducing vector forces onto your webbing, which would reduce reduncancy.
Aeroz z Aeroz z multiple anchors to one steel locking ‘biner with your working rope over the edge and protected from rock abrasion. Or multiple anchors on one tree. I’m not judging your tree choice. It’s your reliance on one rock-rubbing lifeline.
@aRacHa YaH I mean, it's not everything. Few examples for you: A single strand of rope when leading/top roping (Arguably could get higher forces in a lead fall than his set up) Single carabiner on a belay device One harness with a single point of failure on the belay loop (not when tying in, but when using a carabiner Sometimes lower-offs are setup with a single ring to lower-off on/repel of (connected to two bolts via chains tho) Not saying his setup is perfect, there are lots of improvements to make. But when people claim "redundancy" do they forget that there are often one point of failure in most systems anyway?
or you can use camp lift, it's non teeth device and it work awesome for me, cons is you have to train yourself how to switch from camp lift to grigri or atc or other decender if you want to rapelling back down
Cool yeah I was experimenting with the Kong backup which is more of a caming device. However I found that the pulley in the traxion allowed me to just focus on the climbing as it just rolls up the rope so easily. I never heard of the camp lift so im interested to try that out because the teeth thing is a downside and the fact that out of box it can be locked open is troublesome.Thank you!
that's why you need to wear chest harness or improvise chest harness than use some sort of elastic band to carabiner you use to attach that camming device so it always up right, and one other thing you want to put that some sort of elastic band at the spine of carabiner if you place it at the gate, it's going to be pain in the ass if you want to switch to rapelling
@@bobsthea Great tips! I use a special locker as shown in the video. I also try to avoid using a chest harnesses because I try to get close enough to the feeling of freedom as I can lol "to each his own". When its time to repel I clip in another locker with a grigri then release tension on the traxion and go down. Stay safe and have fun bro!
![ประสบการณ์ จ้าง Developer ที่ผมจะไม่มีวันลืม [ภาค2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pZbsSDRrmXA/mqdefault.jpg)
i watched this vid about 1 month ago, when i first started looking into TRS climbing. i was so confused, i had no idea what was happening. Now that i've been watching Betaclimbers for a month, i understand how to top rope solo, now i just have to go out and do it. safely and slowly of course. :)
Seriously, most informational climbing channel on youtube.
Lol you’re so casually hilarious. 😂
Man you crack me up.
I am looking to start Rope Soloing so this was actually super helpful.
Would love to see more videos!
Awesome! Got a new video coming soon. 🤙🏻
Helmet! you're a changed man these days!
I quite like your presentation. It’s informing and entertaining. I enjoyed this vid. Thank you.
Keep up the videos man. Truly enjoyed this and it was helpful. Thanks 🤙🏽
Ballsy AF being that high with a single rope anchor, no rope protectors, and single anchor point... Cheers to you man... My palms are sweaty just watching this...I must be a chicken shit, because I need my redundancy's to be redundant. Thanks for the info.
It's not ballsy, it's dangerous. Takes no time at all to back that anchor point up and throw a rope protector on. Irresponsible and dangerous, but he didn't die so what do I know.
Yeah where is the rope protection? That's crazy stuff. Also that backup knot with two non-locking biners crikey i hope the knot just doesn't go straight through them. Not exactly best practise.
Single anchor point? It's a tree! If you can pull a tree over, I'd be scared to meet you lol
@@TonySpinach Not all trees have strong root systems. Especially atop rocky terrain.
That's how everyone does it, it's perfectly safe... Nobody climbs with multiple safety ropes...
It is even safer if you put some waight at the end of the dead rope. So the device feeds the rope it self and you dont have to. I use a kong Notfall seilklemme and a prusik knot above it so the prusik gets pushed from the kong and in case the kong fails the prusik will catch me.
1)Build your anchor on a tree with webbing, and not your rope. 2)always use edge pro if your rope is running over the cliff edge like that. 3)Use a back up device rather than two opposing biners. Also see Dave Macleods video on TR Solo. Much more comprehensive using a totally different strategy.
Always tie a safety overhand knot after every knot
I’ve been clipping draws in bolts as directionals and using a bag of rope on a knot at the end of my rope as a weight and for random backup stuff
Man I’m lmbo right now! 1st of all you’re a bad ass! And 2nd, how the hell I missed this video! I do expedition photography and I just started looking at doing solo rope climbing. Got a lot to learn!
MEDOR Lol Right on🤙🏻 thats sound bad ass too thanks for the support, drop your IG tag I’m into photography as well.
this channel is a hidden jem
Rope protector! Check out Dave Macleods tutorial on this. Very comprehensive.
we need more solorope trad videos....best intro :)
Dope content man, also new to youtube but gonna focus more on alpine climbing mixed and ice! Awesome content was really helpfull and you act very antural on camera. Thats what i struggle the most with!
Lorenzo van Dee wow you think I looked natural! It didn’t feel that way to me lol yeah man you actually end up looking better than you feel most times.... Also it does get easier with the more videos you make. Who knows maybe one day we will collaborate! 👍🏻
BetaClimbers that would be cool man! Heading out to chamonix tomorrow. Do some alpine climbing among vallee blanche in france!
Great video, especially since you just started. keep up the good content (y)
Steven Wiegand Thanks been pretty constant dropping one once a week thanks to all the support from you guys showing me you like what I’m putting out! Thanks again
Instead of just the figure 8, also do a clove hitch followed by the figure 8. Then you should always tie the end of the knot to keep it from coming loose.
Great video!
Ignore the haters, do your thing!
You should make a video on how to do a figure 8😀
Using a chest harness even if kinda homemade out of slings helps the ascender to slide easier. Quote by Sharma "How hard can it be if you can take one hand off to clip" or pull the rope through. I've always wondered if the strength of any of these ascenders depends solely on the pin holding two sides together.
Steel pins... heavier than the ones holding carabiner gates together.... :)
Perfect 👍 thanks 🙏
nice one bro, love the drone shot
Had some issue, but finally found the Traxion. Searching jumar just gave me a ton of other ascenders.
The Revo self feeds pretty well. It's only downside is that it let's you drop 1 meter before catching, probably not so good without the Kong Kisa on your static line.
I have been doing lots of drop testing since June. The Revo caught more reliably than the Grigri, especially with rope slack, not directly under the anchor, and not enough rope under you.
The Kong Kisa had a bit too much friction for my taste on with my 10.5 mm rope even on the least aggressive stopping setting. A guy would get 1500 lb force rather than 5600 lb, falling 2 meters, at the lower setting. Of course, I would take 1500 any day of the week. The other caveats of the Kong Kisa is the slide friction gets higher when rope is dirty or just wet, which makes the kisa rope weave tighter and less prone to slip. Mantel friction, mantel creep/milking, effect the numbers. Kong should just ship 2.5 meters of feed rope, or give people a rule of thumb on a Scaled drop test of a 40 lb bucket of water or dirt.
I just don't understand taking one hand off to feed ropes through the belay.
The Grigri is better for rappelling and a quicker stop than the Revo. I just have not figured out it can be used where both hands are occupied. I like the Revo also because I can lock it, so that if I am doing some work in one place, I do not have to worry about any drop should I fall or slip. I guess the Traxion would do the same but let me ascend. I am still trying to figure out the easiest protocol.
It is like the ideal would be the Traxion, hands free ascender, to ascend and stop to work. Get to the top, push a button to disable the Traxion on descent, then push a button to activate the Revo.
The problem I am having with Revo is it is not hands free until there is 12 feet of rope below me. I then have to pause, find a place for all my tools in my right hand, while holding on with the left, pull out the slack. This is a safety Hazzard.
The prospect of a 1 meter of unhampered fall before the Revo kicks in is a downside, but not a deal breaker for me. The hands free issue is a deal breaker.
The grigri *should* stop the fall when you have no hand on the rope. The grigri is designed to lock when the climber falls. But you don't want to rely on a single device saving your ass.
@@jort93z Just to be clear, the only downside for the Revo is the 1 meter before it catches, which means that you should calculate the kilonewton force on the anchor and consider the shock absorber.
The grigri catches more quickly, but seldom caught unless the dead end of the rope had a bit of downward weight on it (like 30 ft, or xx feet of downward rope to equal a certain number of lbs of downward force). This was especially reproducible when the grigri was like 6 feet (1 meter) or more to the right or left under the anchor.
I could not agree more with the 2 rope, 2 device, system. I definitely believe in redundancy and hybrid advantages.
The Petzl ASAP lock looks like it catches faster than the Revo. But, for my purposes, I like the Revo's rope mm requirements better.
My fear is that people might rely on the grigri, while not knowing why it can fail. I have seen several videos and posts talking about grigri failure, while not one person has analyzed and explained why. The reason is it needs dead rope weight to work.
The other factor that I never see people test is wetness, dirt, and ice. This became apparent to me, because of my unique desired application conditions, which differ from the typical.
@@dennisgarber How well the grigri locks depends on rope diameter and type as well. It will catch thicker rope more easily. Thicker rope will also weigh more.
People suggest to tie a knot of some sort into the rope once you've climbed a few feet. This will stop you before the ground(or slow you down at least, in case of rope stretch) if the grigri fails. And it will also add additional weight to the hanging rope.
@@jort93z I was testing on 9.4 mm. I can't tie knots for my usage. For my usage, I need self feeding because we don't have any freaking free hands.
The lock feature on the Revo and the petzl asap is very useful.
so good, so much fun, you are the best .. stay safe
Good video! Keep ‘em coming.
Very inspiring video, keep up the good work, I know how tough it is to film yourself, you did amazing.
Thanks for the vid. I like the idea of this for exploring areas on my own. I wonder if you should check out industrial gear like the s tec duck r . It would be way stronger and nicer to your rope than the micro trax.
Fred Rendell funny thing is I just bought something similar to that for next Saturday vid, where I’ll be testing that out 😂
@@BetaClimbers Nice I look forwards to the vid.
dude i love your presentation style and laid back approach! super informative and entertaining. When you first tried this system did you have any safety backup like a second rope, I want to try it but am worried about dying as you say lols
This dude is funny as hell. Is that the gunks? I have to try this.
Yes, Millbrook mt
Some tweaker comes along and is like, "Hey man...what's this rope for?? I bet I could get a few bucks for it!"
Proceeds to untie it.
This was one of my fears LOL
@@sohnitabassum Sometimes I sweat people messing with my gear but it has never happened!
I use a sling around the neck/chest, just so that the rope just slides even better trough what ever device, not with the grigri though. Maybe if you use it "up side down". I never tried.
@11:00 did you disconnect from the system when switching to the rappel device?
very nice thank you
I would not find the knot method safe. Under load supprisingly large knots can go through a hole that you'd not expect. Pulling a knot through a carabiner from the side loads the carabiner in bad position. In larger falls that can break carabiners. Why not just use a carabiner normal way to attach the knot loop to belay loop? They are meant for loads that pull only.
I've had a traxion type lock open ie. to pulley mode due to equipment drag. I avoid anything you can lock open unless locking open after that, especially devices that are easy to lock open.
Top roping can take supprisingly poor setups because the distance falled and fall factors are very low. Still I prefer to err on the safe side and use only more or less proven methods, two different devices to catch you (possibly with backup knots to belay loop) and so on.
@@BetaClimbers You're right that big knot wil get cought in traxion. I tend to think backup devices like removing the main device completely like it had exploded away totally or perhaps the carabiner got side loaded and snapped away with the device. In that case knot may slip through carabiners and there is nothing to protect any more.
I agree that it is about a compromise. Too much devices makes a hassle at some point. The difficult part is finding a solution that is safe and yet has no hassle.
In top roping I use 2-3 devices in one or two ropes. There are plenty of fall arrest devices that make great backups and feed easily. I tend to use one toothed and one non-toothed device. I make sure at least one device is used that works when falling upside down. (Many fall arrest devices fail in that)
For bottom roping it gets much more difficult when one has to assume possible large fall factors and shock loading, all the hassle getting the rope feed well but not generating lots of slack and so on.
@@hoggif Yeah man for sure that is a whole other animal! lol I hope to make a video on that as well maybe as soon as the weather here gets better.
I love those Ballet Golds, stiffest shoe I've ever had.
Super helpful thank you.
Dang -5 points for no helmet.
Great video! I love the Gunks!
dmcdesignstudio awesome! Thanks for the sub 👍🏻
Great stuff! Thank you! Do you have any words of wisdom about where to keep the rope in relation to the feet? Do you avoid the rope from hanging in between you feet, and try to always keep it on one side? I have been TR soloing for years with two static ropes. I see you also use static, so it may not be too much of an issue, since the falls are minimal (the MicroTrax's engage right away), but I still try to keep the ropes to one side to avoid any entanglement with the legs if I swing on my falls. What is your opinion?
I never worried about that to be honest. I would be more worried about the rope getting tangled on bushes actually. So like you said the falls aren’t far enough
Hi thanks for the video, really like your style. Just one suggestion is maybe you would want to use trad gear to set some re belays since you are climbing bit away from the top anchor which if you fall you will swing to the other side like a pendulum.
Great advice 🤙🏻 thats always an issue with top rope solos and wondering routes.
Was going to say if you tied a weight to the rope that ascender should just walk right upwards.
Your hilarious! Just stumbled on to your site. I've also been figuring out how to top rope solo safely of course. You have some great tips ones I've been wanting to try. I like the static rope idea makes sense. Hope to see your jumar techniques. Do you have a video out yet on that? Keep up the fun videos🤟🤟
Karla Kuharic Haha right on! Thanks here is a link too my jumar video I also have a updated video on this topic as well 🤙🏻
th-cam.com/video/p5g0Cq8X9g8/w-d-xo.html
@@BetaClimbers thanks for the jumar video. Great tips! Gotta buy one for next climbing season no more ascending via prussiks it's a pain and very difficult. I have a petzl traxion too works well. Haven't tried it ice climbing yet. Thanks I'll be following your videos. Happy Holidays!
Karla Kuharic Thanks Happy Holidays buddy 👍🏻
Cool video. It's all for the learning and the enjoying. I've always wondered about the elaborate effort put into making top rope anchors and then having the climber casually tie in with the double figure eight knot. Complex one end, straight forward the other. Figure eight method around a bomber anchor is the same as tying in right? On a static line perhaps, on a dynamic rope this would only lessen the impact force. Also, after watching some ultra cautious rope solos, I wonder how much more can actually go wrong with a complex system? Missing to clip something while undoing 3 back-up systems, getting flustered etc. Simpler sometimes can actually be safer. I also love the quote from Jim Bridwell "I don't need to solo, I have friends." Yep, I have friends too Jim, one might say but they're usually at work!!
lol thats a good one!
Yeah I try to K.I.S.S. everything (keep it simple stupid)
Love it! I think there's a method to climb with bolts and quickdraws that's pretty similar but you have the rope in a backpack. Would you mind looking into that and maybe making a video about it?
HaasGrotesk yeah that would be a method where you start from the bottom then go up. Ill make a video on that one day I’m sure. I’ll call it rope solo on lead or something like that 🤙🏻
Thats lead rope soloing. The video here is top rope solo where you set the anchor above the climb first. Lead rope soloing is much more dangerous (imo) due to the fall factor and forces involved (much higher than top rope solo) - also due to the lack of gear built for that purpose (silient partner is discontinued) and reliability of gear used for that (e.g. grigri doesnt always catch on a lead fall). I would suggest to ONLY lead rope solo much lower grades and for e.g. setting up an anchor for a nearby route. NEVER lead rope solo on a project (that is close/higher than your limit grade). Top rope solo however should be pretty safe if you do everything correctly - many people use top rope solo to rappel down a cliff and work on their projects (like Betaclimber here).
what kind of rope is that as far as brand not alot of options on the static side of ropes
Great video! How to do you switch from micro traxion to a gri gri (or any other rappel device) safely?
Good question. I have my grigri on a separate locker. I clip the extra locker on my harness and the gri gri into the rope under the trax suck in the slack till the gri gri is now weighted once it is you can disengaged the trax or remove it to repel down.
youre a natural at this youtube stuff man... ive never hit the subscribe button so fast.
So good!!
Is this at the gunks?
Great, great vid. Love the vultures behind u. Almost scary.
Will Willis Thanks yeah they had me scared lol 😂
what if you placed a piece every so often and tied the rope to it so that it held the weight of all of the rope below it?
that was awesome man!
Dope!
cool video man
Isn't it dangerous to fall at all on a static rope?
Static ropes aren't really static, not like a dyneema sling or something is. A dynamic rope might stretch up to 30% while a static might go to 3-5%, or something like that. Note how in his examples he still bounces down on the rope when he does a mock fall, and keep in mind he has quite a few metres of rope in the system. Since you're never falling onto any significant slack in this example, so not generating much falling force, it should be quite comfortable still. If you were leading on a static rope however you would have a very bad time, unless your partner gives you an awesome dynamic belay.
Do you have any lead rope solo videos?
I do but I basically talk about how it’s just not a good idea. I plan on making another one where I try to find the “safest” way to do it
10:25 what’s that flash ?
Nice video! Which drone do you use?
NEO CRO the mavic pro 🤙🏻
Would you ever use a bowline instead of the figure 8 around the tree?
Andrew Anderson yeah with some back up knots but my go to would be the figure eight. 👍🏻
Oh my fucking goood nice vid….. im actualy lowkey scared of heights
Don't use a mini-taxion! Use a shunt, no teeth, no damage.
Ali McMellon shunt slips your booty grips
@@BetaClimbers catchy, but devices with teeth are designed to ascend ropes to stop a fall (even a small one on a static). A shunt doesn't have teeth for this reason, it's designed for moving up and down the rope. If backed up by periodic knots it is safe.
If you're using knots as your backup, you should probably be using a semi-static line. Taking a whip like that on a static line sounds awful. GriGris are also not great TR solo devices (coming from a person who's had a GriGri fail to engage)
Bro, Your awesome! LoL
Funny asf and on point with extra safety back ups. I did notice you didn't make a secondary knot after your figure 8 anchor knot. All in all sweet vid.
Thank bro! (fist bump) lol
Thanks
Sorry man, i have a question. i dont get it when you are showing the nut technique with the grigri.. why you rope is actually moving in both direction since the grigri it is supposed to autoblock? that is scaring since you are even anchored to that same rope.. did you open it somehow or what the problem with that grigri? thanks.
Felice Cavallotti the rope has to be attended to with the a Grigri because the rope doesn’t automatically slide through the grigri especially when there is no rope weight. The knots under the gri gri are backups if the grigri was to ever malfunction and slide it would only slide to the knot. Which is why I wouldn’t really recommend a grigri for rope soloing but it can be done that’s why I showed it.
more vids please
Is that a climbing rope, being used as an anchor? if it is dynamic, it is abrading every time it is weighted.
Ian Blakeman It’s a static line 👍🏻check out my edge protection episode. 😃
sweet vid
Yo, if turn our DJI drone upside down when you grab it, it'll stop the props. Then you don't have to wait for it to do the auto land thing, way less sketchy.
Yeah I learned that trick! Wish I knew it back then lol 😂 good looks 🤙🏻
what's the wall/name of the route?
Millbrook, its a route me and my father set called Abraham believed, enumerable stars 5.11, its on mountain projects site.
@@BetaClimbers Old man's a bit of a legend, eh? The rangers around there refer to a climber as "a Don", true story.
Static line? If for some crazy reason your device fails and you fall 20 feet to your last safety knot, broke back mountain.
😂 “broke back mountain”
Which static rope do you use?
Blue water ropes
While this system works and will probably work "most" of the time. I would not use this. The single tree anchor is fine as is the single rope. The issue is with your backups. GriGris and Micro Traxion both have known failures (very rare, but they happen). A backup knot with a GriGri is a safe method on a dynamic rope. You'll break your back if your GriGri fails and you fall to a knot on a static rope. And the knot can pull through carabineers on a big fall... No good. Again the odds of those devices failing and needing the knots is super rare.... But the consequences (death) are worth using a different setup: 2 devices at once or knots in a dynamic rope.
Check out Yann Camus' TH-cam channel Blissclimbing for how a Grigri fails and how to properly top rope solo safely.
th-cam.com/video/PPjN3oFncc8/w-d-xo.html
moreon doing this by yourself please, im new to climbing, dont have a partner yet, ready to go for it. used to be a tree topper in Canada for yrs. thx again
Eric Whitehead oh if your a tree toper you obviously know what your doing but I’d say get yourself a partner if your new to rock climbing would be a way better experience for you. You could find some on a climbing forum, or maybe even at a popular climbing location and hop on some ropes and make some friends. But either way I’ll be making more of these videos for you lol 👍🏻
will the grigri work well with a 7/16 rope?
billy collins yeah that’s about an 11mm it’s will be more grabby but check with the pretzel website on what they specify for your exact grigri. Some vary.
¿what diameter of rope are u using please?
10mm
@@BetaClimbers thanx, God u and your family, keep doing what u do. By the way I'm watching your videos from Panamá.
Why cant I get the picture out of my head that theres a biever chewing on the anchor? Jokes aside, it freaks me out to not see the fixing point.
Some of the comments are worrisome. If you have no one to climb with (and teach/mentor you) find a class or an instructor to teach you. Many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.
Today you’d say where’s your helmet
I’s this the gunks??
This is one of the best videos to help describe rope soloing/technique, which is hard to find info on! Thank u so much!
Caroline Morris thank you just got a lot of new camera equipment and I’ll be rolling new videos out soon!
Dope
where is this??
Gunks
@@BetaClimbers country ? Haha
@@lukewilkinson1059 oh sorry lol New paltz NY USA
I’mma have to do this in the gym if I can’t find a belay partner soon. This sux😂
You bounce off the ground at a high rate of speed unless of course you are older then you splat instead
What's the jumore (sp?) reference?
hey mike can you give me a time stamp, I think I remember mentioning that you should always bring a set of jumars with your setup so you can escape if you cant climb out. thanks!
BetaClimbers ~4:33 jumars is it! Thank you!
@@mikelemayawesometimeallthe6434 Awesome! yeah was just saying its like a jumar rope ascender. np Anytime =]
Is it just a grigri? Or is it the 2?
Eric Roberts just a gri gri but I’m sure any of the currently newer ones would work just as well. 👍🏻
oops answered that one with my other account but ya what I said.
Seriously?! One anchor?? Invest in some webbing and use another tree.
thats a huge tree though, bomber af
ybot77 size of tree doesn’t matter when your equipment fails. Redundancy saves lives.
I don't think you understand what redundancy means. That tree isn't going anywhere, absolutely nowhere. If you were to assemble an anchor on two trees, you'd be introducing vector forces onto your webbing, which would reduce reduncancy.
Aeroz z Aeroz z multiple anchors to one steel locking ‘biner with your working rope over the edge and protected from rock abrasion. Or multiple anchors on one tree. I’m not judging your tree choice. It’s your reliance on one rock-rubbing lifeline.
@aRacHa YaH I mean, it's not everything. Few examples for you:
A single strand of rope when leading/top roping (Arguably could get higher forces in a lead fall than his set up)
Single carabiner on a belay device
One harness with a single point of failure on the belay loop (not when tying in, but when using a carabiner
Sometimes lower-offs are setup with a single ring to lower-off on/repel of (connected to two bolts via chains tho)
Not saying his setup is perfect, there are lots of improvements to make. But when people claim "redundancy" do they forget that there are often one point of failure in most systems anyway?
sweet drone footage as well
Drones are a violation of Mohonk Preserve rules. So not sweet.
Nice helmet
No helmet ?!
I have changed my ways! 😂
No helmet😮
Nice video, part instructional part "real shit can happen" comedy show...mostly instructional though, thanks
Creo que el mosquetón del grigri va al revés...
I am tired of not finding a parter to climb with. Too bad I got no trees what so ever where I live.
El AMeriK4n0 C4N4ri0 I’ll be making a video with some traditional anchors soon 👍🏻
or you can use camp lift, it's non teeth device and it work awesome for me, cons is you have to train yourself how to switch from camp lift to grigri or atc or other decender if you want to rapelling back down
Cool yeah I was experimenting with the Kong backup which is more of a caming device. However I found that the pulley in the traxion allowed me to just focus on the climbing as it just rolls up the rope so easily. I never heard of the camp lift so im interested to try that out because the teeth thing is a downside and the fact that out of box it can be locked open is troublesome.Thank you!
that's why you need to wear chest harness or improvise chest harness than use some sort of elastic band to carabiner you use to attach that camming device so it always up right, and one other thing you want to put that some sort of elastic band at the spine of carabiner if you place it at the gate, it's going to be pain in the ass if you want to switch to rapelling
@@bobsthea Great tips! I use a special locker as shown in the video. I also try to avoid using a chest harnesses because I try to get close enough to the feeling of freedom as I can lol "to each his own". When its time to repel I clip in another locker with a grigri then release tension on the traxion and go down. Stay safe and have fun bro!
Do you use dynamic rope with the camp lift?
@@weggimbuoe yes i did
Hi. Nice video bro)
survival lessons MT. Hard Skills Thanks man 🤙🏻
helmet??