Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

TR soloing/self belay with a gri gri? 29-Apr-2005 At 7:13:36 PM Kingerz

Message

I really can't imagine using a gri-gri: you would have to pull rope thru on each move and have a hand free to do so.

I use a full-size Petzl ascender on am 11mm static line. Back-ups like prusiks always end up annoying, but the point about sheath ripping and accidentally clicking the teeth open is a a good one and a really scary risk. Tying stopper knots in the rope below would limit a slide, but the forces built up would be very considerable if you were to fall. Therefore, an unsupported ascender works best on slabs where it is easy to make checks and adjustments.

Remember, if you SB and can't finish the climb, it's easy to find yourself hanging on the rope, unable to go forward or back. In that case, you would need to make certain that you know how to escape from the system and abseil back down. Doing this is vastly easier on slabs!