Pete Whittaker recently returned from a three-week trip to Squamish, in British Columbia, Canada. Normally associated with hard crack climbs and Tom Randall, this time around Pete was out there on his own - practising rope solo techniques. Having barely any experience of using the technique prior to his trip, Pete impressively came away with fast multi-route rope-solo climbs, including two separate triple-route ascents on the 2,303ft granite monolith the Squamish Chief in under 24 hours.
Interesting Pete says he is never tied in. Usually when rope soloing you tie in periodically as a back up - if the solo device goes belly up then ultimately you stop at the knot. I guess when speed climbing it's a decision you take to save time.
I recently did Roof Route in Burbage South ( Roof Route (VS 4c) ) as rope solo lead. I probably used similar system to what Pete was using because I was freaking out about clipping free hanging end of rope. Did a rope solo multi pitch on Zamarla Turnia in Polish Tatras ( Zamarła Turnia#maps) in 1993 and did not tie in periodically ... It was too much faff on free climbing even on short route
True, if 'tying in' is tying on to the end of the rope then true you don't - unless you get to the end. Otherwise yes the other end is firmly attached to the belay!
Nice article! It would be good to have more detail on Pete's system - he's clearly thought about this carefully and got a system that works quickly and effectively...
And first rope solo Happy Hart at Curbar? Joke?
Yeah I'd also like to hear more about his rope soloing system. I'm guessing he's using gear not made by his sponsors , so maybe that explains the lack of detail?
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