I'm thinking of soloing an alpine route which for the most part is fairly easy but has one short section of very exposed F5a climbing - a grade I would very happily solo at the crag, but at 4000m in big boots, I'm not so sure. My normal approach would be to decide at the time, and if necessary just back off if it looks too necky.
However, I remembered reading something on Andy K's blog about this, and sure enough I found this article:
https://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/winter_soloing
I'm definitely not going to carry a full rope soloing setup on an alpine climb, but since I'd have a rope anyway for abseiling, this system is quite appealing. Basically he says place some gear, tie in direct on one half of the rope, continue climbing, place some more on the other half of the rope, and pull the rope out of the first piece.
Has anyone got any experience with this technique and anything to share?
Andy K seems to suggest trying to yank the gear out from above and otherwise leaving it. I don't understand why you wouldn't just downclimb after the next piece is placed to recover the first?