UKC

In this, the first of three articles, Patrick Roman recounts his tales of winter soloing and how this dangerous pastime has a dramatic effect on him and his view of the world.

“Teetering on my front points 300 feet above the coire floor, I find myself staring at a steep, blank wall split by a single crack.”

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=2283

In reply to UKC Articles:

great story but not a position i'd like to be in.....i take it now the author has a computer he is aware of:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/i.php?f=5

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great piece.

In reply to UKC Articles:

An intense moment brilliantly and succinctly described. Reminds me of this quote from Joe Simpson's The Beckoning Silence:

I too have paused many times at a particularly tricky move, hesitated as I tried to bolster my courage, and then stepped up or reached a tiny handhold at full stretch and breathed a sigh of relief. It is the essence of climbing. For an endless moment everything is concentrated on the outcome of one shift in body weight, one calculated decision to move, upon which the outcome of the entire climb - if not your life - is dependent. For an instant you are intensely alive. Good memories of climbs are about these brilliantly intense experiences, milliseconds of movement, confrontations with infinity, breath held until you have won through. I glanced up at the face thinking of Aldi's fateful step. Sometimes we lose..

Cheers

In reply to UKC Articles: Shame about the disclaimer at the top, is this something we are going to see more often? Perhaps understandable, but saddening.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Nice, enjoyed that. Agree though, was there really a need for the disclaimer at the start? A bad precedent I think, winter climbing is far from safe even when roped up.

In reply to UKC Articles: Patrick's second article is going live tomorrow at 9 am.

Cheers,

Jsck

In reply to UKC Articles:
Fantastic, a gripping account. It is something I can identify with as I do a lot of soloing myself, and am familiar with the feeling of coming up against a personal limit beyond which I am not willing to commit myself when unprotected and alone. I've soloed Grade III routes but a couple of (so far gentle) warnings have deterred me from attempting any harder solo climbs than this.

You appear to have given plenty of coverage of solo ascents (and soloing) when they are notable, regardless of whether it was an appropriate or established style for the climb. See:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=868
http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1455
http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1915
http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=45527
http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=49981
http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=45532
http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=48007
http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=42505
http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=45308
http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=45459

What's caused the change?

In reply to pishmishy:

It was appropriate in all those cases, as it is in this one. The disclaimer is to stop the backlash on the forums from people who think that it is irresponsible to publish accounts like this - it has no other purpose. Unfortunately it seems to have prompted a reverse anti-backlash. I guess we can't win on this one.

Please don't read too much into it other than, "we like to read this sort of stuff, we want to publish this sort of stuff, but don't all go rushing out and trying to do this sort of stuff just so that we can publish it".

Alan

In reply to UKC Articles:

Nicely written and cool account.

I have to agree with previous posts though. Soloing is a massive part of climbing, let's not make it out to be an irresponsible past time, just because of unimformed public oppinion.

In reply to Franco Cookson:

the logbooks page says that 14% of all UKC climbs are soloed so I wouldn't call it a "massive part"...i also suspect a lot of these are DWS's and boulder problems which are normally soloed anyway. Despite successful solo such as this one, there are plenty of counter examples to suggest it might be an irresponsible activity. I'm not saying UKC shouldn't publish the article by the way....I'm capable of making our own mind up, I just don't think it means that soloing is automatically something worthwhile.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Amazing article. Beautifully written.

Thankyou.

Can't wait for the others.

In reply to Morgan Woods:

The UKC logbooks also show that only 4% of ascents are top roped and 7% arebouldered. So perhaps not the greatest of evidence. But I agree with you, a lot of people don't regularly solo and that's fine, but climbing was founded on soloing and many of the most active climbers pushing the boundries either solo or use a soloing midset. This isn't a pro-solo rant, just that I think it's betraying climbing's origins if soloing becomes a dirty word.

In reply to Franco Cookson:
Most climbers solo, but they call it scrambling or hill walking.

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

This is a climbing forum Alan, not the daily mail. I think any disclaimers are a bad idea - all forms of climbing involve some element of danger, why draw the line there?

In reply to Toreador:

If by climber you mean someone who does more than scrambling or hill walking, they do not mean either of the latter by 'soloing'. They mean soloing rock climbs - and most keen rock climbers will frequently solo routes that are well below their leading ability.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
Yes, but the dividing line between a scramble and a rock climb is arbitrary. You probably wouldn't say you'd soloed a grade 3 scramble, but you might say you'd soloed a Diff rock climb, even if the latter was actually easier. Yet some people will condemn 'soloing' as irresponsible, even though they don't rope up for scrambles (even scrambles that also appear in climbing guides as routes).

In reply to UKC Articles: I solo an above average number of routes VS and below, Even in these 'easier' grades it is an enhancing experience.

Hi everyone,

Firstly, I'd like to say thanks for the positive comments so far, I'm glad you have enjoyed the article. The passage quoted from Joe Simpson's superb book, "The Beckoning Silence", is one that many climbers must be able to relate to, roped or unroped. A good number of you have surprised me with your support of soloing, it's nice to hear. Like Franco Cookson said, "let's not make it out to be an irresponsible past time, just because of uninformed public opinion." I couldn't agree more.

The summary preceding the disclaimer is not mine - I wouldn't single out soloing in particular as a "dangerous pastime", especially if it's approached correctly. For example, why not refer to roped climbing as such? I do feel we have to be careful, as a climbing community, not to put soloing into a corner as something only for the deranged. Climbing history is littered with tales of incompetence and misfortune, and most of it involving teams of two or more.

Having spoken to Alan James at UKC about the disclaimer, it seems this is to try and curtail a swathe of complaints that they felt they may receive about the article and the "promotion" of soloing. According to Alan, my last article, "The Tyranny of Success" generated more than a few emails directly to UKC! Personally, I'm in agreement with those of you who find this sort of thing disheartening.

This piece of writing does not advocate soloing, neither does it try to dissuade people either. It is simply a very personal account of my formative years as a climber, focused on a particular ascent. I wrote it for myself, as part of my own history. In time, I thought a few people might be interested to read it too. I'm always concerned that people see such tales as elitist. It couldn't be further from the truth, as the last couple of paragraphs testify to. Grades in climbing have no meaning in circumstances like these.

Solo ascents are not a "better" way of climbing than roped ascents, just a different way. I get the impression sometimes that those who never solo can quickly go on the defensive (or attack) when confronted by topics regarding soloing. If the topic is deliberately antagonistic, then this is understandable. Otherwise, see it for it is, just another story.

Thanks again,

Patrick

In reply to UKC Articles:

Just to have someone mentioning the cons: Many (hard) soloists seem to die soloing with the great John Bachar being the latest example. Also a friend of mine was climbing Green gully as part of a roped team when a soloist fell past them to his death.

In reply to hwackerhage:

No one was talking about pros and cons, just that it shouldn't be a banned subject.

In reply to Franco Cookson:

as far as i can see, no one was talking about banning it as a subject either, Franco...

cheers
gregor

In reply to UKC Articles:

I think that was a great piece Patrick and enjoyed the read ! Not sure about the disclaimer I think leave it there as it does no one any harm really, covers UKC's back and to others you can just ignore it!

It has its dangers as a past time of course to solo routes in winter but I dont think people are so stupid they just go for the solo without knowing a bit about themselves beforehand! There is a big difference between perceived risk and actual risk that said winter throws up the unexpected! Steck Eiger 2 hours something, still alive, calculated risk!
Its long been a tradition for climbers to solo routes!

Aye Dan



Aye Dan

In reply to Patrick Roman:


Is the "public" really so uninformed? Are you so well informed?

I soloed a bit too, some reasonably hard things in Chamonix and Scotland, and I too am inclined to identify this phase with significant and valuable personal development.
However, I have no doubts looking back that it was stupid and I am very lucky to be alive. At least twice I came extremely close to termination. Many other climbers (often much better than me) went through the same stage and were less lucky. Climbers who become fixated with unroped soloing nearly always end up killed.

Seems the issue is whether or not we are "allowed" to be irresponsible, assuming it doesn't directly endanger anyone else. Is stupidity of this sort necessary in order to become less stupid?

In reply to Patrick Roman:
Fantastic article Patrick, thanks! Cant wait to read the next one!

In reply to inuklm:

The next one is here - http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=2293

There will only be two articles though since Patrick has withdrawn his permission for us to publish the third one.

Alan

In reply to Alan James - UKC:
Shame - is there a petition I can sign?

In reply to Toreador:

I'd second that.

In reply to Franco Cookson:

Hi Franco,

I've just posted a note on the forum that's linked to the 2nd article. If you, or anyone else, want to read the third article, I would be more than happy to send it to you directly. Just email me!

Thanks,

Patrick

In reply to Dan Goodwin - Mountain Plan:

The most interesting thing about the article is that Patrick's lack of climbing experience at the time (if I've read it correctly) seems to indicate that the risk he took was not a calculated risk, because he had no experience of climbing such a hard route before.

A well written piece though - I was gripped!

(I'm fully in favour of soloing by the way, although the older I get the less I can justify it to myself)

In reply to Patrick Roman: There can of course be a downside to soloing, when people who are not experienced or ready mentally are encouraged to do it by others who are. Care to comment?

In reply to Willy:

Hi Willy,

I completely agree with you and, in that regard, I would never encourage somebody to solo if they did not want to do so. In fact, even for those people who have told me they enjoy soloing, I have never encouraged them, nor discouraged them. Both "State of Nakedness" and "Low Winter Sun" are personal accounts of specific events in my life. They do not make any recommendations and furthermore, have failure at their core.

The post above, from tobykeep, is also 100 per cent accurate. But then so is what Dan Goodwin said. Everything has to be taken in context. I suggested to UKC that for the summary at the top of "State of Nakedness", they should use the words, "unrestrained ambition". They ignored this and changed it to "a dangerous pastime". tobykeep is correct with what he says in that it was exactly "unrestrained ambition" that got me onto Crest Route in the first place. Raw ability and luck then got me to the top. The route was my third winter climb (roped or unroped) ever. If you read the final two paragraphs of that article, there's no "glorification" of that ascent or of soloing in general, just an honest depiction of the result and what followed.

Dan Goodwin talked about "calculated risk" and this is represented in the second article, "Low Winter Sun". The solo at the heart of that article may seem an extreme act by some but, for me, having learned from the events detailed in the first article (and a lot more thereafter), it was logical.

With the label of "a dangerous pastime", soloing is relegated to recklessness and a senseless pursuit. On the contrary, many soloists (those who specialise in it) will take a very cautious approach to their climbing - as Dan pointed out in his post. Sure, there may be a dangerous, formative period and there may be times when they nearly get caught out, but that occurs to many roped climbers too. That's the risk of climbing in general, not attributable specifically to soloing. We could examine many aspects of climbing, from high-altitude mountaineering to big wall routes, and this risk pattern is echoed throughout.

I found out a few days ago that "The Tyranny of Success", which UKC ran last December, generated many complaints directly to UKC for "glorifying" soloing. The very title I chose, borrowed from Mark Twight, is actually self-deprecating. The routes that I do recommend in that article assume that a rope is being used. I don't know if people felt that I was recommending all those routes to be soloed - I wasn't. In retrospect, this was maybe not made clear enough in the text of that article. The article was intended for those climbers who aspire to climb (not solo) Grade V, and about the importance of consolidation to achieve this. If read from that perspective, I think the article is useful.

Personally, I feel psychologically suited to soloing. Not all the time of course, but most of the time. While one needs to be physically fit and technically able, psychological strength is vitally important for soloing, at any level. Climbers have to be at ease with their surroundings, and with themselves, before they do it, which is why it's such a personal pursuit that often transcends the physical act of climbing itself. Nevertheless, a Grade I can kill a soloist just as routes at higher levels can, something which we've, sadly, seen occur in the past. Make no mistake however, a rope isn't necessarily going to stop an accident from happening either.

Regards,

Patrick

PS. I've just heard about the very tragic death of Guy Lacelle. If people ever wondered which climbers I have taken inspiration from, Guy Lacelle would top the list. His unassuming attitude masked his status as one of the world's finest soloists. My sincere condolences to his wife, family and friends.

In reply to UKC Articles:

In the past and sometimes still, I solo as well. It can be ice or rock and will be mainly on high mountains. But I ALWAYS take a rope with me. To abseil when things look to scary or dangerous. Or to belay a section when I don't trust myself.
Also for getting down after climbing the objective the rope can come in handy.
I noticed that in the story and in the reactions nobody talks about taking a rope while going on a solo.
How about it ??
Cheers, Michael

In reply to michaelja:

On a long mixed/Alpine route the decision not to take a rope is .... in my view .... and by way of euphemism .... "unsound" and contrary to the principle of self-sufficiency in countless possible unforeseen circumstances (crampon breaks, go off route, extreme weather develops, another solo climber without rope screaming for help, etc.)

In reply to michaelja:
Because when you solo you do whatever you want to do...
You take a rope?
Fine.
Someone else doesn't take a rope?
What about it...?
Soloing is about freedom, not about 'what everyone else does' or 'what should be done'.

You and your neck, that's all.

In reply to michaelja:

Hi,

As you asked, and as it may be of interest to others, I've chosen to solo ropeless in the past because I feel most comfortable in that situation, which I know might sound strange! For me, it's a freedom of movement, completely unhindered either by a rope hanging from a harness or on my back. Subconsciously, it makes a situation a thousand feet off the ground feel like a bouldering problem. Again, and I stress this point, this is how it feels for me - it may not be the best approach for someone else. When I'm tied into a partner (yes, there are occasions!), I feel differently, and I act differently - not necessarily for the better either. So, when I solo, I stick with what I know. This may change in the future of course.

Remember too, that I'm no oracle on soloing. I haven't actually written about soloing as a branch of climbing - I have only recalled specific personal experiences. In fact, I don't think soloing could be written about in the sense of a "masterclass" that you can find on other aspects of climbing eg. leading, falling, belaying etc (other than on say, technical issues such as back-rope soloing). Soloing, for me at least, stems from deep within. Life has taught me to solo, not a book or a lecture, nor an individual.

As others look to me, perhaps, for advice or inspiration, I, in turn, do the same. Just as some people may not be ready to solo a particular route, I also may not be ready. We all have to make decisions based on a multitude of factors and, in the end, responsibility must fall squarely on the shoulders of the person who makes those decisions.

In terms of whether soloing (with or without rope) is more dangerous than tying in with someone, I think it could be debated for eons, but it all needs to be in context. It could be argued that certain routes, for example Space Walk on the Orion Face, is better tackled by a competent soloist than by a team operating at their limit, for a fall would be catastrophic. Similarly, a soloist is maybe more likely to NOT get on a route in the first place if there is any doubt about it (especially so if they have no means of retreat). I've turned away from Grade III solos because things just haven't felt right and in my State of Nakedness article, I mention turning away twice from Crest Route - perhaps I wouldn't have been so lucky had I attempted the route on those instances?. Again though, there will always be exceptions.

Like I've said, a topic such as soloing could be debated forever because it's not a black and white issue. It remains, at heart, a very personal choice.

All the best,

Patrick

In reply to Patrick Roman:

We all enjoyed your article in any case, even if some folk poked you in the ribs a bit, nothing serious I'm sure. Personally I love soloing like I love booze - in my heart I know it's not a good idea, so I try to keep off it (less sucessfully with the plonk).

Now, on the off-chance that anyone cares, I think:
Stylistically the writing is quite good (very good for this forum) - wee bit laboured in places with too much emphasis on trying to find nice adjectives. Good narrative is (generally) based on action - let the events speak for themselves rather than "dressing them up in fancy words". The style lent a bit towards the melodramatic at certain moments, which is not fashionable in our Hemingway era. But this is just fine tuning and indeed most of your readers seem to have been obliviously happy.
I beg your pardon in advance for my critcal comments - by now it's compulsive as I spend eight hours a day mulling over written texts.

In reply to UKC Articles:

I just find so annoying when others complain about articles and try to nanny the rest of us. I hate it when people are trying to make decisions for me, I can decide my self thank you. It just so unbelievably close minded. Dont like soloing, fine dont read the article instead of preventing others reading about another persons experience.

If anything Romans article did, "tyranny of success" was to inspire me to get more milage at the grades I currently lead instead of always pushing higher. Which what Ive been doing for along time now,,,

In reply to UKC Articles: Solo climbing on Alpine mixed faces and on Scottish Ice have been the best experiences I've ever had climbing...just wish I was as talented when it comes to writing! nice article....

In reply to Patrick Roman: I've soloed plenty of routes but only with great caution and have never felt like I was close to the limit. I've never finished a solo climb with the feeling that I "got away with it".

Reading "State of Nakedness", far from tempting me to go out and solo an ice route, reminded me of what it feels like to have doubts about the next move when there's no option of retreat. Not nice at all! It kind of works as a warning, if it's so well-written that you feel like you're there yourself. I sometimes wonder whether apparently brave exploits aren't partly down to the ability to let past experience fade into a soft focus, where it takes a new scare to sharpen it up again.

In reply to UKC Articles: Fantastic read! Thankyou!