UKC

Will I get to the top without either the half-way belay?

Would I end up topping out and pulling the rope through the belayers belay plate while I search for an anchor or would I be pulling the rope through before I've finished the climbing?

In reply to Owen W-G:

I doubt it. Did it on 60s a few months back and you have to drag your belayer up to get to the tree. If you can find a belay on the edge, and your belayer doesn't mind simul climbing you might do it, however I'm not sure you'll enjoy any faff on that final section as you'll likely be pretty pumped.

In reply to Owen W-G:

I did it on 50m ropes from the very bottom, and you have about 60cm to build a belay, which is possible on the little ledge 2ft from the top of the crag.

You could also bring your belayer upto the ledge where the route starts proper, which will gain you about 8m. PITA though.

In reply to snoop6060:

I did this and it was fine on 50's.

In reply to Owen W-G: Why do you want to do it in a single pitch? There is nothing wrong with the halfway belay.It's quite nice actually staring out at the traffic on the A6 adds to the ambience.

In reply to metal arms:

Pita?

In reply to Owen W-G: Bread

In reply to Owen W-G:
PITA

Pain In The Bottom

In reply to Owen W-G:

Definitely not on 50s, me and the missis had to simul climb for the last groove, exciting stuff with very pumped arms! I would do it on very skinny 60s and take more gear or split it into 2 pitches if I did it again. Very memorable route as one pitch though more like E3 in my opinion....

In reply to Owen W-G:

1 pitch is definitely the way to climb Darius, and twin 50's will work fine....

....but you will first need to pre-rig an extra belay rope from a substantial tree 30 or 40ft back from the lip, so you can clip into it as soon as you top out.

I always to do this for all the long pitches in this area (Darius, Perseus etc) and it saves a load of hassle.

If this is impractical, then you'd be best off treating it as a 2 pitch route, but if you approach the crag from the top (which I normally do) then the pre-rigged belay rope works a treat.

Neil

In reply to Owen W-G: I've done it on 50s and you have enough rope to top out and there's an adequate belay sat down on the lip (although a pre-rigged belay off the tree further back would be a nice bonus). One pitch is the way to go.

In reply to Owen W-G:

shouldn't they be tied in to stop this happening?

In reply to krikoman:

50m ropes can vary in length on the + side but as the amount of + varies where you get to on rope stretch might not be the same as someone else on their rope.

FWIW I did a parallel line on 50m ropes and its surprising how much you can stretch them if you need to.

Tie a (small) knot in the end or make sure your second is tied in before you set off

In reply to shark: It easier and safe just to have them tie in, then it can't pull through. it also means that if you lower them off on a sports route you won't let the rope slip through. I've seen this happen more than once.