Is it possible to be 'rigged' properly to allow one to climb and descend alone safely? If yes, what is required interms of training, equipment, hardware?

Its a definite no for the newbie, is climbing alone in indoor recommended even for the experienced?

The reason I ask is becos its not every time that you can ask or have someone watch you.

Thanks.

regards

yes, it's possible and it's called "rope-soloing" or "roped soloing" (i've heard both). there is certain equipment and a LOT of knowledge. a soloist, or a silent partner (or another proprietary variation thereof) is one piece of equipment that would be necessary. silent partneer (IMO) is ESSENTIAL for solo-leading. you also need to have a lot of knowledge for proper rigging for backup knots, which you would be tying on your way (some people use butteflies and some people use the clove hitch method). further, especially on lead, there are anchor considerations (eg: the first must be bomber for multidirectional pull).

basically there are a few types of roped soloing and different methods that people use, and to describe those to any level of detail that would be useful would be an exhaustive effort as well as dangerous, lest someone improperly heed or state advice. there is a decent description of top rope soloing (one of the types)in an old 'tech-tips' article from climbing magazine at: http://www.climbing.com/print/techtips/ttsport253/. just for your edification. i'd say if you REALLY want to learn, find someone experienced to teach it to you.

as far as indoor goes, i don't know of ANY gym that is down with solo work (roped or otherwise). seems like nobody would go for that idea due to possible litigation.

the thing that i personally consider with any rope-soloing is that, in the long run, it's (in my experience) cheaper, easier, and more convenient to just find somebody else to climb with you. of course i'm not a big soloist. brad k. is into free-soloing so he might be able to shed some more light on the roped soloing as well.

on another note, CUTE pup!

PS: i just looked at that tech-tips article again and it looks good except i would change the doubled cordalette on the bolts to a quad-rig just because i like it more for the application (not that it matters that much with side-by-side bolts)

chilli,

thanks for the info. I can understand if the gyms dont allow soloing. This will be one my question when I visit the local gym.

As for the climbing terms, silent partner, hitch / butterfly knots, bomber for multidirectional pull, doubled cordalette, quad-rig ....wow, its overwhelming for now.....thank god I like to read!

I hear your point on too much info can be dangerous if its not followed correctly, but its better than no info at all! or even worse is 'little' or not enfff info where it can be _really_ dangerous.

Brad, maybe a techinical article on soloing is necessary to shed light... safety considerations, preparations tips will help those thinking about soloing take heed before deciding.

I found this http://www.wrenindustries.com/silentpart.html

As for the pup, its my Jack Russel when he was 1 month old.....I miss him!

Thanks again.

regards

Some gyms allow it and some don't. I'd lean towards most don't unless they really know you. I do it all the time when I'm setting routes. I'll tie one end of the top rope into the wall out of the way. On the other end of the rope I'll use a grigri or cinch. After climbing up I'll tie a stopper knot in the rope just in case. Sort of silly since I still have a single point of failure with being on one rope. But then I still have the same single point if I'm on top rope too. The good thing about a gym is that, at least when I climb, there is someone else there should I get into trouble of some kind. That's one of the dangers with going solo. No one to hear you scream. (Showing my sick sense of humor) If a solo climbing falls in the woods does he/she make a sound?

hi guys. I´m really interested in the roped-solo, although i´m not very sure about the bomb knot to place at the anchor at the bottom...can you provide me with some examples or recommendatios...I trying one with a sling a carabiner to another sling and to the rope, which after a loop they reunite in another carabiner by way of a butterfly knot.

i'm not really sure what you're talking about here. It sounds like you're looking for some redundancy in your bottom anchor (which is a good thing of course); but the source of that really depends on how your anchor is designed. Specifically in relation to your description (which i am unsure of - further explanation and/or a picture would be helpful), i would suggest replacing your multi-biner + butterfly setup with a more simplified, but very effective double bowline bowline on a bight (and clip those legs into your slings). I'm not any sort of expert on roped solo work, but i can tell you that when i have headed out, i look for a nice natural anchor to work with (e.g. one time it was a tree immediately adjacent to the face, and another it was a large block). If that option is not available, i like to resort to cams (because they're easy to set up multidirectionally) in which case I will use a bit of cord to equalize and go from there. in that sort of situation the aforementioned bowline, dog-eared-8, or even a regular fig-8 (because as much as people frown on it - i think that in this application if your rope and a fig-8 fail it's just your day). remember, aside from safety you're also looking for efficiency on a solo lead because you have to come back down and clean all that crap once you get your next anchor set up in multipitch applications. if you're only doing a single pitch, i would STRONGLY sugest TR-solo, because it's much safer and can be just as (or more) efficient.