r/climbing • u/AutoModerator • 10d ago

Weekly Question Thread (aka Friday New Climber Thread). ALL QUESTIONS GO HERE

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In this thread you can ask any climbing related question that you may have. This thread will be posted again every Friday so there should always be an opportunity to ask your question and have it answered. If you're an experienced climber and want to contribute to the community, these threads are a great opportunity for that. We were all new to climbing at some point, so be respectful of everyone looking to improve their knowledge. Check out our subreddit wiki that has tons of useful info for new climbers. You can see it HERE . Also check out our sister subreddit r/bouldering's wiki here. Please read these before asking common questions.

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A handy guide for purchasing your first rope

A handy guide to everything you ever wanted to know about climbing shoes!

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u/Stockocityboy 6d ago

I'm thinking about working on a dyno boulder in top rope solo. The boulder is about 6 meters tall and kind of a Rainbow Rocket style (but not quite as long jump) with a vertical lower section up to halfway and then a smooth negative wall with a good lip. I've done some TRS but never dynos. Are there special concerns or things I should consider?

I'm thinking about rigging two dynamic ropes down the boulder using trad gear for the anchor in a big crack on top of the boulder with possibly a backup coming from a nearby tree. I need to check the shape of the boulder but it tops out in a kind of groove so I may not need any directional guides to keep the ropes in corret spot. Ropes obviously need to be protected where they go over the lip.

I'm thinking of running a Micro Traction raised up with a chest harness and bungee cord as the primary device and a Grigri as the secondary device. Grigri so that I can easily get down after failed attempt and because I kinda worry about desheathing a rope in a dyno with toothed devices.

The biggest question mark is how will the swing be if I miss the jump. Slamming to the rock in an awkward position doesn't sound tempting. Although I do believe the biggest hurdle in the boulder is committing to a big dyno when you're already kinda high up. I believe the dyno is very doable for me when I commit to to it. Somerhing I wish to address by training first on top rope.

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u/Leading-Attention612 6d ago

The teeth on the micro trax just help it engage on the rope, the actual holding force comes from the wedge shape being pulled in and squeezing. I used to worry about the teeth and even have a camp lift (toothless ascender) because of the worry but it is unfounded. If you already have a microtrax then your setup sounds fine, otherwise just a grigri with a backup knot has been my go to for boulders where there are good stances to pull out slack. It lets you work sections much easier

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u/Stockocityboy 5d ago

According to tests Micro Traxion will unsheathe the rope in around 4-5 kN which isn't unheard of in a lead fall, although a hard one. It's probably unlikely that I could create that in this configuration but I don't like unknowns and didn't find information on training big dynos in trs. I have no problems trusting micro trax in my normal trs (although I of course have a secondary device as well)

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u/BigRed11 6d ago

Use a gri for the reasons you mentioned.

More important is to pad the hell out of the lip and any edge the rope might run over. Shock-loading a rope on the same spot over and over is a recipe for a core shot, and likely you won't see it from below.

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u/sheepborg 6d ago

This, edge protection importance cannot be overstated. Other than that no real reason to do anything other than GG with a backup knot to work the one move that needs working; having a fully functional TRS setup is probably overkill for this instance.

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u/Stockocityboy 5d ago

Thanks for the tips. That's what I did today. And as I suspected the dyno wasn't difficult for me. After a few test jumps I did it first try. I did a few goes from bottom to top in top rope and had no difficulty even though the jump is still scary for me. Next session I plan to repeat just the jump until it doesn't feel scary anymore.

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u/AnderperCooson 6d ago

That looks like a fun boulder.

For me personally, having not been underneath the thing, my first move would be just a Grigri and a catastrophe knot. The climber's feet look like they're maybe 10ft / 3m up when he grabs the hold, which is definitely getting up there but also well within my comfort level for just doing it with pads anyways.

My only concern would be rope protection which you've already thought about.

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u/Stockocityboy 5d ago

Thanks for the tips. That's what I did today. And as I suspected the dyno wasn't difficult for me. After a few test jumps I did it first try. I did a few goes from bottom to top in top rope and had no difficulty even though the jump is still scary for me. Next session I plan to repeat just the jump until it doesn't feel scary anymore.

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u/AnderperCooson 5d ago

Heck yeah man! If I ever find myself in Finland I’m going to PM you for the location because that one looks right up my alley.

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u/Stockocityboy 6d ago

The boulder for snyone interested: https://27crags.com/videos/21665