Rope solo climbing

Due to the complexity of the self-belay system, and the greater workloads, it is still considered a hazardous technique.

When the rope-solo climber reaches the top of the route, they then have to fix another anchor, abseil back down to the base of the climb and release the original anchor, and then re-ascend the fixed abseil rope — using ascenders — unclipping/taking out whatever climbing protection equipment they inserted on their earlier ascent.

[1][2] Rope-solo climbers have used various types of self-belay devices, some modified from their original purpose, including Grigris, Revos, and Silent Partners.

[1][2] The self-belay device is only one part of a complex system designed to ensure that the rope feeds through the self-belay device properly (in both directions) and that the base anchor can handle a wide range of forces.

[1][2] Many notable solo ascents by alpinists involved modified/customized versions of rope-solo climbing, including Walter Bonatti's "Z system" self-belay that he employed in making his first solo ascent of the south-east pillar of the Aiguille du Dru, known as the Bonatti Route.