Grigris for alpine climbing
Thanks to AMGA Certified Rock Guide and Assistant Alpine Guide Derek DeBruin for assistance with this article. Connect with Derek: Facebook and Instagram
Also, thanks to Blake Harrington for this article which covers some of the same key points made in this one.
Have you ever heard some version of this?
“Grigris are great for sport climbing, but not for alpine routes. They’re too heavy and single purpose.”
This a common dismissal from many climbers, but it really true? Let’s have a closer look at these objections and see some of the ways a Grigri (or similar assisted braking device, aka ABD) might just earn a place on your alpine harness.
Now to be clear I'm not saying a Grigri is always the best choice for every route that could be considered “alpine”. If you climb with double ropes, or in conditions where your ropes might get very wet or icy, a Grigri will probably stay at home. But for a team of two, with mostly rock climbing, with a single rope, it can be a pretty sweet setup.
(Yep, I know there are some cool belay devices such as Edelrid’s Giga Jul, Mammut’s Alpine Smart, etc. Today we’re talking about the Grigri.) We’ll cover some of those other devices in another article.)
North Ridge, Mt. Stuart, Washington. About 25 pitches, and a great route for a Grigri. Photo credit, Steph Abegg (used with permission). Steph has a SUPERB website with loads of great beta, annotated photos and trip reports, check it out!
North Ridge Mt Stuart. photo credit: StephAbegg.com
First, the “it’s too heavy” issue.
Well, check that out! A Grigri and one locker can actually be LIGHTER than a plaquette and two lockers!
Of course your real world weight is going to vary a bit depending on your belay device and carabiners, but we’re really only talking a few grams between different systems. Do you really think you're gonna notice that on your harness?
Okay, weight isn’t an issue. How about functionality?
A two person team climbing on a single rope with one Grigri and one plaquette style belay device (such as a DMM Pivot, my favorite) can have a lot of benefits. Some of them are pretty obvious, others perhaps not so apparent.
Wait a sec, I heard you shouldn’t a Grigri for trad climbing, because it increases forces on the top placement . . .
Good point! One possible concern with a Grigri and trad climbing is that the Grigri can put more force on the top piece of protection when catching a fall. The better question would be, how much extra force are we talking about, and is it concerning? Let’s check out the nice graph below from Petzl.
With a low fall factor of about 0.3, the difference is negligible. As fall factors increase past about 0.7, there can be an extra 2 Kn or so on the top piece of gear. So, we can see that the potential problem is not with the Grigri, but rather the fall factor.
If there’s a reasonable chance of a high factor fall (climbing is hard off of the belay and there's not many gear placements), there are various solutions. One simple one: the climbers switch devices just for that pitch.
image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Influence-of-the-belay-device?ActivityName=Rock-climbing
1 - Reduces belay risk
With this system, typically the leader is always belayed with the Grigri and the second is always belayed with the plaquette in guide mode. On alpine routes where the belayer needs to use semi-downtime to change clothes, check the topo, grab some food/water, etc., you can be momentarily hands-free and still have a (fairly) secure belay. If you really need to go really hands-free, just tie a quick bight knot in the brake strand as a backup.
2 - Reduces rappel risk
At first glance, you might wonder how this system works for getting down, because the Grigri can only use one strand of rope. There are several different ways to descend with a Grigri - 1) fix one strand of rope, 2) self-lower, and 3) knot block. Of these, fixing a strand of rope will usually be the most practical.
With this system, the rope is threaded for a normal rappel, one strand gets fixed to the anchor, and the Grigri partner raps first. There are LOTS of ways to rig this. Here’s a simple method: add a locking carabiner to the master point and fix the rope with any sort of a bight knot. A Figure 8 or overhand is fine. In the example below I used a butterfly because it's often easier to untie after its been loaded.
The first person descending with the Grigri has a few advantages over a normal two strand rappel. They can go hands-free to to sort out rope clusters, find the next anchor, pendulum around if needed, and any other shenanigans that are less risky when you don’t have to always be concerned with keeping a tight grip on the brake strands. And, if the first person rappels too far past an anchor, the Grigri is easy to convert into an ascending system to go back up the rope, see next step.
If the wind is really whipping around, the first person can descend on a Grigri and can tie in to the end of both rope strands, keeping them under control and minimizing the chance they’re going to get blown around and cause problems.
Once the first climber is secure at the lower anchor, the second person unties the bight knot, removes the locking carabiner, and rappels normally on two strands with the plaquette.
Another approach, which can further increase speed and reduce risk, is for the second climber with the plaquette belay device to use an extended rappel and pre-rig their device on the rope. If after doing this they add a third hand autoblock under their device, both strands of the rope are essentially locked in place. The first person with the Grigri can descend on either strand.
Note: Many people think that simply pre-rigging is enough to lock the rope in place for the first person down. This is not always the case. If you have a smaller diameter, slick sheathed rope, a heavier first person, minimal friction from rock, etc., the rope can start to slowly creep through the device. Adding the auto block stops this from happening. You could also stop any “rope creep” by tying a Stone hitch or a BHK (overhand on a bight in both strands) below the rappel device.
As with all new rappelling systems, always practice in a controlled environment before you ever try it on real rock.
3 - Simplified belay changeovers
When the second arrives at the anchor, they are already secure on the plaquette, so there's no real need to clove hitch to the anchor, use a PAS/tether, etc. ( At an exposed stance, the leader can add a quick bight knot on the brake strand for some extra security if needed.) If you're swapping leads, the new leader racks up, gives their Grigri to the previous leader, goes on belay, cleans the plaquette device and carabiners, and begins the next pitch. Simple, efficient changeover.
4 - Easy rope ascending
If the second needs to ascend a fixed rope, it’s easy to rig an efficient system with the Grigri, a small ascender such as a Petzl Tibloc and a double length runner as a foot loop. (Or a regular handled ascender and pre-tied webbing foot loop if you think you’re going to be doing it a lot.) In low angled alpine terrain, you may not even need the Tibloc; just push off the wall with your feet to make upward progress.
On a hard alpine route, especially if you have a rope gun, it might end up to be faster to have your stronger climber lead the really hard pitches, and the second ascending directly on the rope, just like on a big wall.
Here’s an article with complete details and video examples of how to do this.
5 -Simul climbing (for advanced climbers only!)
You know those expert teams climbing El Capitan in a few hours, who are pretty much always in motion and never really stop to belay? The second climber is almost always attached with a Grigri (as well as being tied into the end of the rope.)
You don't have to be a Yosemite speed climber for this technique to be effective. Long, moderate routes such as the 25+ pitch North Ridge of Mt. Stuart (photo at top) can be ideal for this, provided you and your partner are solid and experienced with the techniques.
The Grigri lets the second quickly feed out or take in a rope as necessary. Being able to fine tune the amount of rope between the second and the leader can be a tremendous help when simul climbing. Is the leader moving faster than you are? Throw them some slack through the Grigri. Is the leader slowing down and you’ve got a big loop of slack in front of you? No problem, pull that slack back through the device. (A kiwi coil, if you have the free hands to make one, to take up slack can be a good idea on lower angle terrain, so you don't trip on the rope.) You get the idea.
If the leader needs a proper belay through a few hard moves, the second can climb up to the next protection, or place some where they are, and give a proper lead belay. If the leader is using a progress capture device such as a Tibloc or Ropeman on the pro, it would be a fine idea to add this in after, not before, the hard moves. (In case you're wondering, this is a legit technique, read more about it here.)
These few suggestions are just scratching the surface of a very advanced application. If you want to learn the nuances of simul climbing, I highly recommend professional instruction from a certified guide.
So, that's my take on using a Grigri in the alpine. There is no significant weight penalty, and it's useful for a lot more than just belaying. If you’ve never rappelled on one or used it as an ascender, please practice in a controlled environment with a competent instructor before you ever do it for real on a big route.
