Free soloing gets a bad rap in many parts of our world, but it is mostly misunderstood. The definition of free soloing according to Merriam-Webster is: a climb in which a climber uses no artificial aids for support and has no rope or other safety equipment for protection in case of a fall.It is important here to note that there is no grade associated with it. So class II scrambling without a rope and protection is technically free soloing.
Somewhere in Scotland.
If you ask most climbers if they do or would free solo, most will say no; or maybe “hell no”, “never”, “that is dangerous”. What they have not pondered and should be asking themselves is how do they get to the first piece of protection then? Sure you can stick clip on a sport route, but what about a trad route? There are routes in North Carolina that you have to free solo the first pitch. Here is the route: https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105965582/original-route-aka-gom-jabber They will say you can get a couple pieces of gear, which is true. They are in loose rock that will never hold. So we start to manage our risk by placing gear when we feel it is necessary based on our own movement ability and risk acceptance.
This brings me to my biggest point of free soloing. Many climbers climb with a rope and do not realize they have no way of being “caught” by their partner and the rope before hitting the ground. They are free soloing! They have a rope on, they have gear in, but it is either too far below them or worthless and will never hold. This is exactly what happens on the route mentioned above.
Speed is a necessity on bigger routes and in alpine terrain. Climbers “scramble” pitches on big routes all the time and never would say they are free soloing. A good example is accessing the Diamond on Long’s Peak. The North Chimney is commonly soloed and the parties that rope up can be slow and create more rock fall if not very diligent with rope management. This is so common that Mountain Project actually recommends to “consider soloing when possible”.
https://www.mountainproject.com/route/112009323/north-chimney
Many ice climbers solo as leading ice is mostly a no fall sport. Photo: Austin Schmitz
So I’m not really trying to get climbers to “start” free soloing. But what I’m saying is that you probably already are! I also don’t believe you have to free solo to be a climber. Hell, I don’t even think you have to lead to be a climber! But I do think some care should be taken into truly understanding the activity you are engaging in.
Here is a video that Jason Schmaltz of Atlanta Rock Climbing School put together last year:
There is risk and reward in everything. One must choose their own path...