Solo mast climbing

Climbing harness,

2 x Prussik loops

A couple of slings - one long for your feet to push up on, one short for your harness

2 x halyards (one as safety line)

Caribiners (locking ones) to suit - 3 will usually do

Helmet - up to you on this - I don't bother but some think it is a good precaution

And practise before you have to do it in anger.
 
climbing harness and 'jumars' (mechanical version of prussik loops) works well.
Best to tension the halyard first so it is easy to move the jumars.
It is possible to use a third jumar / prussik / figure 8 as a safety on a separate halyard but I don't bother.
But then again I'm a climber and have had lots of practice at jumaring up things - you'd certainly want to learn in controlled conditions with someone holding a safety line before doing it solo on a windy day.
Getting down is the real challenge as reverse jumaring is a bit of an art.
The alternative is to lower yourself off on the 2nd halyard.
Practice first and if possible get some first hand instruction from someone who's done it before.
M
 
I have a Topclimber that works in the same way as the climbing kit. If you are not a climber its probably the easiest way to make sure you have all the right bits, in the right order, in a single bag, but at a price. It also requires a halyard without an eye on the end.

http://www.topclimberinternational.nl/index.html

In my experience, though, being over weight and not as fit as I might be, its not an easy task hauling myself up!
 
martinaskey said:
climbing harness and 'jumars' (mechanical version of prussik loops) works well.
Best to tension the halyard first so it is easy to move the jumars.
It is possible to use a third jumar / prussik / figure 8 as a safety on a separate halyard but I don't bother.
But then again I'm a climber and have had lots of practice at jumaring up things - you'd certainly want to learn in controlled conditions with someone holding a safety line before doing it solo on a windy day.
Getting down is the real challenge as reverse jumaring is a bit of an art.
The alternative is to lower yourself off on the 2nd halyard.
Practice first and if possible get some first hand instruction from someone who's done it before.
Click to expand...

This is more or less what I set up, except that I have yet a third rope for coming down and I hook in an abseiling figure-8 for that. (Actually the up and the down lines are the same length of climber's static rope, hauled up via a fig-8 knot in the middle, and then I use the topping lift for a safety line.)

The gear all works, but (being overweight and relatively unfit) I find it much harder work than I expected! I'm seriously contemplating getting one of the rigid-rung mast ladders instead.

Pete
 
I dont climb the mast solo. I always have someone with me and I use a system with a Jumar connected to foot stirrups and a bosuns chair on a halyard which my crew hauls up for me while I stand in the stirrups.
It works really well for us but ....

I dont mean to be patronising but please, whatever you do, always rig a safety line and DO NOT trust a sailing shackle - always use a bowline or climbing (lockable) shackle to attach halyards to anything!
Two weeks ago I was anchored in a deserted bay in Greece and almost at the top of my 15m mast when the shackle connecting my bosuns chair to the halyard unclipped and left me standing in the stirrups (on a Jumar) and clutching on to the mast for dear life.
The weight of the disconnected chair halyard pulled it to sheaves at the top of the mast and out of reach.
At that point I lost balance, feet fell out of the stirrups and I ended up dangling, by my safety harness/lifeline, from the cap shrouds/spreader.
Well to cut a long and sobering story short I did manage to get back down but without my lifeline/harness I'd have been a gonner.

For years Ive preached the mantra that you should never trust your life to a sailing shackle but on that day I had a major senior moment and forgot my own advice. It almost cost me my life. :(
 
Ask a rigger. they do it all the time and if he's still walking and talking he must have a good systyem.


upmast.jpg
 
I was wondering whether a couple of loops on the stays and the main halyard as a safety line, you could just 'walk' up the side stay to the top of the mast? Maybe a Prussic loop would slip on the SS wire, but an icicle hitch would hold.
 
Spirit of Glenans said:
I sailed a couple of times with a French sailing sailing instructor, part of whose routine was that she would ascend the standing rigging under her own steam and check everything before every departure. Oh, to be young!
(She did use a safety line)
Click to expand...

First flotila we did (many moons ago) the lead skipper shined up the forestay (with Genoa rolled on) on 3 boats in short succession !
We were gobsmacked !
I tried it a few years ago and got about halfway up before I had to give up
Yes - oh to be young
 
I've got a Topclimber. I find it easy, and even enjoyable to go up a mast with it. It's expensive for what it is, but it's comfortable and feels secure. It requires a 10mm (only) rope and any fitting or splice on the end will prevent the rope being threaded through the clutches. In practice this means it's unlikely that you can use an existing halliard directly and will need to join a length of suitable rope to a halliard and hoist the join to the top. Obviously you need to have total confidence in this join. Unlike a bosun's chair, the climbing rope remains fixed while you climb, which would seem to remove much of the danger associated with the rope slipping off winches or in clutches etc. I feel quite happy to use it without a safety line as long as the halliard returns inside the mast and not down the outside.
 
martinaskey said:
climbing harness and 'jumars' (mechanical version of prussik loops) works well.
Best to tension the halyard first so it is easy to move the jumars.
It is possible to use a third jumar / prussik / figure 8 as a safety on a separate halyard but I don't bother.
But then again I'm a climber and have had lots of practice at jumaring up things - you'd certainly want to learn in controlled conditions with someone holding a safety line before doing it solo on a windy day.
Getting down is the real challenge as reverse jumaring is a bit of an art.
The alternative is to lower yourself off on the 2nd halyard.
Practice first and if possible get some first hand instruction from someone who's done it before.
M
Click to expand...

I use same system, but add a figure of eight for absailing down afterwards.

Double end a climbing rope and haul it to top of the mast connected to both main halyard and topping lift.

Tension one line and leave the second one free,

Attach the figure of 8 to the loose one.

Jumar up a few feet on the tensioned line. stop, take a rest, pull the loose line through the figure of 8 and tie off.

Up a few more feet on the jumars then , take rest , pull up loose line,,,,

A bit slow but very safe, always on two lines, escape already set up.

To come down simply transfer weight onto absail line and drop down.

For added safety tow a prussac of jumar on the second line.
I am over 16 stone and not terribly fit but can do this with little bother, key is to have patience and each link in the system doubled up.

Reverse jumaring is a pain, and highly dangerous

BTW if you have crew let then take the end of the absailing rope, if this is tensioned it will stop you on the way down if you lose control. also bring a knife up with you.

Tony
 
pandos said:
I use same system, but add a figure of eight for absailing down afterwards.

Double end a climbing rope and haul it to top of the mast connected to both main halyard and topping lift.

Tension one line and leave the second one free,

Attach the figure of 8 to the loose one.

Jumar up a few feet on the tensioned line. stop, take a rest, pull the loose line through the figure of 8 and tie off.

Up a few more feet on the jumars then , take rest , pull up loose line,,,,

A bit slow but very safe, always on two lines, escape already set up.

To come down simply transfer weight onto absail line and drop down.

For added safety tow a prussac of jumar on the second line.
I am over 16 stone and not terribly fit but can do this with little bother, key is to have patience and each link in the system doubled up.

Reverse jumaring is a pain, and highly dangerous

BTW if you have crew let then take the end of the absailing rope, if this is tensioned it will stop you on the way down if you lose control. also bring a knife up with you.

Tony
Click to expand...
This looks like a good ides, the only problem is the link to the halyard, if that fails its curtains.

I have been experimenting this weekend, i have a harness, two petzl ascenders, belay device and assorted slings. I also bought a 25m static line which i used to climb on, this is less stretchy than the halyard.

I watched a few youtubes, one called ropewalking which made ascent easy, but with a tensioned line abseiling wont work. I found using ascenders to descend very hard and slow.

My problems were:
1. The tensioned rope pinned the rope to the mast making sliding past the radar reflector, steaming light difficult.
2. It was awkward keeping feet in the slings, i saw some adjustable leg loops on google that would be better.
3 if i left the trailing end loose then jumaring was really tough.

I need more practice and I think mast steps might be the better option singlehanded
 
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