Aiding across roofs

Aiding on a roof can be very strenuous and very scary, primarily because you have nothing to brace your feet against, meaning you swing around much more. This gives the impression that you’re loading the protection far more than you really are.

The number one aid for roofs is a set of adjustable daisy chains (Yates or Fish make the best). These give you a mechanical advantage, allowing you to cinch yourself tight to each piece rather than locking off on one arm and fumbling with a fifi hook. They also let you lower yourself out onto pieces by giving slack on the piece you’re on while taking in on the piece you’re moving to.

If you don’t have adjustable daisies then you’ll have to do it old school and use tension from your belayer. Ideally you want two ropes (aiding is best done on one). It helps if one is a single rope so your second has something fat to jug on, while the other can be a skinny rope. You can even use your haul or zip line, as long as you don’t leave it clipped.

To do this, get tension on the rope clipped to the piece you’re standing on, clip the other rope into the next piece, then use the new piece’s karabiner as a pulley. Pull yourself across as your belayer feeds slack. Once you’re close enough, they can lock you off on the new piece.

A fifi hook is very useful on this kind of terrain, as it allows your belayer to rest between tension moves. Make sure the fifi cord is long enough (around 25cm) and that there’s a short pull-cord attached to the top hole so you can unclip it quickly.

When leading these pitches, extend all pieces well so your second can jug and clean easily. On some pitches you may have to leave tie-offs behind, so carrying some thick cord to abandon is a good idea. On old UK aid routes there’s often a lot of ancient tat, much of which needs cutting away and replacing (don’t look too closely at the bolts or pegs). For this you’ll need a knife, but be very careful using it with loaded ropes nearby, as they’ll cut like butter.

UK limestone aid roofs can also have missing bolts (best not to dwell on that), so you may be faced with big gaps. For these, take a ski pole to use as a cheater stick. And for hanging belays, don’t forget a belay seat—your bum will thank you.

By and large UK limestone aid routes are dank, dirty clip-ups relying on old fixed gear, and can be pretty intimidating. If you want to learn aid skills for big wall trips, you’re better off aiding clean lines in quarries on wet days (Millstone is a great venue). It teaches far more transferable skills and is generally a lot more fun.