Daisy

With enough rope anything is possible. And yes you carry too much when leading.

When Peter Croft and his partner - sorry partner name? - climbed the Nose on El Capitan, Peter was only putting in a piece every half rope length. Since the simu-soloed*, it meant the rope normally only went through 2 pieces between the climbers. A fall would not have been pretty, but then they didn't intend to fall.

I noticed over the years that with my style, which isn't too bold, that I NEVER took a fall. I have never fallen while climbing on rock, only in gyms. So I reasoned, all those years of climbing with pro I was just carrying extra weight.

Don't you find it interesting the age of certain cutoff where older backpackers were also commonly climbers and were far more adventurous than the younger backpackers and especially than new breed of trail runners. There has been a tendency towards safer out doors sports, even climbing has become "sport climbing" not climbing where someone could get hurt ya know. How many people set out on trips these days with an attitude of "I might not be coming home if I mess up on this, or if the mountain spits me off."
Jim
* Gentle reader - Simu-soloing means both climbers climb at the same speed at the same time keeping the slack out of the rope between them. The leader places a few pieces now and then and the second removes them. A rope is 165 feet long. If the pro is 50 feet apart, then it only passes through a few pieces. I think Peter croft climbed like half or a third of the climb before waiting for the second to bring him more pro up. So he was doing like just under a thousand feet on a single rack. I think he picked up more pieces twice from the second.