The Pilot design looks like the handle of a hard-plastic pistol. The Black Diamond ATC Pilot (foreground) racked on a harness with the Edelrid Mega Jul. However, the Pilot also resembles a mini version of Mammut Smart Alpine (for ropes 8.9mm to 10.5mm). The Mega Jul (for ropes 7.8-11mm) is the closest in shape to the Pilot. That's huge, as over the years, inattentive partners have dropped me with both a Grigri and an ATC. I also found that if I accidently let go of the Pilot while lowering a partner I would not lose control of the rope. I found the Pilot helped me to reel in and pay out slack more smoothly than the Edelrid Mega Jul did. I also liked how the Pilot allowed me to lower the climber without the device jerking or inadvertently locking up the way that some other devices can.
Operating the Pilot felt familiar to using the Black Diamond ATC I'd carried since I first roped up in the early '90s, but now the Pilot has an added brake-assist feature that makes it even more secure to operate. I liked how smooth the device was to operate, both in regards to paying out and taking rope in, and how quickly it locked off when my partner fell or needed me to take weight. Those experiences on that cool autumn day in Eldo sold me on the Black Diamond ATC-Pilot (for ropes 8.7mm to 10.5mm 85 grams) and it became my go-to device for general cragging, whether scary trad, dry-tooling or sport. Wild times.Ĭorey Flynn starts the first pitch of Scary Canary, Eldorado Canyon, Colorado. This time a microcam sheared before the next piece caught. Again he whipped, and again he blew out his pro. Pitch 2, the crux, came next-though this time he was far out of sight while doing the hardest moves. He righted himself and finished the pitch. Though shook-up, my partner was OK, and I was OK. But because the assisted-braking belay device I was using-the Black Diamond ATC Pilot-engaged as it was designed to, I barely had to grip the rope to catch the fall. Finally, he lightly impacts the sandstone wall with his feet and hands as he comes to a stop.ĭuring the fall I had time to brace for impact, and I kept a firm hand on the brake-end side of the rope. His body continues flying halfway down the wall, while the blown placements, an RP and a Ball Nut, spin around his rope. Then-pop, pop, like the sound of a BB gun firing off in rapid succession. He is far above a nest of small gear on the Eldorado Canyon route Scary Canary (5.12b/c R). It's a Monday morning in October, and my partner is fighting out the last moves of his lead.
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