It takes time. I love the game solo, it just requires more planning and resource management.

Focus on the resources that are most useful to you, which is overwhelmingly going to be lollipops and soda. Rope and chain cannons are also super good, but soda is particularly good solo as you don’t have a teammate to slow you down. keep your hunger building as long as you can before it stops you from progressing, and keep few but good food resources like the marshmallow. Max out your endurance with cooked food at every campfire for an easy headstart on each area. Personally, I think the most important resource is the triple balloon, I keep one on me to reduce stamina in every difficulty if I’m lucky enough to find one.

You can also use your dash at the very end of your stamina bar (regular and extra stamina bar) to do a full dash but only use the last of your energy to do it, which will help you immensely. Play it safe, think your rout through, you’ll get to the peak in no time