Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - Gear Lust / Lost & Found

Rave About Your Rack Please do not post retail SPAM.

Topic Date User

Rope trends for alpine mt'eering 5-Nov-2008 At 8:40:06 AM ant

Message

On 3/09/2008 J Qui wrote:
>It's time I buy new ropes, although I would like to know peoples opinions
>for buying ropes for mixed
>alpine use.

For mixed alpine routes and long WI climbs, I find a skinny (around 9+mm) single and an 8mm half rope are a good combination. 70m ropes are working out really well too, although it means you need a bigger rack for the longer pitches.

If it is a straight forward ice climb, the leader climbs on the single with the half being carried by the second, or carried by the leader as a tag line (makes bailing off the pitch easier).

The terrain encountered on a mixed alpine route may vary from low angled glacier travel, to easy mixed, harder mixed, then possibly even aid climbing.

If a route involves glacier travel and easy mixed or simu-climbing, with not much abseiling, then you may be able to get away with just the half rope. For example Zubriggens Ridge (rapping with just one 70m works well for summit rocks).

If the route involves harder terrain and pitching it out, with minimal rock-fall, a fairly straight line and minimal abseils, then you may want to climb with the single only.

For anything more than that or if you're rapping the whole route, climb on the single and break out the half rope when things get interesting, or on the way down.

Depending upon where you are climbing, you may also want to consider the checked luggage weight restrictions imposed by airlines.