UKC

am after some rope advice.

getting more confused the more i read online.

i will be using rope for mixed stuff in scotland, alpine terrain and travel and some sinlge pitch rock sutff.

been looking at at 10mm, 50m eldeweiss, dry treated.

am i on the right track?

In reply to aujayeb: I'd recommend getting 60m doubles if your budget can stretch that far. collectively they are slightly heavier than a single but individually they are lighter. they will also mean you can reduce the amount of drag when a route wanders as they invariably do!

In reply to aujayeb: There is no single rope that is ideal in all situations but at the risk of opening up a "can of worms" here is my advice.

For UK trad none dry treated 50 metre half ropes are best/cheapest and suitable for single pitch.

For ice I would use dry treated 60 metre half ropes.

For sport a 60 metre single will be enough in most situations but if you are going abroad 70 metres is better. For multi-pitch sport and continental ice falls 60 metre twins are also an option but halves are possibly better.

Just to confuse matters there are now ropes available that are rated as single, twin and half. If you can only get one rope tyhis might be worth considering but you will pay a little more and it will not last as long as some of the others. In general heavier ropes last longer.

I think Mammut and Edelrid make the best ropes. Beal feel nice but everyone I know who owns one says that they are not long as lasting.

In reply to aujayeb:

Your activities are so wide that you will have to compromise unless you can afford to buy both a pair of half ropes and a single rope.

It also rather depends what sort of winter, alps and single pitch you mean.

Unless you are doing sports climbing ( in which case single is best ) it sounds like a pair of half ropes would be best.

Or get a half rope to pair with a rope rated for both half/single use.

In reply to higherclimbingwales: + 1.

Also, this means you can abseil full 60m pitches; makes retreating a hell of a lot less painless.

C

In reply to aujayeb: However, depending on what you're planning to do in the alps; this may be over kill.

I'd say during your first Alps trips you'll probably be on PD/AD terrain; for the most part a 30m Alpine rope suits here as you're moving together.

One rope rarely suits; I understand finances may be tight but most climbers that are climbing such varied terrains will have a 50m single, 60m half ropes and an alpine rope.

Personally, I'd get a pair of half ropes- much more versatile. A 30m alpine rope wont break the bank thought.

C

In reply to Skyfall:

I rarely use my single rope, partly because I'll use someone else's if I need to (indoor/sport) but mostly because a double rope will do for 90% of the things I need a rope for.

In reply to higherclimbingwales: I agree with that; unless you're climbing a lot of sport routes then I'd not really buy a single rope.

For single pitch you can halve one 60m rope giving you a 30m half rope effectively or if it's easy you can climb on one half rope (maybe not best practice, I do it anyway).

You could just buy a half rope; usually your climbing partner will bring along a second half.

C

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

Which is why I said he'd need one for sports climbing primarily -but it's also more convenient for easy winter/alpine climbing unless happy to use a half rope (which I've done). His travelling and single pitch comment made me wonder if he meant sports.

For a general alpine trip covering classic routes, mutipitch and sports (ie a bit if everything) I settled on the half plus hybrid combo

In reply to Skyfall:

Hmmmm thanks all

Still confused. I might go with the elderweiss rope to start with and learn by trial and error....

In reply to aujayeb:

How about you actually answer the questions we've raised? By single pitch/travelling do you mean sports climbing abroad or do you really mean trad?

I would agree with other posters that, if you are not doing sports routes and are happy to accept the risk of occasionally using a half rope as a 'single' on classic alpine/winter routes, you would be best off with a pair of half ropes. That's what I started with and only bothered with a single rope when I got into sports.