Alpine/Glacier rope

[bvl]

I am looking at getting my first rope, and will be using it primarily for glacier travel and a little bit of alpine rock. Any suggestions, or brands I should stay away from?

[Dan_Miller]

Edelweiss ropes are quite good. The Mammut Serenity may be worth a look as well, however kind of pricey. The Mammut's 8.9mm. 60 meter (lighest single rope currently available) may fit your stated uses, i.e. mostly glacial travel with the ability to be adequete for alpine rock climbs. Your uses seem to indicate a smaller diameter rope would be a good bet. Lots of possible opinions here, however. Others, please chime in!

[summitchaserCJB]

Not really. If it is uiaa certified, from my experience, you can't go wrong. It all depends on what your preferences are and what you want to spend. The ropes I use for most anything are my beal jokers. Not really the best for glacier travel (personally I like something that can take a crampon without my much trouble). They are 9.2 mm single, double or twin ropes. Don't really do much twin these days as it is less than efficent for me. Doubles are nice for three person multipitch on technical stuff. These really aren't for top-roping for obvious reasons. For trad, alpine, or ice they rock. I also really liked Edelwiss because they are quality ropes for not a ton of cash. You used to be able to find them for cheap on gearexpress.com. I don't know if you still can.

Good luck.

[jlawrence10]

I like my Petzl Fuse 9.4 dry rope. It appears on steepandcheap quite often. Used it for glacier travel and cragging and it's holding up well.

[summitchaserCJB]

Cool.

[bvl]

So I am hearing that the beal Joker is a good rope, any thoughts/experiances with Sterling ropes, particularly the Nano? It seems like most glacier only ropes are like 8 or 8.5mm, but are they constructed in some way to be more durable/crampon resistant? Granted I won't be stepping on my rope, but I can't speak for those that will be climbing with me. Do I need to be concerned about too thin of a rope for the little bit of alpine rock I'll be doing?

[t_rutl]

Depends on what kind of alpine rock you'll be doing. If your normal 60m pitch gig than stay with a single rated rope...one that can handle the abrasion and possible falls on rock. Dan gave you a rec on Mammut's 8.9 available which is light and a quality rope. Something in the mid-9's seems to be standard. Anything Mammut, Beal, Edelweiss or Petzl will do you right. Just make sure it has a good dry cover on both the sheath and core.

 

Now if your alpine rock will mostly encompass ridge traverses, exposed scrambling and the occasional short (10-20 meter) technical pitch than you could go with an 8mm double (just one). Think Mammut Phoenix/Petzl Dragonfly. Super light, which you'll love on those glacier slogs and is more than adequate for glacier travel. When you hit the rock, double it over and use it in a 30m double rope fashion. Just fine for something like Forbidden's West Ridge and the likes. Simu-climb then pitch out the short technical steps.

[BigSky]

If I were you and had to pick just one, it'd be the Mammut Serenity or Revelation. But, if you can find a deal on an Edelweiss etc., go for it with confidence. The 8mm double can be a great choice too, as noted above; I've used a single 8 with success for alpine climbing.

[kurthicks]

One thing to consider in smaller diameter ropes for glacier travel is the additional stretch when doing crevasse rescue. You may not be able to use your regular prussiks on it (or learn alternate hitches) and they seem to dig further into the crevasse lip than fatter cords.

[bvl]

Thanks for the great help!

[BigSky]

One thing to consider in smaller diameter ropes for glacier travel is the additional stretch when doing crevasse rescue. You may not be able to use your regular prussiks on it (or learn alternate hitches) and they seem to dig further into the crevasse lip than fatter cords.

That's a great point, and worth considering.

[bvl]

Just picked up an Edelweiss performance 9.2, on the website it is listed as 53g/m, but the packaging with the rope said 57g/m is this common, or could it be an older model? I got it for $140, so it was still a great deal, even if it is a little heavier than I was expecting

[bvl]

I'm a doublepost dumbshit

Edited January 22, 2010 by bvl

[Valhallas]

Anyone have any thoughts on the PMI 8.1mm Verglas? I need to purchase two ropes to use for glacier travel, and I'm curious if anyone's got experience using these for this purpose. I don't intend to use them together - I need two ropes for multiple rope teams. They seem reasonably priced and they've got a dry coating and the thickness I'm looking for. Besides that, not sure what else might matter much and I can't recall ever using a PMI rope.

 

[mountainmandoug]

I have a PMI Verglass that's been on lots of glaciers and lots of not-very-technical climbs. It handles nicely and seems to be wearing fine. It is pretty stretchy for crevass rescue though.