Do I need Two Ropes to descend Chopping Block?

[goatboy]

Hoping to get by with just dragging one 60-M rope up the hill...any input?

[wayne]

should be fine

[jhamaker]

You are a hard-man. 60M ropes in the Mountains?! The vast majority of routes were put up w/ 30, 40, or 50M ropes.

 

Answer: 50M is fine. If I were to repeat it, I'd bring a 30M and a pull-cord.

IMHO, Chopping block is the finest climb in the larger basin, except perhaps the 5.7 on Himmel? Auto? Horn.

[goatboy]

Hey Jhamaker,

 

You are mistaken - I am NOT a hardman!

 

To clarify, it's a 60-M skinny double rope, so it will be 30 meters when we're climbing on it ... but I was curious if the single rope would be good to rappel on (since Beckey's book indicates taking two ropes, but I was skeptical about needing two).

 

Did you climb the NE Ridge of the Chopping Block? What did you like about it?

 

That's what we're planning to do, looking forward to it.

[JasonG]

One 60m skinny should be fine, that is what we used a couple years ago . .. I am pretty sure. Trent could verify, as I am sleep deprived these days.

[Rad]

Yep. A single 60 is fine for the NE ridge. It's a lovely route in a great position with views of the Southern pickets and the barrier. Very moderate and casual. The shwack to/from civilization was far more harrowing for us, but we were probably not on the right 'route' for that. I think the bivy sites and large S-facing slabs below the NE ridge are gorgeous too.

[goatboy]

Hey folks - thanks so much for the helpful info. We ended up not climbing the Block due to bad weather (that improved too late for us to take advantage of it). Hope to get it another time.