not-so-new guy wants your experience based input

[stiffler]

Hello amigos. I need to tell you a little information to get a little information.

I climbed avidly but unexceptionally from 1990-2001, when I got hooked on surfing and eschewed the ways of the rope, except for my job as an arborist. I climbed a few 5.10's (Karate Crack, etc) a few choss-ventures (Alpenjager, Apocalypse Needles, etc), and generally had a good time in the sub-5.9 trad-junk wastelands.

Fast-forward to 40, and ten years off the rock. I'm moving from the Willamette Valley to Arizona in January. Already I'm showing signs of a total relapse... I bought a new harness, new rope, and a couple guidebooks (J-Tree for Geriatrics, etc).

I also picked up a couple "canyoneering" guidebooks, too, as I will be pretty close to Zion and a bunch of AZ canyonlands. Web searches show that these dedicated canyon-folk will use any ropes to rap down these chutes... static, dynamic, 8mm, 11mm, whatever...

Anybody on here done any of those canyons? If I can use one rope for climbing and doing the odd canyon, that'd suit me fine. Or is there some aspect to canyon rappelling that would make it better to have a dedicated rope for rock climbing and a seperate rope for canyon trips?

Thanks, i know this barely qualifies as a legitimate question... I mostly wanted to babble because I'm excited about moving to new turf and new experiences!

[OlympicMtnBoy]

The canyons I've done will trash your rope pretty darn quick with all the sand, rapping into water, running your wet rope through sand again, etc. I wouldn't want to climb on anything I've done more than one or two dry canyons with. Do yourself a favor and get a cheap skinny static line. The canyoneering ropes (Imlay?) that you can get have tougher sheaths and float which are nice but those are pricey.

 

Also depending what canyons you are doing you may not need 60 meters all the time. If you have any old retired ropes laying around that'd be a good cheap start.

[DPS]

I climbed with a fellow who had done quite a few cutting edge canyon descents back in the 90's. He said they used 11/16" tubular webbing to rappel on.

[RickV]

I second MtnBoy. I did a couple routes in Zion this summer. We used a retired 60m climbing rope (dynamic) to rap on with a 6mm Imlay static pull cord (very nice btw) that we bought down there. Worked well, and long enough for most routes there. The rope most definitely got trashed like mentioned above and I would not lead climb on it even after one wet canyon route. A beefy line (10-11mm) will hold up better to the abuse of canyoneering routes and is more controllabled than a thin line when doing a single line 120ft free hanging rap.

 

Check out renting gear too if unsure. I rented a canyoneering specific pack for cheap and it was way better than trashing a lightweight alpine pack.

 

Have fun gettin back into it!

 

[RickV]

Almost forgot, IDEALLY though, a static rope for canyoneering would be ideal if you were going to buy something new.

 

Just my two cents.

[genepires]

likewise, use the old rope you got laying around that you no longer trust. Maybe some friends have such a rope also. Rock climbing and cayoneering ropes should never intermingle.

canyoneering is a very good time. If we had more around here, I would climb lots less.

 

 

[stiffler]

Thanks for the good responses! I sorta thought that's what I would hear.

 

[Mtguide]

The canyons I've done will trash your rope pretty darn quick with all the sand, rapping into water, running your wet rope through sand again, etc. I wouldn't want to climb on anything I've done more than one or two dry canyons with. Do yourself a favor and get a cheap skinny static line. The canyoneering ropes (Imlay?) that you can get have tougher sheaths and float which are nice but those are pricey.

 

Also depending what canyons you are doing you may not need 60 meters all the time. If you have any old retired ropes laying around that'd be a good cheap start.

 

Any rope you use will last longer, and be safer, if you wash it thoroughly after each canyon venture. If you're on an extended trip where you can't do that, then try to take several ropes, using each rope no more than once or twice. Otherwise the sand will seriously compromise the strength over repeated uses.

[montypiton]

If you're looking for an inexpensive static line for rappelling or fixing, the kernmantle polypro ropes available in better hardware stores these days will meet that need - at a price that may be considered "disposable" compared to a dedicated canyoneering rope... likely ok for trips of no more than a day or two. one advantage of this tactic is that you can buy it by the foot, so have the option of carrying no more than you need for a specific trip. If "static" is an optional feature, I tend to stick with "retired" belay ropes - but I'm both cheap, more experienced than most, and fanatic about monitoring and maintaining my ropes. I would NOT count on using one rope for both rock climbing and canyoneering. I just wouldn't want to lead on a rope that has seen the kind of abuse most real canyoneering trips inflict on one. If you're serious about climbing as well as canyoneering, I would recommend keeping a "good" belay rope for climbing that you DON'T use for canyoneering.