Assessing wear on a recovered rope

[Tyler Harvey]

Hey,

My climbing partner and I had to quickly bail off of North Sister in a hailstorm two weeks ago. In our haste, we didn't check to make sure that we could pull our rope on our last rappel into the freezing wind. Unsurprisingly, we were not able to pull it and didn't think twice about leaving it behind to save ourselves.

 

Fortunately, we made it back up yesterday and retrieved the rope. It was resting right where we left it with no visible signs of the weather it saw. However, I have no experience assessing the impact of two weeks of sun, snow, and rapidly changing temperatures on a rope. Anybody have any tips on what to look for to determine whether it's safe to use again? Would you opt for caution and retire it for backyard use just in case? Or is two weeks just too short a time to have any impact on a rope? Guides seem comfortable leaving fixed lines up for whole seasons, so maybe the two weeks my rope was out did very little.

Rope saving us from the storm as we descended the Thayer headwall:

Rope happily dangling on a sunny day on the south side of the terrible traverse:

Thanks for any advice and/or admonishments of our decision-making ability,

Tyler

[Bronco]

What make and model of rope is it and how old is it? How much use has it seen other than the two weeks it sat out in the mountains?

 

[JasonG]

Do you notice any color change on the side exposed to the sun? If not, I wouldn't worry about using it.

 

If so, retire.

 

But, what do I know? That's just my gut instinct, it's not like I have anything to back it up.

[Tyler Harvey]

Bronco: It's a Beal Top Gun II 10.5 mm rope with some weatherproofing treatment ("Dry Cover"). Bought it in 2014, used it for a couple days of sport climbing and maybe ten days of mountaineering. Never taken a lead fall on it. So, relatively fresh before this exposure.

 

JasonG: Good point! I'll look for that.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Tyler Harvey

[billcoe]

Bronco: It's a Beal Top Gun II 10.5 mm rope with some weatherproofing treatment ("Dry Cover"). Bought it in 2014, used it for a couple days of sport climbing and maybe ten days of mountaineering. Never taken a lead fall on it. So, relatively fresh before this exposure.

 

You have years left on it. 2 weeks is nothing and especially as it's a larger diameter rope. Not sure the spot you left it but one thing you want to be sure of is that it didn't take any hits from rocks. People use to routinely check rope condition in the old days especially looking for "soft spots" by moving the rope through their fingers and feeling every inch of it (that's not a lengthy process although it sounds like it). It's always possible that a rock may have slammed it down into the snow and caused some damage that's not readily visibly apparent. 99.3% it's probably good to go though, just check it and use it would be what I'd do.

[Rad]

I'd look carefully for damage from rodents, rockfall, or rubbing on edges in the wind. If no visible marks and I'd say it's probably good to go.

[ScaredSilly]

You have years left on it. 2 weeks is nothing and especially as it's a larger diameter rope. Not sure the spot you left it but one thing you want to be sure of is that it didn't take any hits from rocks. People use to routinely check rope condition in the old days especially looking for "soft spots" by moving the rope through their fingers and feeling every inch of it (that's not a lengthy process although it sounds like it). It's always possible that a rock may have slammed it down into the snow and caused some damage that's not readily visibly apparent. 99.3% it's probably good to go though, just check it and use it would be what I'd do.

 

I would do the same. Damage from rock fall would be my only concern.

[montypiton]

echoing what is said above -- two weeks is not significant weathering time -- would you be concerned after two weeks of dawn-to-dusk climbing on the rope? mechanical damage is your main concern. If you can determine no visible sheath damage, and no palpable core issues, the rope is likely no worse than when you started the climb. Billcoe's description of checking a rope for palbable damage is what many "journeymen" do every time they coil a rope.