Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board What size rope do you use?

Hi all,

What size rope do or would you use on class 4 alpine rock if leading some newbies?
I'm leading a group of 3 on a 14k foot peak with a little exposed class 3-4.

One of the three in the group is my regular partner; she and I climb 5.9-10 regularly at crags but very rarely take a rope when climbing class 3-4 peaks. The other two in the group are extremely fit but have never climbed rock or experienced exposure. There are only a few 25-40ft sections that I would potentially have them rope up on, but I may also leave them roped longer using terrain belays if they start freaking out about the exposure or if I need to lower or rap. My current rope selection is as follows:

9.4mm x 70m
10.4mm x 60m
8mm x 30m

I've never tried belaying or short roping two people on one rope and I don't think I want to try with newbies for the first time. Belaying or short roping one at a time seems like a time suck. This leaves me thinking I need two ropes with my partner and I each leading one of the newbies. 70m and 60m seem like way too much rope and the 8mm seems a little thin for alpine rock and terrain belays. I'm feeling like I should chop my 60m or 70m in half, but its so hard for me to cut such expensive ropes.

Any other suggestions? What length and width would you go with?

Thanks!

Your 8mm should be fine, but what peak and what route?

I compromise and take one of my twins (9.4mm x 55m). If you need to retreat (fast), the 30m is pretty worthless, especially if you double it over.

You are not talking about lead belaying, so a static line is fine (the 8mm). This is often a size used for lowering/rapping in alpine climbing. General rule of thumb is the smallest size possible (ya gotta carry it)

You want at least 2 times your longest potential rap. So 40ftx2=80ft+10ft(knots and such)=90ft= ~30m.

Yep, like the 8mm version

I like the idea of each of you having one, but you really shouldn't have to do many pitches of lowering/rapping....and if you do, these folks need real experience/skills doing technical climbing, or a professional guide that has the experience dealing with non-skilled people over extended terrain.

Short roping does not seem like a safe technique in this application, but perhaps I misunderstand.

g'luck!

Skotty,

For Alpine climbs I take a 9.4mm x 60 meter rope. But, recommendations for rope selection depend on a couple of things. Do you anticipate only having to give a feeling of confidence to your partners to get through some short crux sections, or do you expect sustained ascents and descents of belayed climbing? If its the first case, you want the case you want the short (30M) 8mm rope. If its the second case take the long (70M) 9.4mm. A lot of the time suck is due to the amount of time required to set up each belay station. The longer the rope, the fewer the belay stations. The longer rope would also be better for rappelling, but if your partners are tentative on class 3/4 you probably won't be engagint in any raps. You definitely don't need the 10.4mm since its not likely that anyone on your trip will be taking any lead whippers.

You are so right about the time suck. If you are belaying, you are not making any forward movement. It would be difficult to simulclimb with two people who are not comfortable on class 3/4 rock. If you are going to have 3 people sharing one rope multiply the time needed for the roped segments by 3. You could speed this up if you could split up into two rope teams but then you have to coordinate sharing of the route and avoiding rockfall created by the upper team.

If all you expect is to have to occasionally protect easy but exposed class 3 or 4 stuff I would think that the 8mm x 30m would be adequate. That 8mm (Beal Rando? Edelweiss Discover or Tour?) is likely a twin rated rope or a static, I can't prove it but imagine it would take the low angle fall from a second without a problem. What it doesn't do, however, is give you any rope to work with if someone takes a fall, gets stuck, and you need to get down to them (to help/comfort them back up, or otherwise).

My second choice would be the lighter of your two other ropes. Taking the 60 or 70m rope would give you the benefit of being able to bring up both seconds at the same time through longer sections than you could on the 30m, as well as being able to rap down to a stuck partner if needed.

I'm not a pro and I'm not an expert, but I personally would take the 30m rope knowing that my friends can make the class 3/4 stuff easily, but might want the confidence boost of having a rope available. I'd be carrying less and not expecting to use it much (no sustained roped climbing). If I felt there was going to be sustained roped climbing, I'd bring a longer cord.