[SA Chris]

For single pitch, I tend to wait with cutting until I get a core shot. The main drawback is that when I get a core shot during a dogging session I will either have to abort or lower a loop and pull up a knife to shorten the rope (and I find it slightly freaky to cut ropes when hanging from a bolt). Ropes that I use for multipitch I tend to cut earlier not to have to deal with core shots while on the route (I hear that duct tape is OK for covering core-shots while on routes but I am not that hardcore).

I also would not use a 15 year old rope for anything at all.

I'd rather use a 15 year old rope that's hardly had any use and well stored than a new one that's been abused like you describe above (and others!) Would give me the horrors.

[Andy F]

Yep, I still get the fear as a result of that incident! Thankfully I had a good belayer eh?!

I still get the fear thinking about it 
I wouldn't know about being a good belayer, but I was quick, on that occasion though.

[Bradders]

Yep, I still get the fear as a result of that incident! Thankfully I had a good belayer eh?!

I still get the fear thinking about it 
I wouldn't know about being a good belayer, but I was quick, on that occasion though.

I think we need a description here; there's not much space in which to take a lob off Smooth Torquer!

[Andy F]

Yep, I still get the fear as a result of that incident! Thankfully I had a good belayer eh?!

I still get the fear thinking about it 
I wouldn't know about being a good belayer, but I was quick, on that occasion though.

I think we need a description here; there's not much space in which to take a lob off Smooth Torquer!

Simply put:
Andy E got to the last (4th) clip on Smooth Torquer. Shaking like a shitting dog he pulled up an arm full of slack and tried to clip. Being almost completely a boulderer, his clipping technique was poor (to be polite). This resulted in him falling off, still having an arm full of slack out. I ran back and took in just enough slack to ensure that Andy E didn't end up with much shorter legs than he had on the walk in.

[Will Hunt]

My rope was at the point that I would normally chop it - fluffy and a bit crusty; soft in places but not diabolical. I inspected it thoroughly and found no sheath showing so deferred to my betters that it needn't be chopped.

During my friend's dogging go he commented to me that my rope was shit and that he was going in hard to the bolt so he could tie on lower down the rope. I asked him whether he was getting confused with the little white stripes on the rope and the alleged core. This is what there was:



This might be perfectly normal for jwi and Barrows but I think I'm going to stick to my guns in future and not try to squeeze every last session from the rope. Had my partner not been so observant he'd have been taking more falls with the core running over the draw which would have been worrisome.

[Paul B]

Will, go and tie your off-cut to a pull-up bar, weight it and get someone to knife through it strand by strand (with something soft beneath you). It's a demo Lyon equipment did when I worked in a gear shop and it's very impressive (or at least interesting).

[Footwork]

Will, go and tie your off-cut to a pull-up bar, weight it and get someone to knife through it strand by strand (with something soft beneath you). It's a demo Lyon equipment did when I worked in a gear shop and it's very impressive (or at least interesting).

A chance to cut Will's rope with him tied to the other end and with no consequences? Form an orderly queue! 

This will teach him to throw my rope in the Kilnsey dirt...

[Bradders]

This feels like a stupid question.... can anyone recommend a good rope length for Kilnsey/Peak sport that gives a good balance between weight and durability (I.e. being able to chop it a couple of times and still be useful)?

As background, I have an 80m Simond / Decathlon rope atm. I bought it at that length not because I ever do anything anywhere near that long, but with the intention of cutting it down. However after lugging it around for the whole of last season I've still not had any reason to chop it, and I'm a bit fed up of how heavy it is! So thinking of getting something a bit shorter just to make life easier, but not sure whether to go for 50 or 60m.

[Paul B]

This feels like a stupid question.... can anyone recommend a good rope length for Kilnsey/Peak sport that gives a good balance between weight and durability (I.e. being able to chop it a couple of times and still be useful)?

As background, I have an 80m Simond / Decathlon rope atm. I bought it at that length not because I ever do anything anywhere near that long, but with the intention of cutting it down. However after lugging it around for the whole of last season I've still not had any reason to chop it, and I'm a bit fed up of how heavy it is! So thinking of getting something a bit shorter just to make life easier, but not sure whether to go for 50 or 60m.

The last two I've really hammered at the crag were 70m Mammut Climax (9.4mm ish I think). From memory (but obv check yourself) I could get down from Mandela and Seb's longer things above Dominatrix. The one I still have is just about ok to get down from just under the roof.

The Kilnsey walk in is about as short as they come so is it really that much of an issue? The Peak crags are hardly far either. I can remember buying a fat 80m when they first became readily available and that was a bloody pain to lug around various Euro crags.

[petejh]

Haha! I love how lazy climbers are    Grams per metre of typical 9.5mm rope is what, around 60 grams per metre?  X 10-20 metres difference = 0.6 to, at most, 1.5 kg difference in your pack to walk 10 minutes in and out or 1 minute for Kilnsey. It's not Ceuse or walking up the Ben.

[Paul B]

It's also significantly lighter than a pad!

[Bradders]

Haha it's all about the marginal gains!

Weight is obviously part of it as I said but it's also a right pain to get twists out (which seems to happen a lot with mine) and it just seems daft when you're lowering off things and you're not even close to reaching the halfway mark when you get to the ground. Plus it's a lot more faff to switch which end you're using if you need to, and move around between routes. Not to mention how much space it takes up in my rucksack which could be used for other stuff. Generally makes rope management a lot more annoying anyway but I appreciate it's a minor thing.

[GazM]

Why not keep your rope (and draws?) in a rope bag, separate to your rucksack? Can be strapped to a rucksack for walk-ins and leaves loads of room in your sack for everything else.

[Bradders]

Why not just answer the question? 

[Paul B]

Weight is obviously part of it as I said but it's also a right pain to get twists out (which seems to happen a lot with mine) and it just seems daft when you're lowering off things and you're not even close to reaching the halfway mark when you get to the ground. Plus it's a lot more faff to switch which end you're using if you need to, and move around between routes. Not to mention how much space it takes up in my rucksack which could be used for other stuff. Generally makes rope management a lot more annoying anyway but I appreciate it's a minor thing.

These reasons seem a little... weak? If you're using a rope tarp (or similar) it's a 5 sec job to change ends. I've always had issues with Edelrid ropes coiling like mad (not great when in their half rope form they'll loop round any foliage going just for a laugh). What is it? How are you storing it?

[GazM]

Why not just answer the question? 

Ha! Having never climbed at Kilnsey or any Peak sport crags I can't answer the question bout ideal rope lengths I'm afraid.
All I can suggest is that it's at least twice the length of the longest route you want to do. Happy to help!

[Bradders]

I give up. 

[cheque]

The answer is 60m unless you want to climb the routes that go through that big roof at Kilnsey or the Prow routes at Raven Tor. You can do most stuff with a 50.

Obviously make sure you’ve always got a knot in the end. 

[teestub]

The answer is 60m unless you want to climb the routes that go through that big roof at Kilnsey or the Prow routes at Raven Tor. You can do most stuff with a 50.

Obviously make sure you’ve always got a knot in the end. 

20 m is a good length for having some rigging length for cleaning boulder problems, so sounds like Bradders will get 2 for 1 out of his current rope!

[abarro81]

I find an 80m rope useful for all the best routes at Kilnsey. But I admit that I may be in a niche category there... 50m or 60m would be fine for most Peak and K stuff probably with the 80m for if/when you want to do something longer... but you obviously then have to decide what you're getting on before you go or go back to the car to get the long rope if you decide to get on something bigger. I just start with 80-100m every time, but then I do have short ropes I use somewhere like the cornices, they're just 10 year old ones that got chopped a lot and are now 50m...

[Will Hunt]

My question is how did you go a whole season without chopping?

[Adam Lincoln]

I find this all totally ridiculous when talking about marginally differences in rope lengths and weights. Totally insane.

Just get something long you can chop when end deteriorate. Maybe 10m longer than your longest route planned.

Are you actually being serious with this thread btw? Or just winding us up?

[Bradders]

I give up. 

I mean fuck me can someone not just ask a simple question and get a simple answer on here?

[Alex-the-Alex]

Some great advice so far. Not much to add. But have you considered walking poles? I know they're probably not very "cool" with the kilnsey and catwalk crowds, but they do help with heavy loads on long walk ins.

Like to the far end of Kilnsey crag.

[IanP]

I give up. 

I mean fuck me can someone not just ask a simple question and get a simple answer on here?

I really don't understand all the shit you've got for this question.  Ropes are consumables for a sport climber , unless your only doing really long routes then having a shorter rope for peak , walls etc seems to make lots of sense to me

I have  50m (now 45ish) which I picked up cheap and use at peak / Dinbren/ plenty of Yorkshire crags, convenient to use on short routes. My longer rope gets taken out when I might need it.  Since rope weight matters less on short routes this also means you can maybe go more.robust for this and reduce the wear on your thinner long rope.

A 60m might give you more options but I don't find it great struggle to decide which rope to take depending on where I'm going/ what routes in plan to do.