Rapping the Cable Route

Howdy, I plan to take a buddy(he's a noob) up the cable route on Longs and then come back that way rapping the route. I've done it before, but I can't remember if a single 70 would get you from the top bolt to the bottom of the difficulty without down climbing in one single rap....again my buddy is new so I don't want any 40 foot downclimb shinanigans of 5.whatever. ...and I'd rather not rap more than once.. I can take 2 60 twins to be safe, but hate to carry the extra weight if it's not needed. Does anyone know FOR SURE where a single 70 would put us on the rap? Thanks!

I remember 2 60s putting us at a spot that still had a couple 4th class moves to negotiate.. I would say that if you are in uber noob safety mode you go with the twins and have your friend carry one too :)

The other option is to lower him/her, then rap yourself. That is if you are comfortable with the 5.whatever.

Mike - yikes, rapping the diamond with a noob sounds like a really bad idea to me. A lot of sht can go wrong up there. I would want a partner with good experience if I was anywhere on the diamond, going up or going down.

Climb Ohn. Wally

Wally- the cable route is not on the Diamond, its on the north face, and very reasonable to do with a beginner.
Mike- with a single 70, you need to do one long and one short rap.

We rapped it with a 70 a few weeks ago (first time descending the N face). Rap 1 was 35m, missed the second eyebolt, and ended 10-15' above the third eye bolt. The downclimb to the bolt was 4th or maybe easy 5th but a bit wet. We did another rap, a short one I think, to easy walking terrain.

Thanks for the info everyone.

Edit: I did this with a 60 last year and it did take 2 raps but the stance for the second rap was pretty nice, I don't remember hanging. Not sure the 70 would get you quite to the ledge above the 4th class stuff.

The eye bolts don't clip with a lot of biners. Be prepared with a sling if you do 2 raps.

On that last rap you could also just fix the line for your buddy so he can rap a full 70m and then you pull back up to the midpoint and rap to rope's end and scramble down the rest of the way, if necessary. If you do this and eventually scramble past the end of the rope, you can leave a knot in only one end so it catches in your ATC then it will pull the rope for oyu while you downclimb and provide a little bit of friction assistance.

Just an idea for you but do whatever makes you the most comfortable. Being overly-safe with new people is probably best. Your buddy is fully trusting you to keep you both safe so maybe it's not the right day to go light.

This was titled rapping the Casual route yesterday, was it not. Looks like the OP retitled the thread and rephrased the question. Agree, Cable Route is a good way up and down with a noob. Scary part likely to be the exposure once unroped on the north slopes above the cable route. And yes, 70 meter cord would certainly be sufficient.

Longs is an awesome mountain - enjoy!

Your Gonna Die!!

Had to do it

Sorry Wally, it always said Cable Route.... you read it too fast. Looks like I'll be taking twin 60s.

Chris Plesko wrote:The eye bolts don't clip with a lot of biners. Be prepared with a sling if you do 2 raps.

Mike,
Take the twins or halfs, it will make it so much easier. Rap the cables and then thread the rope through the last bolt and rap the snow field, it will keep you just short of the chasm view overlook and a rock descent the rest of the way down. Makes it easy for someone unsure if the snow is hard.

Rick