ropes? what to buy?

Beginning climber here looking to buy my first rope soon. What's your favorite rope, go!!!

I've been climbing on an edelrid 60m 9.8mm no dry treat (I think it's the boa) for about a year, very consistently. It has held up great so far, only have had one true whipper. I find it pretty light, as far as ropes go and it won't break the bank.

Just buy the cheapest 10+ mm rope you can find. Or you can endlessly debate the pros and cons of all the ropes on the market.

What Frank said, something cheap in the length you want. While you're using it, you can decide what features suit your climbing style better, and make a more informed choice next time.

A few things to keep in mind:

Dry treatment is great if you get caught in the rain, and supposedly will keep dust and dirt from sticking to the rope as much, so the rope will suffer less from abrasion. Dry treated ropes tend to be slipperier, especially when new.

A middle mark is nice until it wears off, but you can always mark the middle with dental floss, tape, or a rope marking pen. A bi-color rope is even nicer, but costs more.

Skinny ropes (<10mm) are nice and light, but they wear out faster and are slipperier.

Longer ropes (70m) are great for linking pitches (not always a good idea for beginning climbers) and doing long sport routes. Sometimes having a 70m rope will let you do a rappel descent without bringing a second rope. Longer ropes also cost more and make for a heavier pack on the approach. Shorter ropes are less work to coil, less weight on the approach, and cheaper.

Talk to the people you climb with and see what they use and why.

REI almost always has at least one rope on sale during their spring and fall sales, that's always been a good option for a first time rope purchase.

I've owned and climbed on every major brand of rope on the market, in my opinion sterling is consistently the best brand out there. It's all I buy now.

I've been climbing about 3 yrs now, and have tried about 8 or 9 ropes so far. One thing to make clear, from my personal experience, get a rope that's dry treated. It really does make a difference for friction on rock, and imo extends the life of the rope. Not to mention, if you get to the crag and it's a bit damp or wet the rope doesn't get that sticky feeling that makes it dificult to pass through your atc device. I've been sticking mostly with Beal UniCore ropes. I have a diablo, and a couple Joker's. I also have 3 New England Ropes, a Mammut and a Sterling. I prefer the Beal over all of them. The UniCore is always ZERO sheath slippage. Not to mention, you can pretty much cut them in half and they'll still hold you. My .02. I vote and buy Beal every time, all the time... For cost, they aren't that much different. I'd also recommend getting something larger than 9.5mm, and getting a 70 Meter. It'll cost more, but you'll keep it for several years, so it's worth the extra small bit. Good luck in your purchase dude!

This is exactly what I climb with...
youtube.com/watch?v=UL_1ZUC…

+1 for Edelrid, the sheath is extremely durable and will lost longer then most. Especially for a beginner climber who doesn't quite see all the opportunities to extend draws under overhangs and extending top rope anchors to minimize drag. Until then I wouldn't get anything smaller then 9.8 and for the love of god do not spend more then $125-145 on your first rope. They are always on sale somewhere.

10.2mm New England Equinox. Average $145, probably can get it on sale. It's dry treated inside and out i believe. When it comes time for a replacement I will be getting another.

the moral of this story is: everybody has their own opinion about which rope is best. buy the one you think is the prettiest, or cheapest and form your own opinion.

Thanks for all the advice! Super helpful!

- you dont need dry treated ... As a new leader you eill be handogging and TRing alot, and loweing off ... The dry treatment will wear off in about 100 pitches

- get 10mm+, thicker heavier rope will tend to hold up to the abuse new climbers put them through better

- you dont need bi-pattern ... New climbers need to develop and practice the skill of finding the middle the old fashion way, and you can mark the rope anyways

- dont spend $$$$$ on a rope .... Theres a decent chance youll wreck the rope TRing and hangdoging anyways ...

As a beginner theres tons of people who will tell you to spend $$$$ on a first rope or get some fancy feature ... Ignore them

Ive clImbed daily on cheap ropes just fine for years ... And the $$$$ ropes dont realistically last much longer ... I own those as well

I find it quite hilarious when someone goes on about how much longer this or that makes their rope last, but then they proceed to lower off that rope or use it for TR

;)

+1 on a cheap 10mm - 10.5mm 60m or 70m. Don't waste your money on anything fancy until you're at a point where spending a hundred more dollars to save 5lbs of weight makes sense. And I'm not entirely convinced that it ever does.

My first rope was something like this. I loved it.

My fav is a sterling 9.4 but its not for beginners. I highly recommend the cheapest 10.2mm rope you can get. 10.5 is a little fat but is fine if you only plan to be a single pitch climber for a few years.

10.2 non dry no bicolored stuff just an easy to use (and catch lead falls) and durable rope is ideal in my opinion.

After you destroy that look to 10.0 or 9.8 from then on since those ropes are durable but also empowering to take you into the multipitch realm.

Oh yeah. 60 meters too. 70 is a joke for beginners and most experienced climbers alike.

Emilee Krupa wrote:Beginning climber here looking to buy my first rope soon. What's your favorite rope, go!!!

Just buy the cheapest 10+ mm rope you can find.

^^This