I know: I'm gonna die.

Now that we're past that, have you? I'm getting on an alpine route this weekend that I may/may not be able to climb. We're hoping to use twins because two ropes are best for the descent and twins are obviously the lightest choice.

My Petzl ascenders are rated down to 8 mil and our ropes are 7.5 mil. My OG Grigri is rated down to 10 mil, but I've certainly used a rope as small as 9.2 mil without any problems. But comparing a Grigri to an ascender is kinda like comparing apples and oranges.

The ascenders and ropes and in two different cities so it seems easier to post here than to actually test the pieces of gear together.

I'd be psyched to hear from anyone that has experience using Petzl ascenders with a 7.5 mil rope.

Thanks!

I've used petzl jugs on 8mil and it was fine. Lotsa rope strech means lots more wear on your sheath, though. This alpine route you may not be able to climb may ruin your rope

If you don't load it over an edge, it might be ok, but that's hard to avoid on alpine routes.

Importantly, if you attempt to ascend one rope and are belayed on the second rope, the worst thing that can happen isn't too terrible. You should be able to transition from being belayed on both to ascending one and belayed on the other without switching anything up, so long as the auto-block device on the anchor will allow you to pull rope through with one rope under tension. A plaquette will allow this, I believe, but not sure about ATC Guide or Reverso...

Check out the video at the bottom of this page and see how easily a rope will shred over an edge:

www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/product-experience/self-belay-solo->>>

If you end up going and using your ascenders; you can always put prusiks above your ascenders which mind themselves as you push up and if the ascenders slipped the prusiks would catch you. This adds more gear and time but would be a safe option.

Or simply skip the ascenders, go light weight and prusik.

jugging a 7.5 .... (shudder).....

man, i think you should just eat your wheaties and free/dog/frenchfree/whatever. jugging a 7.5 would suck. you would need to be REALLY careful about keeping it away from edges, etc. maybe jug one, and have the belayer keep you snug on the other one.

Are there whole pitches you might not be able to climb? Usually an extra-tight belay and a little pulling on gear will get you up something a couple letter grades harder than you can usually climb.

I'd rather have a lightweight aider and daisy than an ascender if I think a route might be too much for me.

Otherwise, I'd bring your 9.2 and one 7.5 if you don't have a lighter pull strand. Like the others mentioned, jugging on a rope over any kind of edge shreds it in no time. It gets worse on thin ropes, and it gets worse on stretchy ropes. A 7.5mm is about the thinnest, stretchiest rope you can get. I doubt you could jug 60m of it without a major core shot, even over typical gentle edges.

Carry some extra cams and just pull through... Done that too many times. Way easier. If you have to you can sometimes batman the rope or prussic if you are really screwed. But for the most part just pull on gear.

You could also use the ropes together (like twins) and ascend with prusiks around both ropes together at once. Personally I wouldn't want to bounce around on one 1/2 rope. A Petzl Shunt might work better than ascends/prusik in this case too, but those are only rated for ropes down to 8mm. Just a few thoughts I had

+1 for french free.

If you can communicate with your belayer, you can yard on 1 strand while the other belayed strand captures your progress.

J

Yeah the weight saving of twins plus bringing ascenders doesn't make any sense. Go climb something you can climb! Or bring cams for a few moves of aid

Maybe the route is over your head......

Yeah I wouldn't prusik either on skinny ropes....... unless it is an emergency......

I agree with french free.......

This forum is like a fascinating zoo for bad ideas.

Improv-aiding through tough cruxes on lead is one thing, it's another to climb a route you can't toprope hangdog your way up. So I'd first encourage you to climb something easier, if you're that worried about it.

If you really want to do it anyway, admit to yourself that you might resort to full-blown aid, and bring a thicker rope.

NO. Refer to Mark Twight's book Extreme Alpinism on the subject for a more thorough answer and suggestions for alternative rope systems.

Marc H......

As you have climbed the Pacific Ocean Wall you should maybe be a bit more knowledgable in this arena? No? Why jug when you clearly have solid aid skills? Unless you are attempting something way rad.......and then why such skinny ropes....... just trying to sort it out......

What are you going to climb?????????

Definitely French free it or aid. No need to jug anything.

I follow on alpine way above my head all the time. I use tiblocs on 7mm cord, totally solid.

The funny (or scary?) thing is that this isn't a troll. Trolling isn't my game; I think it's pretty lame. I was really considering doing this. LOL The fact that none of y'all have jugged a 7.5 speaks volumes.

We're getting on Pervertical, Mia. I'm not in the greatest shape right now, but I'm sure I can climb at least 95% of it.

I don't know for sure what we'll do yet, but I imagine I'll just suck it up and pull through any sections I can't free quickly.

A Tibloc (or maybe even a Ropeman) is a great, lightweight idea as a backup. Thanks Rick!

Flame on!