Twin ropes on long wandering bolted routes.

Hi All,

I'm in need of some advice, I have a set of ropes certified as both half and twins, and two friends who are coming climbing with me.

I know when using the ropes as half ropes that I should not use them on the same biner because of different lengths of rope being out a fall can cause rope on rope friction and damage the ropes, that's fine.

However if I'm doing a route with well spaced bolts that wanders a bit, keeping in mind that I'll have two people with me, is there a way I can safely use the ropes similarly to twins? My concern is that if one person falls and the other doesn't, I'll get a lot of rope on rope friction. However I don't necessarily want to use the ropes as halves because the carrots are well spaced and the route wanders so if they fall it's a big swing if they're only in every second bolt.

Should I just add a biner to the rope side biner to separate the ropes? Or is there a better way? Or this the rope on rope friction in this case not big enough to worry about?

A direct answer to your post is that two biners on a single draw may be OK, but it would be better if you made some special double draws with one biner for the bolt and two webbing loops with a biner on each. There may be advantages to making the two webbing loops different lengths too? With this arrangement the ropes would have more independence.

It is common practice to alternate clips or to use one rope on the left and one on the right.

Some other considerations:
1) If the route wanders it is better to use one rope on the left and one on the right. This reduces rope drag, and it lessens bad angles which could dislodge your pro (critical for natural gear, but not as important for bolts).
2) The pendulum factor for the second is usually less if the end bolt on a traverse is not clipped. So if you alternate clips or use L/R this could help one of your followers at each wander point.
3) If you use your two ropes together and clip both into each bolt they will almost certainly cross between bolts, even if you use double draws at each bolt. If your followers are both climbing at the same time, a fall by one would likely tug on the rope for the other.
4) The best approach would be to have the second complete the climb before the third started. You could then clip the ropes as best for your lead, but still never two ropes into a single biner (with consideration of the rope for the second). The second could then clip or unclip the other rope as best for the third.

if your ropes are certified as twin ropes, the damage from a fall if they are clipped in the same biner will be minimal/nonexistent. twin ropes are meant to be clipped into every piece, together. their sheaths are constructed with this in mind.

S Denny wrote:if your ropes are certified as twin ropes, the damage from a fall if they are clipped in the same biner will be minimal/nonexistent. twin ropes are meant to be clipped into every piece, together. their sheaths are constructed with this in mind.

Usually the twin ropes are pulled through the biner at the same speed though. This person is worried about one rope being tied to a follower and immobilized while the other rope tied to a falling second climber is running over it. I wouldn't say the sheaths are specifically designed for this, but they are tough enough.

I think you will be fine because the fall distance and sawing effect is going to be very small compared to the lead fall scenario, and even the severity of the lead fall scenario is debatable.