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whats the deal w 80m ropes

Original Post
Stiles · · the Mountains · Joined May 2003 · Points: 845

What is the advantage of an 80m rope, or are they a novelty to 'raise the bar'?
-bulky and heavy
-requires you carry pro, biners and slings for that much more climbing
-all the disadvantages of single rope technique-cannot share carrying, 1/2 length rappels, etc
-established anchors will be pro and leave you "mid" pitch
-do you bring a skinny 80m rap twin? or an 80m static along for hauling?
-what diameter of rope are you using? Nine.some odd mm?

Are they best suited for walk off day climbs? I can see their function for the minority badasses who downgrade ice routes with fewer pitches, otherwise...?

If you are in the know on the way of the eighty, please enlighten

curvenut · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2007 · Points: 0

Absolutely no reasons to have a 80 m ropes.

90% trad route pitches are around up to 40-50m length.
So you are carrying 30m extra rope for nothing.

80m are only good for top roping on wall of 40m .

Cie are just trying to create a new hype on 70m and 80m ropes
and find new reasons to make you buy new stuff

kiff · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2010 · Points: 1,035

monster sport pitches

Wiled Horse · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2002 · Points: 3,669

last longer...
you can cut the ends off many times when they wear or get core shot and still have a long enough rope...

Ian Stewart · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2010 · Points: 155
Knight of a Woeful Figure wrote:monster sport pitches
I think this is probably the "right" answer. Ondra's recent 15c links together two pitches to make a single 55m climb, so an 80m is probably needed to get back to the ground.
curvenut · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2007 · Points: 0
Darren Mabe wrote:last longer... you can cut the ends off many times when they wear or get core shot and still have a long enough rope...
But you are still carying extra rope for nothing.
And by the time you cut off the end many times, nobody want to climb with you because your rope is too worn ! ;-)
bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065

monster sport ... and linking pitches ... plenty of 70m linked pitches here ... if you anchor with the ropes as all those hardcore traddies say you must .... then you need a longer rope ;)

sure some people will go on about how linking pitches is a bad idea .... yadda yadda yadda ... but if you and yr partner are competent, i see no reason to waste time with extra belays on moderate climbs ;)

Ryan Williams · · London (sort of) · Joined May 2009 · Points: 1,245

Sport climbing. A lot of new areas are bolted for 70 and 80 meter ropes. Other than that, you can cut the ends when they get worn from projecting.

knowbuddy Buddy · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 225

Training weight

Ray Pinpillage · · West Egg · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 180
bearbreeder wrote:monster sport ... and linking pitches ... plenty of 70m linked pitches here ... if you anchor with the ropes as all those hardcore traddies say you must .... then you need a longer rope ;) sure some people will go on about how linking pitches is a bad idea .... yadda yadda yadda ... but if you and yr partner are competent, i see no reason to waste time with extra belays on moderate climbs ;)
Yep. There is a time and a place for 70m and up. One of my partners has a 70m and it comes in handy...like connecting pitches and rap'ing off the top of the Grand Teton (as an example).

The down side is communication and the gear needed to protect the longer pitch.
Mike · · Phoenix · Joined May 2006 · Points: 2,615

I had a skinny 80m & liked it for linking pitches when moving fast on long moderates, such as Whodunnit in 4 pitches &
Coyote Tower in 3. Also great for the high Sierra, Red Rocks & desert towers.

They are usually skinny cords, and thus not too heavy. My skinny 80m was lighter than one of my old fat 60m's.

It can require one to carry 10 meters more of gear, or instead can space pro out a but more.

One of the joys of trad routes is belaying wherever you want, and even going wherever you want. We would have the belayer yell out when there was 20' of slack, then look for a belay. They also help with variations & passing. While you do get many of the same disadvantages as a single rope, IMHO you can sometimes link rappels using an 80. They do generally work best for walk-offs than raps though.

Also to third what Darren & Ryan wrote, that old 80m is still chugging along as a 70m and might be a 60m soon.

Edit to add: The main disadvantage I found was that the follower wouldn't want to fall in the first 20' or so off the ground or a large ledge, as 80m of skinny rope can stretch a lot.

kevino · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 0

Ice cragging in hyalite canyon. hence bluewater hyalite rope.

Brian in SLC · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Oct 2003 · Points: 21,711
Stiles wrote:What is the advantage of an 80m rope
Popular in spots where you need that length of rope to get back to the ground after a long, single pitch. Especially a long, steep route with no mid anchor.

A few places in Europe see a fair bit of use with 80m ropes.

Not a handy length in the U.S. for most crags. Maybe Mount Charleston is one place they'd be useful?
S Denny · · Aspen, CO · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 20

indian creek.

JCM · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 115
Brian in SLC wrote: Not a handy length in the U.S. for most crags. Maybe Mount Charleston is one place they'd be useful?
I think that you are actually referring to Clark Mountain?

Anyway, there are actually a lot of crags in the US where the 80 is really useful. As many have said already, it is a specialized item. You don't want to be hauling around and 80 at a short single pitch crag (like Rumney, etc), nor is it very useful on multi-pitch routes (I don't really want to link together an 80 meter lead...I don't want to carry that much rack, or to run it out that much). However, for lowering off of long (30-40 meter) single pitch routes, they are absolute gold. Super-long endurance sport pitches are very much in vogue now, and it is way nicer to be able to lower off with one rope than to need a second rope and have to rap off.

Another crag where and 80 is incredibly useful is Indian Creek. There are so many routes there with anchors at around 130 feet, requiring all sorts of annoying shenanigans with two ropes. With an 80, however, you can just lower off and even TR the thing on one rope. An while people have mentioned that an 80 is extra weight and hassle, it is way easier and lighter than using two ropes.

Lastly, if you think that an 80 seems excessive, you are already behind the times. 100 meter ropes are now popping up in more and more places- and not just in Spain. At crags like Rifle, a lot of the new development is the addition of extensions atop older routes. Have you seen the top section of the Project Wall above the established routes? A beautiful chunk of rock, about 50 meters tall. Bring the 100 meter rope, a drill and some popeye forearms. Then there are the new mega-crags like Wolf Point, Wy, and Joe Kinder's Mondo Cave in Ely, NV. 100 meter ropes are the way of the future.
Greg Gavin · · SLC, UT · Joined Oct 2008 · Points: 888

You'd be happy to have one in the creek.

camhead · · Vandalia, Appalachia · Joined Jun 2006 · Points: 1,240

Indian Creek. Hopefully, they'll come out with a 9.2mm x 90m soon; I hate hauling up a second line to get off of some of those pitches.

Wiled Horse · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2002 · Points: 3,669

remember when 50m ropes were standard? (and 60m were the 'long' ones...)

Chase Roskos · · Golden, CO · Joined Mar 2008 · Points: 90

My buddy swears by his at Devil's Tower. Of course they are short approaches, but he loves the long pitches, and getting down/TR from almost anywhere.

skiclimber · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2006 · Points: 30
waltereo wrote:Absolutely no reasons to have a 80 m ropes. 90% trad route pitches are around up to 40-50m length. So you are carrying 30m extra rope for nothing. 80m are only good for top roping on wall of 40m . Cie are just trying to create a new hype on 70m and 80m ropes and find new reasons to make you buy new stuff
Go to Europe my friend climb in Ceuse, or anywhere in spain where the big steep limestone routes are going in, I thought the same thing as you until I started climbing with some bad ass frenchies. The routes are long and there are now sick extensions on most the routes, and when you get lowered and your 30-40ft out from the cliff, That's what they are for.
doligo · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 264

They'd be pretty sweet for ice and mixed cragging at the Camp Bird road in Ouray - early in the season you can literally belay from your car even.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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