Rope(s) for climbing in Europe

I'm looking right now at the rope game for Europe, and trying to find a balance between versatility and just generally having too much shit. I like to climb mainly multipitch sport and trad, and have dreams of El Chorro, Cham, and the Dolomites. I was thinking of getting a thinner 70m rope (9.0 - 9.4) (i.e. https://www.bergfreunde.de/mammut-92-revelation-dry-einfachseil/?aid=4f43b1851672f2c0c2b5f0426b885579&cnid=da62a0b1c6b2404efc38f5f5ac031 )  for an upcoming trip right now, and then possibly a tag line or a twin to pair with it for summer alpine routes next year.

Considerations:
It seems to me like weight maybe doesn't matter quite as much as it does in the US--everything is so much more accessible here via infrastructure. Is this true?
I don't particularly care about projecting hard sport routes or anything, would much prefer long moderates.
Ideal setup would be something like 8.5mm + tag line, 70m/10mm, but I don't think I can justify owning that much stuff...therefore I'm looking for a middle ground.
Has rope size/weight ever been an issue when traveling (esp. on budget airlines) for anyone?

Anyone care to share their experiences/input?

I´ve never used anything but a single 9.6 (or so) at any of those places, I guess there might be routes in Chamonix where I´d drag out my half/twin ropes but I´ve never been on them. When I´m travelling by air and going to do both trad and sport with potentially long raps I just take a pair of 60m 7.8´s which covers everything.

My experience in the Dolomites is that you can do a lot with a single rope, 12-15 draws, and a few slings. Most multipitch moderates are completely bolted. The weight of an extra rope and full trad rack may not be worth it in terms of the amount of baggage you have to deal with every time you change locations or fly. At most, bring a few mid-small nuts and couple cams. If you end up really feeling you need another rope when you are there, you can easily buy it there. They cost a bit more due to VAT, but you'll get your money back by avoiding checked/overweight bag fees, and lugging heavy bags on busses and trains. If you fit everything into 1 carry on and 1 free checked bag (common on international flights), you save about $50 each round trip flight.
Hope that helps!

Having just gotten back from the Dolomites in Sept AND had this same debate in a previous thread I think Jim's angle is the correct one.  Either a thin single 70m or twin 7.8s. I heavily considered a single 9.4 70m but all the trip reports about doubles in the Dolomites had me nervous (even though EVERY picture of an Italian guide there is with a single it seemed).  There are some routes that require double ropes to rap but the VAST majority are either walk offs or are setup for single rope raps.  The best book I found was the Bernardi guides in the Dolomites (available online or in bookstores in the towns like Corvara).  Unless you have specific routes in your radar that REQUIRE 2 ropes to descent, I'd lean towards a single, ESP if you know you'll be cragging elsewhere, sport climbing etc etc.

Also, consider purchasing rope in Europe. Don't forget that for US citizens VAT may be refunded.
​VAT refund​​​

mattm wrote: Having just gotten back from the Dolomites in Sept AND had this same debate in a previous thread I think Jim's angle is the correct one.  Either a thin single 70m or twin 7.8s. I heavily considered a single 9.4 70m but all the trip reports about doubles in the Dolomites had me nervous (even though EVERY picture of an Italian guide there is with a single it seemed).  There are some routes that require double ropes to rap but the VAST majority are either walk offs or are setup for single rope raps.  The best book I found was the Bernardi guides in the Dolomites (available online or in bookstores in the towns like Corvara).  Unless you have specific routes in your radar that REQUIRE 2 ropes to descent, I'd lean towards a single, ESP if you know you'll be cragging elsewhere, sport climbing etc etc.

Thanks everyone for the input. Yeah, I think this is what I will go with. Considering there are a lifetime of routes in the Alps, limiting myself to routes that I can just have 1 rope on still yields most of a lifetime worth of routes :)

Tina Rotlin wrote: It seems to me like weight maybe doesn't matter quite as much as it does in the US--everything is so much more accessible here via infrastructure. Is this true?

Also, anyone care to comment on this? What's the hardest approach you've ever done? As far as I can tell, there's nothing even in the same league as, say, the Grand Teton approach.

I'm sure you could find a difficult approach, but many routes in the alps are in areas serviced by trams. It is not uncommon to be able to take a tram to very near the base of a climb, or to descend via tram (i.e., cable car). There are many routes that are accessed by well established trails from parking on mountain passes and so on. It is just much more developed and populated than the bulk of the American west.

One thing I will add regarding the Dolomites, consider hiring guides for big routes. Many towns have guiding storefronts and many guides available. They work more like peers in Europe. Routefinding is difficult because much of the rock is climbable, and has been climbed for many many years. Descents can involve complicated catwalks on via-ferata trails and it is just really easy to epic in the Dolomites. The guides I've worked with in Italy were great.

jay2718 wrote: I'm sure you could find a difficult approach, but many routes in the alps are in areas serviced by trams. It is not uncommon to be able to take a tram to very near the base of a climb, or to descend via tram (i.e., cable car). There are many routes that are accessed by well established trails from parking on mountain passes and so on. It is just much more developed and populated than the bulk of the American west.

One thing I will add regarding the Dolomites, consider hiring guides for big routes. Many towns have guiding storefronts and many guides available. They work more like peers in Europe. Routefinding is difficult because much of the rock is climbable, and has been climbed for many many years. Descents can involve complicated catwalks on via-ferata trails and it is just really easy to epic in the Dolomites. The guides I've worked with in Italy were great.

Thanks for the tips. Both of these things are inconceivable concepts in America (tram accessed approaches? relying on help from others??) but I suppose that's part of the whole travel experience, to explore how different cultures interact with climbing.

They work more like peers in Europe.

jay2718 wrote
One thing I will add regarding the Dolomites, consider hiring guides for big routes. Many towns have guiding storefronts and many guides available. They work more like peers in Europe. Routefinding is difficult because much of the rock is climbable, and has been climbed for many many years. Descents can involve complicated catwalks on via-ferata trails and it is just really easy to epic in the Dolomites. The guides I've worked with in Italy were great.

I'll second this idea as well.  I'm pretty efficient at climbing long routes having experience in most of the "big" areas in NA.  I poo poo'd the route finding difficulty comments but they're pretty on point.  There are BIG walls there and the routes, save perhaps the aeries, are not as obvious as one would like.  I suspect I'd get used to it with more time there but if you only have a few days and goals of bigger things, a local guide would be a solid investment.  I'll likely do it next visit for things closer to my limit.