Bumpy/ twisted core in mammut 5.9 crag classic

I recently bought a mammut 5.9 crag classic rope and have used it ~10 times so far.  When lowering my partner off a route today, I noticed 2 bumpy sections in the rope as they passed through my ATC.  They kind of feel like the core has been twisted inside of the sheath, but there is no visible damage to the sheath, and the core passes the pinch test in both spots.  Neither of the spots are near the ends or the middle of the rope and there isn't any sheath slippage anywhere.  I tried working out the bumps with my hands but it didn't do anything.

I couldn't find any information online that seemed to describe what the rope feels like.

Does anyone know what this is? Is it dangerous?

Greg Gavitt wrote:

I recently bought a mammut 5.9 crag classic rope and have used it ~10 times so far. 

You may have exceeded the rope’s limit. Did you climb any 5.10’s?  

How many falls have you caught on the rope?

Did you properly unwind the rope when you unpackaged it? If the rope was not properly unwound it will cause pigtails. The pigtails could have caused the core to twist in the sheath as it ran through the belay device. 

I assume you mean the 9.5 crag classic. I've had 3 of them and they all have twist issues. I've never noticed spots in the core like you are talking about, but the last one I bought had such bad twist issues that I ended up spending the night in the chimney below the diamond (long story). When I spoke to some popular local guides about the systems we used and what we could have done different all 3 had the same response, "don't buy Mammut ropes".

Never had an issue like that.  I just bought my 3rd one last week; its my favorite rope.  

Only times where I've had a rope twist badly permanently is from climbing a route and clipping the anchor of an adjacent route to TR it.  The up and over rope run really twists up the rope badly.  Also if you tie your ends together during rappel, barrel knot them separate.   

Cheiftan Mews wrote:

I assume you mean the 9.5 crag classic. I've had 3 of them and they all have twist issues. I've never noticed spots in the core like you are talking about, but the last one I bought had such bad twist issues that I ended up spending the night in the chimney below the diamond (long story). When I spoke to some popular local guides about the systems we used and what we could have done different all 3 had the same response, "don't buy Mammut ropes".

I have two of these ropes and never had this issue? Mammut ropes are highly-regarded. I’m wondering who these guides are…

1. I have used Mammut ropes forever, owned at least 10 of them, I've never had any general problem with kinking.

2. I personally feel like it's important with a new rope to flake it out more than once to get any tendency to kink out.  I usually flake it back and forth about 5 times.

3. Kinking issues with lowering under various circumstances has been well documented in dozens of discussions over the years.  It's very dependent on what you lower through.  IIRC, people have reported that uou can usually get the kinks out by flaking a bunch and/or rapping on the rope.

To clarify, I meant the 9.5 crag classic not the 5.9 lol. Also, the issue isn’t that the rope is twisting or getting kinked on itself - I unwound it properly and it hasn’t had any issues with that. The issue is that the core is “twisted” independently of the sheath causing the bumpiness. I’d include a picture but you can’t really tell by looking at it, although it’s very obvious when flaking out the rope.

Will N wrote:

I have two of these ropes and never had this issue? Mammut ropes are highly-regarded. I’m wondering who these guides are…

One of them was actually a climbing ranger (or search and rescue or whatever) for RMNP. Another was someone who is not so popular but has been guiding over 10 years. The third is the most popular (social media) and well respected guide that I know of. 

I have the dry version of this rope and have no problem with it. Bought it this year.

I didn't really have to uncoil it with the hand over hand method. It came what appeared to be butterfly coiled and folded in half. But I did flake it out several times just to be sure. No kinks or twists so far.

Several review sites rate it one of the best ropes. I have almost all mammut ropes and find them all excellent. 

Hey greg! Sometimes that happens to new ropes, mine gets curlies sometimes when lowering off routes or rappelling, which is super annoying. Just flake your rope out a few times through a belay device. It is not a safety issue aside from those curlies getting in the way of belaying, the rope is still perfectly good. 

I think folks need to reread what the OP is saying… it’s not the rather normal curling of the rope when pulled down through a couple of spaced rings, or the curling of a new rope when not flaked enough out of the package, etc. It’s the curling or bunching of the core underneath the sheath that seems to be the issue. Do I have that correct?

My solution: I’m buying Unicore ropes from here on out—not really for the problem the OP has (never have experienced that), but for other reasons. Unicore would certainly solve this issue, though. 

drew A wrote:

Several review sites rate it one of the best ropes. I have almost all mammut ropes and find them all excellent. 

Because we all know that review sites aren't based on paid advertisements 

Wonder if they do air splices to join strands together?

Daniel Joder wrote:

I think folks need to reread what the OP is saying… it’s not the rather normal curling of the rope when pulled down through a couple of spaced rings, or the curling of a new rope when not flaked enough out of the package, etc. It’s the curling or bunching of the core underneath the sheath that seems to be the issue. Do I have that correct?

My solution: I’m buying Unicore ropes from here on out—not really for the problem the OP has (never have experienced that), but for other reasons. Unicore would certainly solve this issue, though. 

That’s correct. The rope is not twisted in the regular way that ropes twist up. It’s the core that feels twisted.

Greg Gavitt wrote:

That’s correct. The rope is not twisted in the regular way that ropes twist up. It’s the core that feels twisted.

Hey man, same issue same rope. 

getting worried also.... did you continue to climb on it and was it ok? did you wash it at all as mine seemed to do this after washing it