8.1 Ice Line

So far so good. These ropes have performed as advertized. I have used them on wet ice climbs and had little trouble with them. They can still ice up though so don't think your invincible with them. I had some ice up when there was water hitting the ropes in near zero F. but all ropes would freeze up in these conditions.

They clip easy and run though pro and belay easy even with some ice on them. They have a lot of stretch which you will have to get used to but that also means they have an absurdly low impact force! Great for climbing on ice and trad routes where your pro is less than perfect.

Much lighter than carrying two 9 or 10 mm ropes for double rope rappels and the stretch lets you reach those 200 foots raps!

Mine have gotten some serious twists in them after only a few uses so keep your eyes on this problem and pull them through from each end to keep this problem to a minimum.

Update - twists are better but as mentioned in another review these ropes run fast. I only use an ATC-XP on these. Rapping is slick and fast so be careful or have an XP style tool.

great cords. I love that they can go both ways, per BD;s new catalog. They will kink at first if you dont give them love prior to climbing on them. But for ice and mixed alpine they are great. The only drawback is that you can burn through them fast if you rock climb with them alot.

Excellent alternative to hauling heavy ropes into the hills and they do not take up much room in your pack. I was surprised at the speed of rappels and clipped an extra biner below my rap device to slow it down a bit. My only complaint is that they tend to twist up more than a larger rope. But otherwise, excellent piece of equipment.

My first choice for ice and mixed routes. I had no problems with freezing ropes,

Switched from the Mammut Phoenix to these ropes this season. Really holding up well. Seem lighter and more water resistant than my Phoenix even though they are 8.1 vs 8.0. Nice coating, whatever they did. Both brands are bomber, got a pro deal on these so took it. I would recommend the Phoenix if you are going to use your doubles on rock and ice and recommend the Beal for exclusive use on ice..

I used to really like these ropes and used them exclusively for leading ice. Unfortunately, I've had problems with sheath slippage with them recently. After replacing my first set, one of the new ones had significant sheath slippage after only about 4 climbs. My local shop (Bent Gate) swapped it out for me - no questions asked. The replacement developed the same problem in a short time. Swapped out again. The set I ended up with was OK for about half a season then both developed significant slippage (floppy, caterpillar feel/look at one end). I never had this problem with my first pair which lasted for several seasons. I don't know what they've changed about their process (I don't have this problem with their larger diameter ropes), but if you buy these, make sure it's from a shop where you can return them if you have this problem. A lot of money for poor QC. BTW, to this point, I have used mainly Beal ropes and really like(d) them.

Don't know what to use for ice doubles now. I'm not impressed with the overall durability of the Petzl Dragonfly so far, and the Mammut waterproofing doesn't seem very durable.