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I just received a 9.8mm x 70m Sterling Dry in the mail, this guy: http://www.backcountry.com/sterling-evolution-velocity-rope-9.8mm Turns out it's 70m and pretty frack'n heavy! It's really a little more rope than I wanted and I can't return it (prodeal). I have a 30m 9.8 and a 30m 8mm already. I wanted a 60, but I don't really want a 70. I plan to do some Cascade Glacier routes with this in the next couple years and want to cut this thing down a little.

Anyways, the question is, for 2-3 person rope teams (which is what I anticipate), should I cut it to 60m or 50m? I'm leaning towards 50m to reduce the weight as much as possible - especially if it's a 2-person team on approach. If I'm in a team of more than 3, chances are someone else will have a longer rope anyways. I know some people would use their 30x9.8 for a 2-person team, but that leaves very little extra for crevasse rescue (and a C+Z rig would probably be required).

Thanks!

If you're not going to have more than 3 people, 50m would be plenty long. I've had 5 on a 60m rope. I don't really like 5 on a rope, but it wasn't bad. I personally wouldn't use a 70m for glacier travel, because I prefer to keep a rope at 4 people or less, and 60m is plenty long. I guess it could be a good length for guiding...

Regarding the 2 person team, you're right, if you want to be totally self-sufficient, the extra length will be needed for crevasse rescue. Then you'll just need to practice setting up an anchor with the weight of your partner hanging off your harness. That's the hard part!

I use a 50 meter cord for general mountaineering and alpine climbing.

This dovetails a little bit with my rant about long ropes a week ago. Boosterism for long ropes leads to stores only carrying 60s and 70s. Then they look at you blankly when you say you want a 50. You say "yes, but I want to do some alpine climbs," they say "well...most people are going with 70s these days." Argh! Definitely get a 50 meter rope for the kind of things you are doing.

Remember when they used to make 55 meter ropes? I think Alex had a pair.

Thanks all, I think I'll go with 50. According to Selters' Crevasse Rescue book, you could put up to 5 people on a 50 if you wanted, which I don't. And yeah, setting the anchor while holding my partners weight in a crevasse may not be easy - will take some practice. I've seen it done during a clinic in Alaska though, where Marc Beverly made it look easy (I'm sure it is for him, but not for most mere mortals). Bonne descente!

If you have video, or can find any, of someone making it look easy to set an anchor while being an anchor themselves, I would love to see it. I'll take all the pointers I can get!

Yes I do actually (at least I think I do). I videoed our instructor doing it on the Mendenhall Glacier, and there was a decent sized guy in the crevasse. I'll dig it up and either post it or put it on youtube and give you a link. Give me a day or two. I'm not sure it's on this laptop.

If weight is an issue, why not save that rope for long multi-pitch rock climbs and get a 50 meter 8 mm glacier rope? 8 mm is a lot lighter than 9.8.

BigMitch wrote:If weight is an issue, why not save that rope for long multi-pitch rock climbs and get a 50 meter 8 mm glacier rope? 8 mm is a lot lighter than 9.8.

For a 50 meter rope the difference between an 8 mm rope (42 g/m) and a 9.8 mm rope (64 g/m) is 1.1 kg or about 2.4 pounds. Certainly for general mountaineering and many moderate alpine climbs a half rope is adequate. Get a pair and you can climb more technical routes as well.

If you have video, or can find any, of someone making it look easy to set an anchor while being an anchor themselves, I would love to see it. I'll take all the pointers I can get!

Here's that video: http://youtu.be/ZPUM0PLmxY4

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