2011 Gear Guide: Ropes

LIFE ON THE LINE
The skinny on new ropes

Over the winter, we climbed with a wide sampling of single ropes (most are new for 2010/2011) and boiled the selection down to eight favorites. During the review process, certain biases became evident: Some testers wouldn’t even look at a rope above 10mm in diameter, while others nervously said “no thanks” to anything under 9.8mm. Dry treatments also became a point of contention: Sport climbers in Colorado shrugged them off as an unnecessary extra expense, while ice climbers were incredulous at this indifference. While such characteristics will factor into your own decision, we hope to at least point you in the right direction on the journey to find your dream cord.

We used these ropes for a couple of months, and though we can’t speak to their long-term durability, we did get a solid sense of each rope’s handling. Because comparing a 10.6mm, the largest rope in our review, to an 8.9mm (the smallest) is like comparing apples to oranges, or at least a Granny Smith to a Pink Lady, we’ve broken this review into two parts: 10mm-and-above workhorse ropes, and under-10mm redpoint ropes. They’re fruits of the same species, but distinctively different. All prices listed are for 60m and non-dry-treated unless otherwise noted.

Editors' Choice
BEAL JOKER 9.1
$229.95
libertymountain.com
One of our most experienced testers called this rope “one of my all-time favorites, especially for onsight and redpoint attempts.” It rated the highest possible scores for ease of clipping and ease of knotting/untying. Of course, 9.1mm is on the far skinny end of skinny single ropes, and not for beginners or toproping—rope stretch was noticeably long. But for experienced sport climbers looking to redpoint diffi cult projects, this rope was the ticket. Durability wasn’t possible to test in our short winter season, but Beal has a good track record of quality ropes.

Number Cruncher
TENDON AMBITION 10.2
$189
mytendonusa.com
Although we received this cord late in the testing process, it scored above-average marks in all categories: It fed smoothly, felt flexible, and handled nicely. It also is rated to 12 to 13 UIAA falls, where many other ropes of similar diameter only rated nine or ten falls, and some as low as seven. Tendon’s Ambition line is designed for beginning to moderate leaders, with beefier sizes (9.8mm to 10.5mm). All ropes have the option of dry treatment.

Deceptively Skinny
PMI CIRQUE 10.6
$196.95
pmirope.com
As the fattest cord in our review, the Cirque had a lot to prove to skinny-rope-loving testers. But while sport climbing in New Mexico and Colorado, and with a little ice climbing on the side, this rope proved to be performance-minded. It managed to be stiff and slick at the same time—“in a good way,” said one tester. It “felt skinnier than its 10.6mm label,” knotted easily, “slithered like an eel” through pro, and stayed dry in wet snow while ice climbing in January.