I know I've seen this name bandied about. Are these guys as good as Mammut, Bluewater etc? I was thinking about the Marathon line since I'll be TR ing alot. As usual thanks.

Sterling ropes are great. We use them a lot at Rumney, and this is a place that tends to destroy ropes because of all of the angles the rope can run over. I've found that Sterling ropes last much longer than the others I've tried. In fact, I wore completely through the sheath of a PMI rope during one particularly vigorous hang-dog session.

Sterling makes great ropes. Very durable and they come in a variety of perfect sizes. I have a marathon pro 10.1 dry rope and love it. Its the perfect size and it handles very well. I've also used a Kosmos i think it was called which is a 10.2 the other weekend and was impressed with that rope too. Can't go wrong getting a sterling in my opinion.

I just got an 80m marathon a couple months ago. It's pretty beefy, so far, and they were real helpful about the custom length. Sterling ropes have a rep for being heavy on the grams/meter scale. The Marathon has an extra-thick sheath, which is what I was seeking in a sporto-TR rope.

Add another vote for Sterling - I've got the Marathon Pro 10.1 x 70 meter and it handles great, provides a soft catch and, like others have said, lasts a long, long time.

My all time favorite rope was a Sterling Marathon. 1 hard season at Rifle, 3 trips up El Cap, 2 seasons in the South Platte. I could not kill this rope...it was the energizer bunny tell I cut it up to replace the Hart ledges rappells..I almost cried.

I'm on my second. I love these ropes. They have a thick sheath for extra durability, without diminishing their smooth handling qualities.

I love my Sterling Ropes. They are indestructible except for rock fall and crampons.

shhh - i luv my pmi(s)

MMmmmm... Sterling Ropes.... So Good!

I have worn through 2 Sterling marathons this summer. I am trying other ropes for awhile, like the beefy Axis made by Edelwiess which I love so far.

yea! I'm happy to hear this. I need a real climbing rope for next weekend and the local shop has these in stock.

What are your thoughts on the Mega, its pretty heavy (79 gms!) which is probably why Sterling says its not a good choice for sport or trad, but I'm probably not going to be doing (m)any multi-pitch routes and we use figure eights for belay/rappel devices so the thickness (11.2mm) is not necessarily an issue. Looking at the specs though, I can see that the other 3 single ropes in this line would be more versatile.

The bummer is that they don't have the others in stock. They have the Bluewater Eliminator & Accelerator and the Petzl Zephyr which are more all around.

Thanks for your help here.

I ended up with the Sterling Mega and I like it. Feels like the Bluewater 7/16 static line I was toproping with but has the stretch. I foolishly disregarded the instructions for uncoiling the first time and let it get all knotted up on the first day, it looked like it would be a kinky mother after I unravelled it. Surprisingly it took only about 5 mins. and was not kinky at all....apparently it is a social conservative.