70 meter rope - worth it?

So I got a brand new 9.7mm 70 meter rope for free and was thinking of cutting it down to a 60. It just seems that there isn't that much use for a 70 - it would add extra weight and most belays and raps are set up for 50 or 60's. And most likely it would be pared with my 8mm tag line for raps, which is a 60 meter already.

I have another rope that I use for craging around Boulder. The rope in question would be more for multipitch and alpine stuff...RMNP, Yosemite, desert towers mostly.

Anyone have opinions? Or have good experiences using a 70 meter rope? Thanks.

70M? Seriously, I don't climb on anything less!

Maybe try it for a month or two before cutting? A lot of people are very fond of them...

Don't chop it down, keep it 70m. I got one as a gift and it has been really useful for climbing in the Flatirons for instance. You can do full 200 ft. pitches. It's also useful at sport crags and other places that have occasional lines that are over 100ft. No worries about being dropped or rapping off the ends of the rope. It's actually a nice length. The extra rope work is not a big deal to me anymore.

Nooooooo! Don't cut it! I was just shopping in Neptunes this evening looking into a 70 m rope. Climbed today with my partner's 70 m Mammut bipattern, around 9.7 mm ish sized rope, and now I want one! Lately it seems I keep climbing routes that require 70 m for rapelling, such as Indian Creek & Eldo.

70m are awesome for cragging, don't cut it! They are especially good at Indian Creek, as there are many routes that need more than a 60m to get down with two ropes - but a 70m reaches fine. And the sweet thing about those routes is that they tend to be open more often!

Gosh, I wish I had a 70m last wednesday at tonerre tower. We came up about 15 feet short on the rappel after dark. Good thing I know my way around up there...

Just sayin...

-chris

Ok, ok! I'm convinced. Hopefully it will see some 70m action soon! In that case I won't cut down the other rope I have...a 100m, 9.1. That one I'm saving for some mega long "single" pitch send.

It is true at the Creek there are a lot of long routes there where a 70m would come in handy. I'm sure I'll find plenty of others.

Hmm? Nah, not going there...

JF

Not a big fan. Have friends with 70's and find them more cumbersome, more effort, more time, more weight. And only a few instances when they would benefit such as the creek (which has far more routes where a 60 is fine and its getting really crowded there anyway)and a few raps, very few. In those cases I find it easy to bring a tag line. I bought a 70 just a little while ago and its still in the packaging. I would consider selling it. Its a Beal 9.7 super duper dry.

Well said Jed. I agree completely.

Jed Pointer wrote:200' is a long, long ways. If you are 200+ feet out, you are likely...

Also, if you fall with 200+ feet of rope in the system, prepare for a lot of rope stretch - especially if it's smaller diameter.

Just a thought, I could go either way - 60m or 70m.

I like my 70. It's a bit more work when you don't need the extra length, but it's very nice when you get to combine raps or lower off of something you couldn't otherwise.

Hmmm... some good points and some crazy talk here. Some people use 70's, some don't. But I'm amused at the pro/con arguments. You can count how useful it will be to you by counting how many times a ledge, an anchor, or the ground has been just out of reach. If that never happened to you, you have no use for it.

A 70M rope is is 231 feet long. For any given make/model that will be 17% heavier (2 pounds )than a 60M when it is IN YOUR PACK, the same as a quart of water.

The 70M does weigh more in your pack, true enough, and it will have 5 extra "coils" laying at every belay. BUT BUT BUT... On a 40 M pitch it produces EXACTLY the same weight, drag, and stretch potential for leader as a 60-meter, 50-meter, or for that matter... a 40-meter rope. You only pull on what is between you and the belayer. The only time you will feel more weight or drag from a 70M rope on lead is after you've gone past the lengths of the other ropes anyway, in which case you obviously wanted a 70M. I do this very routinely in RMNP, Eldo, the Flatirons, etc. Even my twin 8mm ropes are 70's.

There are times that you will notice the length of a 70M, primarily when lowering or rapping from anchors. In Eldo, a few examples are from the top of Werks Up (one rap) Darkness Til Dawn (one rap), From the station on Sobo (1 rap), from Shirt Tail Peak (now 2 raps instead of 3), not to mention leading Gambit in 2 pitches with enough rope left to go into anchors without a fight.

But still it seems that most 'con' arguments are coming from people who don't use them. I never seem to hear people saying "I used to use 70's, but after a year of struggle, I went back to shorter ropes." While practically everyone using 70's will tell you they struggled with shorter ropes for year before switching to 70's. I used a 50M for a few years in the mid-worst. Then again, the canyons I climbed in Ohio were no deeper than the lead wall at your local gym. I switched to 60's immediately upon going to college and getting to climb taller routes. 60's were harder to find and more expensive. I was always complaining about rope length when I tried running pitches together, and when the first of the 70's came out (an oddity at the time) I started buying them. It saved me from buying the 100M ropes, which are pretty admittedly, overkill. My ideal length would probably be 75M.

I think every climber needs these in their arsenal at a minimum:

- double 60s
- single 60
- single 70

That will cover 99.99999% of everything you'll need to do in the free climbing game. Then just pick the arrow you need from that quiver when you set out.

I wouldn't cut the 70 down. Just buy more ropes.

Yes, a 70 is worth it. Absolutely. Don't cut it until it gets worn on the ends. Then you'll have 60.

I had to cut 20 feet off a 60m rope a couple of weeks ago so now I have a worthless 53m rope, whereas if I was smart enough and only brought 70m's I would still have a very usuable 63m rope.

Buy 70m ropes. It's a no brainer.

What are you guys doing to wear your rope ends out????

I do a heck of a lot of climbing and have only cut the end of rope off once.

For me, it's from incessant falling and hanging. I don't know what John's doing...

I once did the Petit Grepon in 2 1/2 pitches with a 300' 9mm. It went pretty fast and getting down was pretty easy. The hike sucked, however, for my client who cheerfully carried it in.

Mal

There are some newer sport routes in Clear Creek that are 35 meters long. The 70m will come in handy at a lot of areas.

I don't worry about rope weight - my wife carries the rope...thick 70m cords (snicker).