80m Rope

I recently acquired a used 80m rope. The thing is a total boat anchor, solid but just heavy. I've been wanting a 70m as it would be useful in several areas I frequent, so I'm thinking of cutting the 80m down to size to save weight and make rope management easier. Would this be a mistake I would regret down the road? I've never heard of a route needing a 80m rope, at least in my area (nor cal).

Thanks!

Is it the climbing weight or the hiking weight that bugs you? You are only losing 12% of the weight, so it isn't hat great a savings, and it isn't going to do anything for the drag when you are on lead. You only are pulling on what is out already, and if the rope is stiff and heavy on a per foot basis, 70m or 80m is not going to make a difference.

I would turn it into 2x 40m gym ropes and get a rope you like for outdoors, but then I climb indoors more that outdoors these days.

Just use it. After a few months or so, chop off a few meters of each end, where ropes typically take the most abuse/wear from tying in, clipping, hang-dogging, falling, and you'll have a relatively refreshed rope.

I cast a vote for dont chop. You will regret

Chop it into 10' lengths and make them into dog leashes to hand out at the crag.

Yep, that's better; dog and kid leashes.

How thick is it? i have a 10.2mm 70 meter rope and it's just a giant weight when not in use, if it's a skinnier 9.5(ish) diameter i would say keep the length if it's fat just cut it for gym use and get a skinnier one for outdoors.

I am a fellow 80m rope owner. I got a great deal and decided to go for the more rope option. when I lived in Salt Lake it was great. I could skip whole rappel stations on long multipitch climbs, and I could top rope some seriously long, single pitch routes that other people wouldn't do because their ropes were too short. I go to most crags never worrying if my rope is long enough :).

Having said that, I have since moved and live in an area where there aren't as many long routes and the rope is starting to feel more and more like a boat anchor. For really long approaches, I really don't want to haul this thing. I've thought about cutting it in half, but I may just keep it for those crags with long routes.

80m ropes are great for:
Desert towers
Devil's tower
The needles of South Dakota (so I hear)
The south platte
Top-roping Country Club Crack
Some lines in Indian Creek
Linking mad pitches.

If you've never found yourself thinking that a 70m was too short, I don't imagine that you need an 80m. But do the math and figure how much you save by cutting off 10m of rope.
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For my own part, my "linking" rope is an 80M and I like that. 260' pitches are nice long ones, for sure. 1000' wall? 4 pitches! Just don't fall with all the rope out.

Of course, if you place a lot of gear or the climb wanders or is ledgy, then the benefit is probably super low and 50m-60m twins are a better log-rap option.

Don't chop it. I have an 80 meter and it's great. The benefits have already been discussed, but I climbed a route with a 200 foot first pitch a year ago and still had rope left to build my anchor! I

Don't chop.

If the rope ends get a lot of wear, you can then chop and still have a 70 meter.

80m for the average climber is way too long. Very few U.S. single pitches are longer than 35m, and only the smallest fraction are 40m. This is in large part because route developers assume a 70m rope is the longest rope a climber will have.

For the majority of multi-pitch climbs, again I think an 80m rope is too long. In most situations, you will run out of gear or run into rope drag issues well before you use that extra 10 meters. Then you are not only dealing with the extra weight, but you are also spending more time coiling rope at the belays and dealing with rope management. Unless you're trying to a) climb the Dunn-Westbay; b) scamper up long, easy climbs like in the flatirons; or c) setting up a huge toprope, I would slice it and save the weight and extra hassle.

Sure there are some advantages, but only a few climbers are going to use the extra length, and even then it will probably be used sparingly.

Think how many trad climbs you could do in one pitch!

Sell it to this guy

Don't cut that f*cking rope anyone who tells you to do so is an idiot. Climbers get lowered off the ends of ropes all the time and killed or injured that rope will just about insure that will never happen to you it's super-safe my next line is going to be an 80.

Hale hit it right on the nose. The rope gets awfully heavy if you try to link up pitches, and its a lot of rope to coil. I found mine useful in a very particular area. It comes down to what you really spend your time climbing. The worst thing you can do is leave it in storage, waiting for that perfect route. If cutting it allows it to be used more, than do it.

While I agree you don't ever have worry about your rope being long enough, it doesn't fix stupid. People don't get hurt because of lowering on short ropes, they get hurt because they don't plan before hand or pay attention to their rappel. If anything, buying a longer rope makes you more complacent :P.

Xam wrote:Sell it to this guy

Aren't there some long sport routes or ORG that benefit from an 80m rope?

I've considered buying an 80m for those super long sport routes... but it is quite a lot of rope to lug around.