Rope advice for France, Spain, Italy, Germany, sport multi-pitch

Hi guys,

I've just finished up a multi-pitch course in Meteora, Greece during my vacation. I'm now on the lookout for a climbing rope. What would you advice for single and multipitch climbs in Europe? I'm thinking of doing single and multi-pitch routes, starting easy and practising the things i've learned. For rappeling in Meteora double ropes are needed, but what is the situation like in countries like, France Spain, Italy or Germany? (I live in Holland so those are the closest mountains)

Thanks!

You listed off a very broad range of potential areas so giving you a single recommendation is difficult. I took a trip to Europe a few years ago and climbed in chamonix and the Dolomites. it seemed that multipitch climbs with rappels frequently required 2 ropes and doubles seemed popular over there as they are nice for wandering pitches in the Dolomites. This system is not great for single pitch sport climbing. In the states it's more common to use a single rope a pack a skinny tag line for rappels-buying a system like this will be much more ideal for single pitch climbing and still let you get down double rope rappels on multipitch although it will be more awkward to climb with as one climber usually has the skinny rope on their back.

will ar wrote:

 in chamonix and the Dolomites. it seemed that multipitch climbs with rappels frequently required 2 ropes and doubles seemed popular over there as they are nice for wandering pitches in the Dolomites. 

Good to know about the situation in the Dolomites and Chamonix! at least knowing the situation and experiences in the different areas will help make a decision.

Nowadays they're making skinny ropes that are rated both for use as a single or a double rope.  You could get a couple of those, then only use one when you're sport cragging.

I´ve climbed in just about every country in Europe and for multi-pitch the difficulty is getting back down as has been mentioned, also "sport multi-pitch" is a bit variable when it comes to how wandering the route is etc. I take a pair of half/twins and a single when I travel and use what´s required on the day. Travelling by air like to the States I take the thin half´s and sport climb on them as twins, tag lines suck in general compared with a pair of 7.8´s.

When space isn't an option (and I have a partner who's willing to carry a rope), I carry a single thicker rope for single pitch sports climbing and a set of twins for longer routes.  If I was jammed on space, and, still wanted two ropes for longer rappels, then depending on the trip, I'd just take the twins for everything or a single rope and pair with a twin.

I've used a tag line for routes which have maybe one long rappel, especially the last rappel, but, have moved a bit away from that system as I'd prefer to have a rope I could lead on in a pinch (a doubled twin for example).  Tag line has pretty limited use, really.

Ropes have become so much lighter and thinner...be careful getting a super thin single lead rope especially for a lot of sport climbing especially depending on you and your partners weight and belay/rappel device.

Cheers!

So it seems for multipitch doubles ropes / long repels are the standard

for alpine get double ropes. Granite in the alps can be sharp. Also being able to divide the two strands of rope on long approaches is nice. length of the rope really depends on the route. Keep that in mind when studying the topo.