Stupid question of the day – Rope Length

[Anonymous]

Yazoo

I have read you need a 50-60 meter rope to climb most of the routes Kalymnos offers, but after buying the new book (2010 edn) I notice several routes are above 32m’s. I also saw ‘Glorgio de la Jungle extension’, route 42, sector 14 (Arhi) with the notes saying ‘it’s a 45m route, but only needs an 80m rope’. My maths isn’t that good but 45×2 =90, and doesn’t this mean you need a 90m plus rope???

To be honest we probably aren’t going to be climbing too many 45m 9a routes but do plan on doing a lot of the 30+ meter ones with our 60m rope. Am I missing something here or is a 50-60m rope too short???

[Anonymous]

test

[Anonymous]

test

[Anonymous]

Hi Chris,

Not a stupid question by any means. First of all: for the 32m routes a 60m rope (not a 50m) will usually suffice, factoring in its elasticity, but sometimes just. So always tie a knot in the end of your rope. Secondly, there’s nothing wrong with your math where routes that go straight up are concerned. In the guidebook, when it says for example “45m route but 80m rope will do” this is usually on an overhanging, diagonal or zigzaging route, where the length when you go up is 45m but it’s less than that when you are lowered straight down. Does this make sense?

In sum: Don’t bring a 50m, bring at least a 60m rope; the routes with specific remarks about rope length have been tried and tested; and finally, always tie a knot in the loose end of your rope, as running out of rope is THE most common accident!

Best,

Aris

[Anonymous]

right, makes sense, diagonal, overhang, zigzag. Thanks for the reply, really helpful.

Is there a rule for knowing if the rope will be long enough, I am guessing all slabby routes need double the length but some overhanging routes can get away with a bit less than double?

Definitely going to be tying a knot into the end of the rope.

[Anonymous]

p.s. great book by the way mate

[Author]

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