Erik's last post is a timely one. Brian and I have been mulling over
the double vs single rope situation for our up coming trip to the Cirque of the Towers in the Wind River Range. Seventy meter Nano? Two photons?
One sixty meter workhorse? Two fifties? Region, rock type, weather
condition, style and route are all variables that need to be considered.
According to Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills the advantages of twins and doubles are: rope
friction can be greatly reduced, falls can be shorter, two ropes are
less likely to get severed in rockfall or sharp edges, and two ropes are
available for rappel. The book also points out advantages when
protecting the second from pendulum falls and when doing traverses.
Another important aspect is that when clipping gear slack can be given
to one rope while the other can remain taught.
I started surfing
the web looking for answers, but could not find "the answer".
The
reason that there is no definitive answer that works for all climbers is
that all climbers are different. I asked Erik for his advise and he
pointed out that the climber is another variable that needs to be
considered. A technical route that might be challenging for me, might
be considered extremely easy for someone else. Some climbers can cruise
through the remainder of a route and top out before the thunder storm
hits, while other climbers might chose to bail off the climb and rappel
down to safety.
After all sorts of searching and pondering I feel
like I have made up my mind about what I would like to bring to The
Winds with us, but I am still open to suggestions and comments from
folks who have climbed in The Winds or similar places. Feel free to
post a comment and let me know what you think. The more information I
have to consider the happier I will be...
No comments:
Post a Comment