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mishu
Feb 2, 2004, 5:31 PM
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I am planning my first trips to The Gunks this summer. Having never been there, I am wondering if the simpler routes are short enough pitches to use a SHORT ROPE such as 80' like they are selling on GEAREXPRESS. Anyone been out there that can help ?
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rwaltermyer
Feb 2, 2004, 5:33 PM
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I'm not a big gunkie myself, but even a 50 m rope is too short at the Gunks for some rap stations. Just don't hope on classics in the Trapps for one pitch and then expect to be able to rap down...you'll be pissing off who ever want on next.
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mega
Feb 2, 2004, 5:43 PM
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Peter's Kill, which is about a mile down the road from the Trapps is a good bet for toproping with a variety of grades. It does not get crowded and there are bolts at the top of some of the climbs for setting up topropes. There is a small guidebook on it, not really sure if you can order it anywhere on the Internet.
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taino
Feb 2, 2004, 5:46 PM
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In reply to: I am planning my first trips to The Gunks this summer. Having never been there, I am wondering if the simpler routes are short enough pitches to use a SHORT ROPE such as 80' like they are selling on GEAREXPRESS. Anyone been out there that can help ?
Minty: 5.3**. 2-3 Pitches. About 220', total. Simple? Fairly straight-forward. Use an 80' rope? No way in hell.
Even a 50m rope, while long enough to get up with, is iffy for a rap descent. A single 60m rope will get you to the next rap station, 9.5 times out of 10. A single 50m rope might not. An 80' rope would be wholly inadequate. Even if you wanted to walk off every climb (entirely possible), I'd still say to get a 60m rope.
Get a 60m rope, either from your local store, Rock & Snow, or via mailorder (GearExpress is still selling a 60m x 10.5mm Edelweiss rope for cheap, I think). You'll be glad you did.
T
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taualum23
Feb 2, 2004, 5:47 PM
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Call Rock&Snow. They have the little guidebook for peterskill.
Superfun climibng. Less crowded, but more copperheads. Be careful. I found an angry one in a crack near the anchors on two climbs there.
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piton
Feb 2, 2004, 5:47 PM
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80' is way to short. you can find good prices on a 60m rope.
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mtnbkrxtrordnair
Feb 2, 2004, 7:26 PM
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80' is too short to TR anything at Peter's Kill. The cliff is like 50' to 70' high, so you could lead or lower someone in and climb out. We do that sometimes when it's really buggy and damp at the bottom and on top ther's a nice breeze to keep the bugs off ya. Just spring for a 60.
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rgold
Feb 2, 2004, 7:53 PM
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If you don't own a rope and are thinking of buying an 80 foot rope, you sound like a beginner. If this is true, the answer is no, you can't do easy climbs with an 80 foot rope.
If you are not a beginner and are fully competent at leading the climbs and especially at setting up your own belay anchors, then no problem; any of the easy routes and most of the rest can be done in 60 foot pitches, perhaps with a foothold belay stance in some cases. Of course, you will be walking back rather than rapelling down, but that's no big deal and worked well enough for forty or so years until climbers got super lazy.
Although you could use it in the Gunks to prove a point, in general, an 80 foot rope is really pretty useless. Save the money you would have spent until you have enough to buy a standard length.
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piton
Feb 2, 2004, 9:15 PM
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In reply to: you will be walking back rather than rapelling down, but that's no big deal and worked well enough for forty or so years until climbers got super lazy.
i guess that's when dick williams started putting in rapp stations. horrible seeing cables around a tree, especially when the cables aren't even swedged right.
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