Ice Climbing Ropes - Care & Maintenance
Ice Climbing is a very gear-intensive activity. It is therefore worth emphasizing that you should learn how to take good care of your pieces of gear such as your Climbing Rope. Doing so not only ensures that they are in perfect working condition when you need them, but also that they are safe enough to use.
In this section, we will be discussing some of the ways on how you can take care of your gear. While we will not talk about them in great detail, we hope that you will understand how important it is to make sure that your gear is working perfectly.
Just like any piece of equipment, Climbing Ropes also need proper care and maintenance. Here are some pointers on how to take care of Climbing Ropes to maintain their good working condition:
- Inspect your ropes regularly. Look for damages, fraying, and abrasion before and after every climb.
- Never use your Climbing Ropes for other purposes.
- After using your rope several times, it may become dirty and thus would need to be cleaned. Wash your ropes with water and soap. Air dry and keep them away from direct sunlight.
- If you wish to make extra sure that your rope is thoroughly cleaned, you can choose to machine wash it. But don’t throw your rope into the washer yet. You may end up with a huge ball of tangled rope. Instead, put it inside a pillow case before putting it in the machine.
- Whatever method you choose in cleaning your rope, never use bleach or detergent on it. Aside from that, keep your rope away from direct sunlight.
- While your rope is durable enough to carry your weight when you climb, it may be weakened when it comes in contact with harmful chemicals. In 2001, the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation released a report that the application of markers on the rope reduces the latter’s strength by 45% after one week and more than 50% in three weeks. Meanwhile, urine causes a 30% drop in rope strength. Also, prevent acids from coming in contact with your rope since these will have far more destructive effects than the materials previously mentioned.
- Avoid stepping on your ropes. Dirt gets through the rope fibers which can cause damage in the long run.
- Put away your ropes in the proper storage place. You can use a Rope Bag especially when traveling.
- Replace ropes maybe after a couple of years when you are into weekend climbing, and when doing sport climbing, change ropes after every six months. You should remember that replacing your ropes depends upon the number of falls you have had, the climbing style that you do, and the frequency of your climb within a season.
Aside from your rope, you also need to take care of other pieces of climbing-related gear. For carabiners and cams, you can use a variety of cleaning materials to keep the moving parts well-lubricated. Some of them are graphite, silicon spray, WD-40 and bike lubricant. However, do not apply too much of the lubricant because it may attract more dirt into your tools.
With all the things we discussed in this article, we hope that we have emphasized enough how the proper maintenance of your gear and your safety come together. But to be extra sure, you should also seek the advice of your Ice Climbing gear retailers on how to take care of the particular tool or equipment that you have. They can provide you with a more detailed explanation on how to do it. We hope that this article has been informative as well as helpful to you. Keep on climbing!
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