You’d never guess I’d be calling an 8.7mm single-rated rope “durable” or “indestructible”…but I am. I might also add “great handling, versatile, and light,” too. In short, I’m amazed at this cord.
Rated for single, double, and half duty, the Serenity ($250; dry treated) weighs a scant 51g/meter, or 6.7 pounds (weight seems pretty accurate, but it was difficult to verify on my home kitchen scale). Mammut reports max impact forces of 8.4kn, 6.3 kn, and 9.7kn when used as a single, half, and double rope. Thirty-eight percent of the weight is sheath, which seems like a critical factor, given the rope’s unexpected durability.
I’ve had the rope well over a year. I used it mostly as a second line, when belaying two seconds simultaneously, but this summer I began taking it into the alpine, while prepping for my AMGA alpine exam. I took it to the North Cascades in early August, during a week-long recon mission to check out routes and conditions. I assumed it would be the end of my Serenity (in more ways than one, ha!), as we’d be short-roping, lowering, and generally hammering our gear. When guiding, you’re often using terrain belays and letting the rope run over rock–far more than you might when climbing with buddies.
Well, a week of hard routes and walking on glaciers…and the thing was still kicking. OK, right on…I’d take it to the exam and let it live out its life there. A month later we returned to the Cascades for the nine-day exam. We did the crevasse-rescue day in the rain. We climbed the North Ridge of Mount Torment (hour after hour of short-roping and short-pitching on jagged, loose blocks). We lowered clients, we rapped, we slogged…and nothing. No damage. Sure, we were careful, but how truly careful can one be in the loose Cascades? No core shots, no flattened spots, nothing. The Serenity is still going strong.
I’m not totally up to speed on differing rope manufacturing techniques, but Mammut has obviously got this thing right. Word is, manufacturers like Edelrid and Mammut, in part, get more out of their skinny cords by improving the dry treatment so the nylon absorbs more energy. Keep in mind using any skinny (say 9.4mm or thinner) single rope, you need to pay attention when belaying–use gloves, consider clipping two biners through your ATC or other belay device. Don’t get surprised by the svelte, slippery handling!
The Serenity is really the ultimate guide rope, because you can use it as a lead line (remember it’s skinny; take extra precautions to make sure a client doesn’t drop you!), or trail it for a second follower. The dry treatment is still workable after 1.5 years of service. Sketchy pitch? Use it paired with another cord as a half-rope system. Awesome. Bravo, Mammut.
