Mammut Climbing Rope Spark 9.5 mm Review & Promo Video

To be honest I always thought a climbing rope should be at least 10 mm thick. The only ropes thinner than 10 mm that I own are my two half ropes which I use in multi pitch climbing and mountaineering.

But ever since Mammut sent me the 9.5 mm Spark to review it, I was converted!

Here's my promo video for this rope, shot with Sony HX9V.

This rope is light and fun to use.

The 60 meters length is perfect for the new style longer routes, even though the current standard length varies between 60 and 70 meters. And since it's pretty thin (9.5 mm diameter) there's less drag in your quick draws while climbing sinuous routes.

I took a few falls with it myself and the shock force was lower than I was used to (with my old 10.5 mm Edelerid rope). However, too many falls will damage the sheath in a visible way that's why I would't recommend this rope for your hardest redpoint attempts where you may fall over and over again until you send the route.

It's nice to climb with the Spark on hard routes - you can easily clip the rope in your carabiners and that saves you time and energy which you need for the crux - but it's not exactly the rope for heavy duty route working. If you have a feeling you could onsight a particular line then the Spark is your friend.

Also, keep the top roping to a minimum - use another rope for that.

Here's a comparison between three different segments of the rope. The left (most fluffy) is a part of the first 3 meters of the rope where falling makes most damage. I believe the number of serious falls taken with it at the time of the picture was about 8.

Conclusion

A light rope that holds up to 6-7 UIAA falls (1.7 factor) and since most of our falls are below factor 1, that's enough. Easy handling with good knotability even after long use - that's a plus! (Remember those ropes that used to get hard as a cable after a few falls?!)

Every sports climber should have at least one light rope like this one for those occasions where the grade of the route is not as important. The low weight per meter (59 g/m), the softness and the maneuverability are the key features that makes this rope a cool piece of gear in any climber's backpack.

Get Mammut ropes at REI.com, Amazon.com, Moosejaw.com.

 Be safe!

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