XEROS Climbing Rope Gear Review

... Apr 16th 2021
  • Rob Pizem
  • Sterling Athlete

Initial Thoughts:

The new XEROS felt firm, malleable and precise out of the bag.

  • Easy to feed through belay devices (ATC and GriGri)
  • Easy to clip, fingers slid smoothly over the rope
  • No cosmetic flaws
  • My figure 8 stayed tied (new ropes typically slip a lot and the knot can undo if you tie a short tail in your figure 8)
  • Cloves tightened/loosened quickly
  • Low amount of rope twisting/coils from the initial packing
  • No flat spots (I feel the entire rope between my thumb and index finger and check for flat spots. I actually do this every time I use the rope as I stack it between climbs.)

Rope Maintenance Methods:

  • I climb on each end of the rope evenly. For example, if a pitch is led, then the entire rope is pulled through the anchor and the next lead is on the opposite end. This promotes even wear and tear of the rope
  • I always use a rope bag and keep my ropes as clean as possible.
  • I never use rope wash or any kind of soap on the rope (I keep it clean)
  • I never step on or let animals walk on the rope
  • I don’t leave the rope in the car 24/7 it in in a cool dry place while not in use
  • I avoid running the rope over lateral rubbing/cutting surfaces
  • I avoid using carabiners/belay devices that are old and worn with sharp edges

Summary of Observations:

After 13 days of use and over 21,100 feet of climbing, the rope looks and feels like new.

The XEROS does not show the “normal” breakdown and softening that regular non treated ropes do and what regular treated ropes do shortly after a few uses. It just didn’t occur. I climbed on sandstone, granite and volcanic tuff rock types. I climbed sport and traditionally protected climbs. I climbed slabs, vertical, overhanging and roof terrains. Finally, every use included one or more of the types of climbs: multi-pitch climb, single pitch leads and top roping and mini tracking.

Day 1 16 pitches 1600ft Unaweep granite hanging belays, slab, crack, vertical, overhang climbs 2-3 falls.

Day 2 1000 ft of mini tracking on granite slab, overhang, crack, and face some rubbing of rope but no wear

Day 3 18 pitches 1800ft same as day 2.

Day 4 18 pitches 1800ft all leads at rifle some scraping on one 35m lower, some hang dogging no real falls. No signs of wear.

Day 5 800 ft mini track. Straight down low abrasion on granite rappelling, using the CAMP lift with a Petzl mini track as a back up.

Day 6 1000ft leads on sport routes at 11000ft San Juan tuff, some rubbing on uneven rock from anchors, some dirt just bounces off.

Day 7 12 pitches 1000ft slight wear (half an inch long) at about 30ft, (small fray of sheath). Granite rubbing from anchors, multiple short falls and dogging on line, light drizzle, no absorption of water.

Day 8 Endless Wall sandstone vertical cracks, roof and sport climbing, lead falls, hang dogging rubbing on rock, no wear. 2000ft of climbing.

Day 9 Lower Meadow sandstone vertical cracks, roof and sport climbing, lead falls, hang dogging rubbing on rock, 2000ft climbed, no wear

Day 10 Kaymoor vertical to overhung rock, sport climbing and lowering off various anchor systems. 2500ft climbed, no wear.

Day 11 Summersville Lake vertical to overhanging climbs, rope running over smooth edges and some fixed draws. 2500ft climbed, no wear.

Day 12 Lower and Upper meadow 20 foot horizontal roofs, whippers, hang dogging belaying over edges 2800ft climbed, no wear ..

Day 13 Cotton Top climbing 300ft of climbing vertical and roof climbs, no wear

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this is the rope that will last significantly longer than any rope that I have ever used. Normally, ropes get soft and mushy after about 3000-5000 feet of climbing. After that softening, the rope tends to need to be cut at the ends after prolonged falls and hangdogging on climbs. Another section that wears out quickly on normal ropes is at either end from about 10-30 feet. This is where a huge amount of use occurs from lead falls, top roping and falling early on a route. The XEROS shows no sign of wear at those locations after 4x that amount of use.

My XEROS has about a half inch of extremely minor cosmetic fraying from being lowered over a semi sharp edge after 21,100 feet of climbing. The 10-30 feet portion on either end of the rope shows no significant amount of wear and has no soft spots forming.

I have rappel down walls from anchors, rappelled down walls from just looping it around trees, I have mini tracked on the rope, had it lightly rained on and sport and trad climbed on it more feet than most climb in a year and is not showing the wear that all of my other ropes have shown.

I recommend this rope to everyone because it is the one rope to rule them all!

To find out how many pitches Piz took this rope through and how it held up, read the next review:

!