The Best Climbing Ropes for Rock, Ice, and the Gym

An 1864 edition of the Alpine Journal reported that ropes were expected to break in an eight-foot fall. It wasn’t until nylon was widely introduced after World War II that the rope market significantly changed. What came next has stuck to this day: kernmantle ropes, constructed with an outer sheath and inner core. Invented by Edelrid in 1953, kernmantle ropes proved to be significantly stronger and more elastic, thus making falling while tied in far safer.

Although this fundamental design has essentially remained the same...