Innovative rope protection

The brunt of a rope’s strength comes from the core, and while the sheath doesn’t add significant strength, it does protect the core from damage. A sliced sheath will quickly unravel, exposing several feet of core, making the rope unusable. Solution? Beal introduced Unicore technology last year in two ropes; this bonds the core to the sheath via a thin, lightweight filament that’s woven between the two. That means if the sheath is cut from a sharp edge or bad fall, it will stay in place without exposing the core. This year they’re expanding the Unicore lineup, including adding it to the 10mm Tiger, which is an ideal rope for everything from toproping to big alpine ascents or walls where you’ll be jugging a lot. “Up high on the multi-pitchTiger Balm Arête (5.11 R) in Colorado’s Eldorado Canyon, I was glad to have this rope as I ran it out farther and farther,” one tester said. “I had no worries of this thing cutting and exposing the core if I blew it.” Testers also lauded the rope’s handling—no kinks even when brand new—and said it belayed smoothly through both tube-style devices and a Grigri 2 . It comes standard with a dry-treated sheath, with an optional treatment that covers the core and the sheath.