Versatile workhorse rope

With a complete overhaul of their rope line, Petzl is focusing on striking a perfect balance between durability, minimal weight, and overall feel, and the Contact is right on the money. Testers found this rope “unusually resistant” to the rope-ruining sand and dirt of the Moab and Indian Creek desert areas, and one said, “My ropes usually get absolutely wrecked in the desert, but after a full week of towers, cracks, and bolt-clipping, the Contact still looked like new.” That’s thanks to the DuraTec dry treatment, which not only protects the cord from absorbing water, but it also repels dirt, which can be the real rope killer. Our testers climbed on it for five months; it never kinked or coiled, and “it might as well have just come out of the package.” A great feature we never got to test: UltraSonic Finish welds the core and the sheath together at the rope ends only, to prevent
fraying in the spot where it’s most common. A super-great feature we did get to test: ClimbReady Coil means the rope is coiled and ready to go in the packaging. Open it, flake it, and climb—no more new-rope excitement cut short by annoying tangled messes.