ProView – Beal Joker 9.1 review

Ropes that are too stiff are always annoying and cumbersome to work with, and ones with a super soft hand never seem to last as long. The GriGri 2 was perfect with the Joker, feeding rope easily when the leader needed it, but also locked up the GriGri to catch falls securely. I used the Joker on several longer routes as both a single rope, and occasionally as a double rope, with the Guide ATC in auto-locking guide mode. Again, the 9.1mm diameter was great in the belay device, easy to reel in slack even when the second was climbing quickly in alpine terrain, but locking to catch a fall without issue.