Edelrid Canary Pro Dry 8.6 – Single Rope

The Canary Pro Dry 8.6 from Edelrid is triple-certified: it’s a single rope, half rope and twin rope all in one. With a diameter of 8.6mm and a weight per metre of only 51 grams, it’s considered to be one of the lightest and thinnest on the market today (June 2020).

Specs like that make the eyes of every alpinist just light right up. Because mountaineers often have to overcome long glacier approaches before they can lay hands on the rock, and then long descents, both the core and sheath of their rope must completely be coated. Thanks to the Pro Dry treatment, the Canary has been shown to absorb only 1-2 % of its weight in water in the UIAA water-repellent test. That’s pretty darn good.

Glaciers are often worse for the sheath than rocky edges, because the fine stone on the thawed glacier surface has a similar effect to that of the finest sandpaper. Fortunately, this won’t be a problem for this thin, lightweight rope, thanks to its high sheath percentage. Mountaineers will also appreciate the 3-D Lap Coil technique, as it prevents the rope from kinking.

As a very light single, half and twin rope, the triple-certified Canary Pro Dry 8.6 rope from Edelrid is a great choice for alpine climbers, mountaineers, high-altitude mountaineers, ski touring on glaciers, etc. With its 5 UIAA falls, you shouldn’t use it for top-roping. There are plenty of other single ropes that are more suitable.