CT Alpine Up Belay Device Kit (Includes Carabiner)

Reviews

1. 

   [email protected] – August 14, 2018

   Having tested the CT Alpine Up over the a few sport climbing sessions, I would have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it’s use with a few caveats. I did not test it’s usage with double/half ropes in mountaineering situations, as I only sport climb – the general consensus online seems it really shines for dual rope handling scenarios.

   Ropes used:

   10.2mm Beal Edlinger II – A flexible rope, thinner in appearance than the Galaxy despite the rating.
   10.0mm Mammut Galaxy Classic – A noticeably stiffer rope than the Edlinger

   This is a device that definitely benefits from perusing the manual on operation, given the multitude of configurations available to the user.

   I specifically wanted to check the ability to belay successfully a leader in the assisted braking modes, with ropes of this diameter as there are mixed reviews out there. Secondarily I was interested in Abseil ability of the device. I intended on purchasing the device if it proves suitable with these ropes.

   If someone unfamiliar with the Alpine Up was handed the device, they may struggle a bit to understand the correct loading process – but once shown, the device is easy to check for correct operation (incorrect loading serves as non braked ATC style device anyhow).

   The Alpine Up requires a bight of rope be fed into it prior to clipping with the supplied CT device specific carabiner. A minor but noteworthy mention is the lack of wire cable to retain the device when not in use, as is standard on an ATC. Therefore care should be taken to not drop or lose the device at height (there is however an anchor hole for guide mode on the device that could be clipped with a draw without impeding loading the device with rope, or hanging off equipment loop).

   Handling during regular belaying is very intuitive with regards to feeding and taking, the action is essentially natural. The only mention is when paying out slack to the leader from the top hand, the lower feeding hand I found beneficial to move up and outward (not past being locked off!) the shallow angle provided minimal friction and therefore no chance of accidentally engaging the braking. I had one false lock out on my first belay before got the hang of avoiding this, as did my climbing partner – a climb or two is enough to get the requirements of the device down pat (unlocking action etc). By not tight-roping the leader, anticipating clips and general attentive belay technique, the device is no different in feel to an ATC.

   Both the Edlinger and Galaxy flow through the Alpine Up with a small (not bothersome) amount of added friction vs an ATC, the thickness (and stiffness for the Mammut) were behind this. A quick test with a well worn fat stiff fuzzy gym rope of 10.5mm revealed the device was much almost unusable vs the Galaxy & Edlinger we used, the stiff old gym rope was also a bear to load, running with a lot of friction on the side-plates of the Alpine Up. We were happy with the performance of the device on our test ropes, although ATC equivalent operation was obtained during a brief test with a tendon 9.xmm single.

   Lowering a climber in the gym from sport anchors was smooth and drama free, the flip out lever provided a very wide spread of speed control – much superior to the smaller window with the Grigri2 or Grigri+ and even more so than the original Grigri, though this maybe down to the relatively large rope diameter tested.

   As to the action to unlock the Alpine Up, some small practice was required also. My first unintended lockout took several attempts to unlock the device one handed so the climber could continue to be belayed. During subsequent climbs the same day with test falls, the action required became natural and no longer presented an issue to me. The unlock was marginally easier with the Edlinger, likely due to its flexibility. Another of the people in the climbing group has struggled a bit more to get the knack of the unlock, so your mileage may vary. 9.x mm category will likely unlock even more readily.

   As little as a loose two finger grip was enough to trick the device to Click-Up (controlled test). However a check of hands free operation purely as speculation revealed that on both Edlinger and Galaxy rope, used in single as for a sport lead would not catch a fall unattended.

   Abseiling in Click-Up mode was straight forward, although requiring the lowering lever to be nearly fully open on this thickness of rope to affect steady progress. I would likely use the device in Dynamic (ATC) mode for this, with reduced friction with an autoblock backup – unless I was working a project or similar that required sitting on the rope for extended periods.

   Overall I recommend the device, although I would not bother if I had a rope of 10.5mm (maximum specified) as the usability on greater than 10mm ropes declines steadily from what I can tell.