REASONS TO BUY
Soft catches
REASONS TO AVOID
Kinked up a bit
Trango Lotus Review
Good rope for lead climbing
Trango Lotus
Credit: Trango
RELATED: Best Rock Climbing Ropes of 2024
Our Verdict
The Trango Lotus 9.9 mm is a solid “workhorse” rope. If you don't care about the lightest and thinnest models, or in fact prefer a “beefier” rope, this one will do the trick. It handles fairly well (though it did kink up on us a bit), is soft to fall on, and showed only moderate wear after 60 pitches. It did feel a little stretchy, so if you are looking for a line specifically for top-roping, check out the Black Diamond 9.9mm. But the Lotus is still a great line and only $189 with a dry treatment.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Trango Lotus 9.9 mm weighs 62.6 g/m and comes with a dry treated sheath. It's available in 60 and 70-meter lengths, and only in this jazzy pink color.
Performance Comparison
The Lotus is a great choice for shorter sport climbs where weight isn't too important but you want a beefier line for added durability.
Credit: Cam McKenzie Ring
Handling
While the rope took knots well and fed easily through our belay devices, it did kink up a lot. While all ropes can get kinky (largely from lowering off widely spaced anchors), this one kinked up on us every time we used it, regardless of anchor configuration. We tried rappelling with it through an ATC to try and “straighten” it out, but it still kinked back up on the next belay.
Catch
We did like taking falls on this rope and gave it high marks in this area. It has a maximum impact force of 7.9 kN and a 34% dynamic elongation, and whippers felt soft and bouncy. However, that bounciness comes at the expense of being spongy when top-roping with it. If you tend to top rope a lot or alternate between leading and top-roping, the seconder might not appreciate the extra stretch if they take a fall.
We had to take in a lot of extra slack when top roping with this rope so that the climber wouldn't hit the ground if they fell at the beginning of the climb.
Credit: Cam McKenzie Ring
Weight
This rope weighs 62.6 g/m, which is lighter than some of the other 9.8 and 9.9 ropes in this review. The Edelweiss Curve Unicore Supereverdry weighs 64 g/m, but that adds up to only about a 3-ounce difference for a 60 m rope. If you're trying to cut some weight, try the Mammut Infinity or Petzl Arial, which both weigh 58 g/m.
Durability
We put similar wear on each rope, and some looked better than others by the end. This rope held up relatively well, though it did seem to attract dirt and we also almost completely lost the middle marker. There was some sheath fuzz as well, but the larger diameter might help it be more durable in the long run than a 9.5 mm rope. The Maxim Pinnacle, on the other hand, still looked virtually brand new after a similar amount of use.
The pink is pretty when brand new, but it did get dirty quickly, and we had quite a bit of sheath fuzz after 60+ pitches.
Credit: Cam McKenzie Ring
Sport climbing in the Bighorn National Forest, otherwise know as Ten Sleep. We liked falling on this rope, and since we fell a lot it Ten Sleep, it was a good match.
Credit: Cam McKenzie Ring
Value
This rope retails for $189, which is a good value for a dry covered rope. We did prefer the handling and durability of the Beal Booster III though, our Best Buy winner, which costs a little bit more than this one.
Conclusion
The Trango Lotus 9.9 mm wasn't any of our testers' favorite rope, but it got the job done and wasn't too expensive. If you're in the market for a dry rope but don't want to spend a fortune on it, the Lotus is a good choice.
—
Cam McKenzie Ring
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