Climbing Session and Route Log
Build a record of what you have actually climbed and how, so progress shows up as routes on paper rather than as a feeling about how the year went.
OP-06 1 page
Outdoor pursuits · OP-19
Climbing Rope Log
A free printable climbing rope log: the rope's details, then every day it was used, falls held, what it met and each inspection, until it is retired.
Download Free · no sign-up
2 pages. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
Fill it in type and save
The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
What this sheet is for
Retire a rope on its history, not on how it looks. Every day out, every fall held and every inspection is written against the one rope.
Who it is for
Climbers with their own ropes, clubs, walls and instructors who keep ropes for others to use.
How to use it
- Fill the top from the rope's label and leaflet when it is new, before first use.
- Write a line for every day it is used: where, how, the falls it held and anything it met.
- Inspect it along its whole length by eye and by hand, and write what you found.
- If it is cut, write the new length; when it is retired, fill the box at the end.
What is on the sheet
2 pages, in this order:
Page 1
Printed under the title: One rope from new to retirement: what it is, every day it was used, the falls it held, what it met, and what each inspection found, so the decision to retire it is made from its history rather than its looks.
The leaflet, then your hands. No lifespan, fall count or wear limit is printed: the maker's leaflet gives the rope's life and how to inspect it. Look along the whole sheath and feel the core through it, before and after use, and write what you found. Retire it the way the leaflet says, and whenever you are in doubt.
Write-on lines: Make & model · Dynamic or static · Single, half or twin · Diameter · Length · Serial or batch no. · Made · Bought · First used · Maker's life (leaflet) · Middle marked? · Ends: tape, label, mark · Owner · Rope ID mark
Use log — a line for every day out
Also printed: Inspection
Table, 10 rows: Date · Where · Use · Falls · Severe · Met · Washed · Sheath · Core · Length · Notes
Page 2
Use log, continued
Also printed: Inspection
Table, 17 rows: Date · Where · Use · Falls · Severe · Met · Washed · Sheath · Core · Length · Notes
Retired
Write-on lines: Retired on · Reason · Total falls held · Cut up or marked so it cannot be used again · Signed
Questions
How many falls or years does a rope last?
The sheet does not say, because it depends on the rope, how it is used and what it meets, and makers give their own guidance. Use the leaflet's figures, and retire it whenever you are in doubt.
Why record what the rope met?
Because some damage cannot be seen. Chemicals, heat, a sharp edge or a severe fall can weaken a rope that looks fine, and the log is the only place that remembers it happened.
Related sheets
Climbing Gear Inventory and Retirement Record
Retire ageing or damaged climbing gear on time, not when somebody notices. Each item has its mark, its dates and the life its maker states.
OP-20 2 pages
Auto Belay Inspection Log
Take an auto belay with worn webbing or an expired label off the wall the day it is found. Every unit's checks are on one dated record.
OP-21 2 pages
