Globe 5000 foot lock trial

As soon as Matt Glen set up the new lightweight foot lock line from Teufelberger every climber at the Open Masters was keen to give it a try. There was plenty of hype about trimming seconds off their respective times but we are certain no one really believed how good Globe 5000 would be.

The 10mm diameter makes it a little harder on the grip but its the light weight and general 'stiffness' of the rope that really makes the difference. Individual15m times were noticeably faster even without practice on the rope. Given a bit of training time using the rope all climbers felt significant improvementsin speed could be achieved.

However, regardless of the advances in rope technology, you cannot hide the fact that foot lock still requires a high degree of skill and physical effortto achieve the times required to break any world record.

For those who wish too try, Treetools will have Globe 5000 available for use at the Official World Foot Lock Record Attempt, adjudicated by ISA, ITCCOfficial, Tom Greenwood at the 2010 Asia-Pacific Regional TCC on Sunday March 21, Western Park, Freeman's Bay, Auckland. The Official World Footlock RecordAttempt was organized by Nicky Ward-Allen, the current women's world footlock record holder.