[1] Rope teams contrast with simul-climbing, which involves only two climbers and where they are ascending steep terrain that will require many points of protection to be inserted along the route.
A specific variant of a rope team is the technique of short-roping [fr], which is used by mountain guides to help weaker clients, and which also does not employ fixed climbing protection points.
[2] Rope teams are commonly used in alpine climbing, particularly for moving across glaciers and traveling along snow slopes and ridges.
[1][3] Rope teams can accommodate many climbers, which gives greater "holding power" if a member falls into a crevasse or slides down a snow slope.
[6] In 2022, eighty female mountaineers set a record for the world's longest women's climbing rope team by summiting the Breithorn.