A tree named "Patience"

I have to make dinner now, so I don't have time for all the fun details just yet, but here are some pictures from a tree that 3climber and I climbed this week. Just thought I'd share. There's more to come, stay tuned...

http://picasaweb.google.com/nickaraya/ClimbingATreeNamedPatience

love
nick

Awesome pictures Nick! I'm kidnapping you next year and making you take me climbing in a sequoia!

When did you find out you were tied in to a partially dead branch? When you got to the TIP or could you see it when you put the rope over it?

Love that tree boat tie-in, looked solid for a stub

Could you have done the climb with less rope? Just wondering, that's a lot of rope to haul to the tree!

Thanks for posting, looks like a fine tree and a great climb.
-moss

That half dead tie in for my rope was one that I could see. It was just 10' overhead when I set the rope there. It is a very solid anchor. The limb was about 50' long and very living.

Leon, just gimme some notice and I'll take ya!

I only brought a 150' piece of Chameleon (green Blaze). Robert brought a 200' and 400' piece of 9.8mm KMIII. We used all the KMIII during the ascent/descent and gear hauling, but maybe could have gotten by with less. I only used the Chameleon while in the canopy. I wish I would've brought the 80' line. That would've saved some weight.

Here's a vid:


love
nick

Thanks for the offer Nick I'm definitely going to take you up on it. I'll be in your neighborhood next year probably late spring or early summer. I'll let you know as soon as I know so that we can set something up. I'm really looking forward to it.

Hello Nick
Thanks for posting the pictures and the cool video. The pictures are worth more than 100K words!

Robert your report on the use and selections of the gear is very educational to others willing to tackle a challenging climb like this one. It takes a lot of preparation and coordination to make sure you have whatever you need and nothing extra just to carry more weight. Nick is a good teacher and makes for a great climbing companion with his professional practical experience. The fotos were very nice to tell most of the main story of the climb. Great job both of you guys. Thanks again for sharing.

This was my first experience setting a high anchor. We loaded the BigShot with a 4oz lead egg on monofilament line. We worked as a team and on the 6th shot, we got this anchor. Of course, it was hard to see where the monofilament line went, so we pulled in something more visible. Then, we pulled in the 400' KMIII. The rope layed nicely against the tree and up into some higher branches. As the pic shows, it was hitched to another tree.

At this point, we had to wonder what was holding the anchor (up above). The worry is that something could break and cause a shock load. Isolating a limb at 130+ feet is no easy task. We looked up using binoculars and found some sturdy smallish branches that were bracing the rope. Basically, the anchor was made up of about 4 smaller limbs. I got to lead climb this part.

This is where the fear of heights meets being up high against a huge tree with no limbs or anything to grab onto. And, when you get to the first limbs, they all bend down. But, as I looked around, I found some really ideal places to tie-in.

I chose to set the 200' KMIII near this ideal place and abandon the 400'. (We used both ends of the 400' to lower gear the next morning. We could probably have done fine with the 400' and left the 200' in the car. Both lengths only weigh 28 lbs total. Though, the hike back was a lot of grunting.

This climb was a huge learning experience for me-very eye opening. And, the setting was very beautiful. I like climbing with Nick, because he's always willing to help, and he has a really good attitude. Plus, he has more experience than I do.

Kindest regards,
Robert Crook

I have a request for this adventure and more that follows. Could you itemise the list of gear you used and system? Something like this (Just an example of format):

Mainline for ascent: 400 ft (brand name rope)
Sleeping gear: 2 treeboats (you did use 2 right?), sleeping bags (temp rating, fill)
Ascneding system: Frog, Texas system, etc
Crown ropes: DRT stuff.
Cambium savers: Leather, Su or House sleeves, previous days undies, two ring sling, etc.
Carabiner rack: lots of dog legged, ball locks, screw links and a heaven gate special.
Cooking gear: wood stoked hibache with white gas as starter (joke). Pans, utensils.
Food: dry food, wet, etc. How many days supply?
Pitches: rope placements- short or long count as a pitch.

The reason I am asking for stat info and details is so other climbers can make a more rational decision on what is needed rather than the old trial and error method (bringing too much stuff).

Another useful item is this:
What worked and what did not work?

Again, thinking and sharing with others to bring down the error factor and increase the enjoyment factor by all that atempt a high overnighter in a tree (or what ever was done on that climbing event).

So what I am looking for is some kind of stat format (form) of information to start the description. One more thing.

A difficulty rating needs to be placed on the climb (or any climb for that matter). Rock climbers use it as a climb descriptive, we as tree climbers need to start using one as well. Look on the TCI in the index under "tags and ratings" It was modeled after the Sierra Club System. High climbs such as yours start in the 6 category. 6.0 and up (6.3 etc). DRT climbs fall in the
5.0 and upwards to 5.12 (rain slick trees rate higher of course).

Mighty good share on a big climb! We need to have more shares here. Anybody else? It doesn't have to be a mega climb.

I am in Utah right now. I have the packing list at home. I can copy it down when I get home and share it with y'all.

What worked and what did not? Hmmm...I think both Robert and I did a good job of doing what we knew worked, and avoided what we thought wouldn't work. We both made one mistake while lowering gear, and that caused a bunch of twist in the rope and ended up using an hour or so of our time...but that was user error- nothing that was a "shoulda brought something else" type of thing.

love
nick

Any wild tree is going to present unique challenges to climbing and the possibility of overnight sleeping. My lack of experience with Sequoias made climbing them a whole new experience. Add to that the stress of overnight sleeping, and the enjoyment was reduced to me being glad to accomplish goals. That's all well and good. But, if you want to "have a good time", then you need a guide to climb these trees. That's my opinion. These are not like Ponderosa Pines, which have normal limbs. The Sequoia limbs often slope down. Then, there is a whole skill set to setting and climbing high anchors. I'll be glad to work on a gear list and review what worked and didn't. But, my main thinking is that beyond a basic DRT and SRT set-up , one needs to allow some time to get familiar with climbing these beauties. It's really a shame to push yourself to sleeping in one, before you have really appreciated the joy of simply being able to get up next to one and climb it. Take a minimum of 3 days, a guide (who has climbed them before) and your patience. You'll be able to sleep in the trees and have some climbing you remember forever