Hello fellow climbers.
A few years ago I decided to chop down the huge pine tree in my backyard due to various reasons. I knew that due to its position and accessibility to the road that it would probably cost me thousands, and thousands I didn't have so I looked up at it, scratched my head and had the ridiculous thought that perhaps I could do it myself with a little bit of help from someone else. The thought that immediately followed was how on earth do I climb this tree?
What followed was a great period of discovering this greatly detailed and nuanced subject of rope ascension and the myriad of techniques, knots, anchors, lanyards, equipment brands and friction-saver setting IQ tests. I became hooked.
I will admit, that in my ignorance in the beginning, I did scrimp on equipment and bought less than ideal rope and with the use of a couple of prussics and an ATC rock climbing belay device, I was able to climb up about 15 or 20 feet before I lost confidence in my skills and equipment and thought it wasn't worth risking my life. So, I built up some cash (and knowledge) and lashed out and bought some decent equipment which allowed me to build up enough confidence to climb safely higher and higher up the tree until eventually, slowly but surely I made it as high as I could safely go.
I'm sure its only really tree climbers who really understand how good it feels just hanging around high up above everything.
The tree is still there. I don't think I'll ever cut it down and I've probably climbed it 100 times by now. Along with many other taller trees in the area I'm very blessed to live in with an abundance of beautiful tall trees and its great that there is a community of other people that love climbing too.
