Any death reports lately or near I had a friend misses?

I had a friend who does part tiem tree work fall to his death about a year ago. He called me for advice but I did not get back to him soon enough. He went up a large poplar tree and was tied in incorectly when he made a big cut. He fell about 50 feet. I believe he had his TIP too low on a nub and it slipped off when he made his cut. I am jsut getting over his death. He was a great guy that tried to figure things out for himself. A small error can get you killed in a hurry if yoiu are up cutting. I am just getting over the loss. He had called once before wanting to cut down this big tree and I told him not to do it. I have feelings of guilt associated with this incident. There is a ghost near this felled tree.

I'm sorry for your loss. Loosing a friend is always a very hard thing to go through. Feeling some amount of guilt is completely normal. I'm not sure it's appropriate for me to speculate on the actual accident. However, it sounds like it could have been avoided if your friend had used a second TIP. Either way, best to you, his friends and family.

I missed your original post Treeman, that's a tough one. It's a real conundrum for an instructor, how do you deal with potential or actual serious mistakes made by those you've taught or advised? Or in this case wish you'd been able to advise more. It sounds like your friend was determined to follow his own path.
-moss

Sorry for your loss treeman but you should'nt knock your self out over this any longer ,you advised against climbing it you can do no more . You can't over emphasise the importance of that 2nd .t.i.p. in a comercial situation , once again my condolences . be strong and blessed be

Thanks for posting - all of you. I couldn't even get back to my original post here until now. Not thinking about it and reading your posts here has helped. Thanks.

It is nice to read these close call postings from time to time to remind us ( not professional climbers) that some of the stuff we do following our own instinct are not very safe and the only reason we are still around is pure luck. I had a couple of minor close calls while removing a tree in my front yard that could have ended badly but I guess it was not my time so I am still around to talk about it and to make sure that I will not make the same mistake again because the next time I may not be so lucky. I am sorry to hear about your friend's accident. Hope his family have been able to recover from this tragic lost.