I climbed with the one-legged Frenchman and all I got was this lousy T-shirt!

That's what was written on the climb t-shirts made by the climber's wife Rebecca. In 2004 her husband Alban was injured in a motorcycle accident and lost his left leg. Before the accident he worked as a professional tree climber in the Boston area, after the accident he faced a long and difficult recovery process. Alban persevered and reached the point where he wanted to climb again. Rebecca posted a request for help on the arborist climbing boards and soon enough a team came together to make it happen. Boston arborist Greg Mosman and yours truly scouted the tree and secured permission for the climb. Tom Dunlap generously flew in from New Orleans to provide technical guidance and to lead the climb.

New Tribe made a custom harness for Alban and Tom rigged a RADS setup for Alban to climb on. More tweaks are needed but it was very successful. Alban commented that the climbing system was so good he wished he knew about RADS when he was climbing with two legs.

Suffice to say that everyone involved was thrilled to see Alban climb and become very comfortable and competent in the tree. And none more thrilled than Alban.

More photos from the climb

Alban ascends a single static rope using RADS


Tom Dunlap, Alban Horchelle and Greg Mosman


-moss

Wow! Awesome story and awesome photos. Now you've been there, done that, and have the T-shirt to prove it..."

Thanks for sharing! Nice pictures!

- Link

Awesome. Just awesome.