A newbee's first tree

Hello all,

I'm new to this board and new to this form of tree climbing (always free hand in the past - this is much safer). Just climbed my first tree today - in fact just got down. Really fun:D I suspect that when I take my hikes I'll be looking in a new direction from now on - up.

I got Flower's book and just loved it. Dick, if you're on this Forum - Thanks!

One thought. When Flowers describes the single rope technique he talks about unclipping the top ascender and how dangerous that is. And as I walked though one on the ground it sure is.:o But I think I found a way that makes it much safer. I don't know if I'll describe it well, or if others are using it already, but here goes.

Once I get to the top, I hang from the top ascender (clipped in to my harness), pull up some slack from below the bottom ascender (the one for my feet) and hook my Figure eight into the line and the carabiner on my harness.

Then I lift myself with the foot ascender and loosen the top one. I never unhook the top ascender. I next hang via the Figure eight, loosen the bottom ascender so it's very loose (I could take it off, but didn't bother). Then I put my top hand on the top ascender to keep it from grabbing, and rappell down. No unhooking, never a chance to fall. This way I also have a backup (the top ascender) in case I lose the descent controlling grip (the one below the figure eight).

I got the idea from reading about rock climbers rappelling. They always have a backup (often a prussik) to catch them if something goes wrong with the controlling (Flowers calls it the braking) hand.

I used Bachman knots for both of my ascenders because they are easier to move up after being weighted than a prussik but I think any climbing know would work. I didn't try the Blake's hitch for the ascenders, but it worked great when I did the double rope technique and would be worth a try.

Anway - a long post 'cos I'm pretty excited. But there's still daylight out and the trees are beckoning me. Out I go.

Eric (from Connecticut)

Eric,

Welcome to the club. Your idea sounded just fine, but I'm down here in the southeast in the midst of Hurricane Jeanne so I'll wait until the weather clears before I try it.

You likely will find that there are about as many styles of treeclimbing as there are treeclimbers. Every climber, it seems, does one or two things different than other climbers. I guess that's because it's still a new recreational activity and is open to a lot of innovation and improvement.

I, for example, like to make my initial access into the canopy by single rope, then I will switch over to either a double rope or another single rope as necessary for my advances on upward into the treetop. If I'm doing a transfer between two single ropes, I carry either a third ascender or a Prussik loop to use as a safety while making the switch. When descending, I use a rappeling rack (the mini-rack with two hyper bars does best for me) that I put on the rope between my upper and lower ascenders. I then stand up with the lower ascender, slide my upper ascender down for slack, put all my weight on the rack, remove the lower ascender, then finally remove t he top ascender. I keep the gate open on the top ascender (and keep it attached to the delta on my harness) in case it's needed in an emergency situation. The rappeling rack gives me a nice, smooth ride to the ground and I can control the rope with just two fingers.

Again, welcome to the treeclimbing (we decided to make it just one word) community.