climbing a redwood

I'm curious what everyone thinks about climbing a big tree without a helmet or branch protection.

DRTing up 200 feet must be a workout.



grounded,
phil

It looks like arborist climbers body-thrusting their way up DRT. A very strenuous way to climb that much height. Guarantee their arms/elbows were aching for days aftwards. You need to get your legs involved doing the work for that much height. It looks like they're climbing a tree that has a lot of foot traffic and is probably an "illegal" climb.

Helmet is personal choice, best to wear one. DRT without cambium protection is a bad idea, it's rough on the tree and it beats up your rope.

I stumbled across this after looking at the video, started a new thread. The climber is using SRT to ascend this very tall redwood:
Climbing world's tallest tree
-moss

Personal protection is a personal issue and I would not recommend to climb with out a helmet. The trees we climbed in Oregon last year had broken branches "widow makers" about 4 -6 inches in diameter and more across that could kill anyone standing below them.

Funny that the guy with the ISA Certification was the one wearing the helmet and using the good rope. The other guy (Jose) was using an old type of hemp looking rope. Climbing DRT with several pitches in that type of tree is very tiresome. We used SRT and I was pulling two ropes and carrying a small back pack and by the time I reached the first branch at about 90 feet I was completely exhausted and was not even able to climb that much higher until a LONG rest. Then again those guys are a lot younger than me and in better physical shape too so it may not be a big deal for them.

They did not climb the entire 200 feet in one pitch thou it is clear that they have to re pitch several times to get to the top. If you ever have a chance to see the Bogaciel Spruce Climb Video from Jerry Beranek it is cool. I got it from Sherrill. Those guys used all the right safety and climbing gear and a professional video equipment. It is nice!