big organic playground

Please take a peek and let me know what you think.

http://vimeo.com/38103421

(I know that one remark in the video doesn't apply to recreational tree climbers)

Nicely done, you've really developed your own art of tree climbing. I love to free climb but don't do anything quite so daring. It takes special physical and mental gifts to be able to develop the kind of climbing skills you posess.

A friend and his girlfriend were doing a high free climb, they're both skilled and capable climbers. She snapped a branch and fell, is now paralyzed from the neck down. I doubt he'll ever climb a tree again. Obviously her life was tragically altered. Another friend's young son snapped a branch on a pine, fell, and suffered a serious head injury. He's recovered but is a different person now. I'm not mentioning this to disrespect your amazing abilities in any way, but to make it clear what the risks are to climb trees off rope. The aspiring climber MUST know their abilities and fully accept responsibility for their actions in trees. This is true for roped or free climbers, free climbers clearly have a higher level of risk to factor in.

Keep up the great work. Do you use ropes for your tree work job? Just wondering. I know that a gifted free climber on rope has the potential to be magic in a tree.
-AJ

Yes, all roped up when using saws. one element of free climbing that I love is the focus that is manditory. Nothing else exists except you and the tree. Your loci of contact and balance. When doing tree work this cannot be the case. You have the other focus of the material being removed, the drop zone, the saw. too many other loci to be safe without ropes.

Definitely, your focus is intense on the limbwalks for example. I grew up climbing a big Fagus sylvatica in my family's yard. They are probably the most friendly and enjoyable species to climb. Eventually I learned to climb it blindfolded, no big deal, knew every move and grab on the tree through muscle memory. The property changed hands and a house was built in the root zone on one side, driveway cut through th eroot szone on the other side, the beech was reduced to huge snag, almost entirely dead. I recently jumped into the remains of the tree and was surprised to find that 40 years later what was left was all familiar to my hands. I imagine you could easily do the same on some of your climbing trees.
-AJ

Free climbing trees has a no error kind of color. It would only take one error to be a life changer. To me, the odds are too high, given that trees are not uniform in strength. Like humans, they have defects too. Some can be seen, while many can not be seen.

Lovely video. Your style is limited to a select young few. Good selection of a strong species in your video- beech.

Treeman