allmark
Participating member
Wow just catching up on the buz and I see this. Glad you are healing. A positive mental strength is as important as physical for healing.. Luckily you have both so no doubts you will continue on a great path.
Women Arborist Injured at New York Botanical garden?
- Thread starter marlinspiker
- Start date
This is why I get frustrated with people with a stihl 025 and a truck and say this job is easy
Stihlmadd
Been here a while
- Location
- Adelaide South Australia
if it was easy everybody would be doing it.
guymayor
Branched out member
- Location
- East US, Earth
Tom, I think I'd have the same trapped feeling vice versa; if i had to rely on others for lowering. As far as burning goes, a 2-over-3 prussik friction hitch (a knot-which-shall-not-be-named) has room for the whole hand on a fast descent, as I've been glad to employ many times.
As for a long-fall survivors get-together, I'm multipley (sp?) qualified to join, but the memories aren't so sweet, and my memory's nowhere near as keen as Rachel's!
All that for the cause of deadwooding for aesthetics: too bad that arborists don't have more say in prioritizing the work!
treehumper
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Ridgefield, NJ
But Guy, that would be prioritizing from hindsight.
TreeLogic
Branched out member
- Location
- Coastal SC
Another worry with the basal anchor system is the anchor line being hidden and taught on the opposite side of the tree. A thread came up recently where someone was cutting near vines I think, and cut through their anchor line. Thankfully they were lanyarded in. It's a very real possibility though, and even with a handsaw.
But that basal anchor line is something to watch like a hawk IMO. I think I may like a canopy anchor better for that very reason. And my purpose here is not to dog on SRT. I'm pretty sure I am becoming a convert. But these points need to be made for the new converts like myself, so we can understand the distinct differences we'll need to be aware of during our learning curve.
monkeylove
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Roslyn, Pa.
While not always practical or possible, when ever it makes sense I actually try to do my Basil tie in away from the tree I am actually in. I'm not talking miles away just a enough to get the rope away from the trunk. It has it's own issues I know but doesn't everything.
R4chel
New member
Thanks Dave,
I tied a running bowline with a yosemite tie off using the tail (had a tight eye splice) there was about 8 inches outside of the knot. The basal anchor was tied onto another Abies about 36 DBH which was about 10-15 ft from the tree I was climbing in. I had oriented my bowline about 25 degrees to the left from my tree.
My rescuer explained that he had tied the 5 wrapped blake's hitch and then pushed it up my climbing line about 8 ft before taking a couple wraps around the anchor tree to cut my line. He tried to load test the blake's before cutting it, knowing that the knot could fail and him not having a way to tie a stopper knot to prevent it from sliding.
Hopefully that helps?
treehumper
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Ridgefield, NJ
I'm still trying to figure out how you fell. Did he unload your rope before cutting it? Was the rescue line still attached or was it the TIP that broke out and led to the fall? Its really a matter of understanding where things went south and not an allocation of blame.
R4chel
New member
Honestly, I'm just as confused about where the failure was? All I know is in that last second I looked up as I free fell and watched the climbing line go slack and begin to pile up, spilling out of the tree. He said that he provided slack and the rope ran a few feet before looking over and seeing me in the ground. I wasn't lowered on my leg of the rope, I was on the rope and then was free falling. While we waited for the ambulance I stared at the tree and there was no rope in it? That was all I could focus on once realizing how much pain I was in. I've been told that the rescue line didn't separate from my line? They also said that they saw a rip in the upper canopy, but there were many other sizable branches directly underneath my tie-in because it was a fir. Those branches would have caught me? I believe that the hitch connected with one of the many branches in the tree and dropped me. I can't remember the route of the load bearing leg of the SRT line but it surely couldn't have been a clear route.
I respect and care about the guys I work with, I don't want to blame or place fault towards anyone. I know he was scared and was trying to help me. I just want our crew to be given time to practice aerial rescue so this never happens again. This experience has definitely changed my perspective on SRT systems as well.
macswan
Been here a while
- Location
- Champlain Valley, VT
Hearing all the details of your fall has definately gotten me to make a lower able base anchor more often. And really examine my lowerae anchor options for ease of use. As well as real life functionality. Thanks for posting Rachel, it is a really great conversation to have. Sorry you got the bill for it though.
Stihlmadd
Been here a while
- Location
- Adelaide South Australia
Rachel thankyou for sharing this experience painful as it was for you personally many other people may learn from your information.
for my money it does sound like your theory on the hitch releasing as it passed through the canopy being the logical answer.
I hope you heal well and fast and return to full time climbing.
best wishes from Ben.
for my money it does sound like your theory on the hitch releasing as it passed through the canopy being the logical answer.
I hope you heal well and fast and return to full time climbing.
best wishes from Ben.
treehumper
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Ridgefield, NJ
Thanks for the response. In analyzing the accident the hardest thing to get past is the idea that your searching for a clear understanding of its real cause and not seeking to blame. Trying to piece together the evidence is the only way you'll be able to find those lessons inherent in this accident to help develop your crews abilities and understanding. It's about gaining valuable insight to improve your performance as a team.
In my own scenario, I've still got one piece left to look at, the point of breakage on the limb. It's sitting in the yard waiting for me.
Rachel, I was glad to hear that you intend to continue your climbing career and that you are still discussing and analyzing the sequences that led up to your accident. For your own and others safety I think it is important to recognize the true cause of the failure that day.
When you climb, you are the captain of the ship. Your decisions and judgment calls directly affect your and your crew's safety. Your decision to climb on an improperly set up system, not the type of system, is what set the stage. A traditional DdRT system set up as poorly as the SRWP system you were using that day would have most likely also ended with the need for an aerial rescue.
I am pointing this out not to be a jerk but because I see a focus in this thread on the botched rescue and the safety of SRWP. This imho is an industry wide problem at the moment. Though being able to execute a safe aerial rescue is an important component of climbing, it should never so dominate our thoughts that unsafe practices go unnoticed and unchanged.
Big thanks treehumper and DSMc for saving me the words, I back those two posts in an effort to urge Rachel to get her story straight with those guys.
And please Rachel, how is your progress coming?
And hump I would love to drive you out to that yard and take a look at that limb with you.
And please Rachel, how is your progress coming?
And hump I would love to drive you out to that yard and take a look at that limb with you.
goodaking
Participating member
HI Rachel just catching up with this post. Glad you are still with us! Heal fast and yes would love to have you out to our rec climb in January in CT. Im Allergic to bees and have been stung by swarms of bees on a few occasions in the canopy of large wide spreading oaks. i was lucky to get out of the tree my self. I drove to the walk in and they gave me a steroid pill. my hand swelled to double the size and I was not able to work for three days until the swelling went down. no fun. white faced hornets are a whole other ball game from what i have heard. I can't even imagine what you went through. heal fast and stay positive,hope to meet you soon. ian
treehumper
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Ridgefield, NJ
DSMc, well put and begs the question, was this foreknowledge or something that came to light in the analysis? If it was known, then why did she proceed? What were the systemic conditions that prodded her to go ahead? If she wasn't aware that this was a problem before ascending, is it an issue with the training and policies regarding the adoption of new techniques? Why did the crew proceed with an aerial rescue when she may have been out of immediate danger? Was there continual communication given that she was awake and alert? Many questions that need to be answered to really dissect this accident from start to end.
Was the groundie in a panic, over confident, under confident or not a climber and unaware of the physics of rope under pressure? Were there more than one person creating a situation where no one had a sound idea so an unsound method was deployed?
When I fell my groundie didn't come a running. I liked that, although I was ancous for his arrival his absence meant he paused a minute to put on his thinking cap. This is key in the work we do. The situation can change in an instant, you don't bring your work energy to the rescue operation. No way!
When I fell my groundie didn't come a running. I liked that, although I was ancous for his arrival his absence meant he paused a minute to put on his thinking cap. This is key in the work we do. The situation can change in an instant, you don't bring your work energy to the rescue operation. No way!
