Sunday go to meet'n
- Thread starter rico
- Start date
evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
Smooth... groundie could have let the first few run a wee bit better, but fucken silk
Yea, the 1st one wasn't the best. The nearby trees were very close and you can see that we busted a limb out of the nearby Fir, which caused Brian to hold tight and make sure he wasn't gonna get nailed. The 2nd one was pretty good, but he needs to do better. I have been doing some fairly nasty Firs lately and have been bringing my buddy down from Truckee to run ropes on the worst stuff. I can throw a fucking Sherman Tank at him and never sweat it. Dudes got the touch. I am gonna have Brian work with him soon so he can see how calm and smooth a great groundie is.
Brian was running the Hobbs, and he is coming along slowly but steadily. Great kid!
Glad you dug the music. The Invitation by Coltrane.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, no doubt.
Youngster, right? Think he is showing a real love and passion for the work and you might have a climbing apprentice soon?
You send him up to set a tagline in something that just needs to be pulled over yet? That was my first climb. Climber/foreman grabbed his gear from the toolbox like usual, but then dropped the gear at the bottom of a scrawny 50’ or 60’ spruce and told me “ Have at it, if you want, just need to set a rope 2/3 of the way up. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
I gotta go visit my old friend and trainer.
Youngster, right? Think he is showing a real love and passion for the work and you might have a climbing apprentice soon?
You send him up to set a tagline in something that just needs to be pulled over yet? That was my first climb. Climber/foreman grabbed his gear from the toolbox like usual, but then dropped the gear at the bottom of a scrawny 50’ or 60’ spruce and told me “ Have at it, if you want, just need to set a rope 2/3 of the way up. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
I gotta go visit my old friend and trainer.
JTree
Participating member
- Location
- East Texas
Ain't nothing wrong with working the ground. Legit have paid top dollar for good groundies. Your groundies can break you, or make you a ton of money.
I have had the privilege of working with some amazing groundies in my life, but sadly there are presently no really good groundies in my area. I have to pull guys from hours away when I really need them.. A pain in the ass, but well worth the money and the effort.
Steve Connally
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Suffolk, Virginia
Classy and rugged.
moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
The study and care in each phase of cutting are strong lessons right there. You’ve made it clear that attention to all the details makes the difference. And yeah Coltrane. Thx for taking the trouble to set up the camera, do the edits and post it up, a lot more effort than people might realize.
-AJ
-AJ
T
The main motivation for putting music on this one was to cover up all my profanity. The ground work on this one was a little less than stellar, so Brian definitely took a verbal beatdown (sorry bro). I would really like to throw him in the deep end and trust that he always has my back, but he just ain't there yet. For a majority of my career I have had the good fortune of working with amazing groudies, but sadly those days are now few and far between. I am doing my best to work with the available local talent, but when I see a lack of effort, a groundie who doesn't seem to have his head in the game, and/or folks not following directions I apparently can become a world class asshole.. Thats what they tell me anyhow?
Thanks Moss. I have to admit that I don't put a whole lot of effort into the vids. I beg my lovely wife to run a camera when she can find the time on a weekend. The density of our forest, the height of our trees, and the lighting in here can make filming a real bitch, but she does an amazing job.. With minimal effort I then trim the useful clips, trying to get right top the point and tell a quick story of the tree. Slap it on i-Movies, cross dissolve between scenes, and end with a stumpie...Done.
The main motivation for putting music on this one was to cover up all my profanity. The ground work on this one was a little less than stellar, so Brian definitely took a verbal beatdown (sorry bro). I would really like to throw him in the deep end and trust that he always has my back, but he just ain't there yet. For a majority of my career I have had the good fortune of working with amazing groudies, but sadly those days are now few and far between. I am doing my best to work with the available local talent, but when I see a lack of effort, a groundie who doesn't seem to have his head in the game, and/or folks not following directions I apparently can become a world class asshole.. Thats what they tell me anyhow?
Last edited:
moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
Awesome, you're lucky to have your own in-house videographer. She does great work.
The only tip I can think of to help with the heavy backlighting when you point a camera up into dark trees against the sky is add 1 or up to 2 f-stops plus (brighter) exposure compensation. I shoot (when not using a helmet cam) with a Canon point and shoot that has manual exposure overrides like "exposure compensation" for still shots or video, your camera may have that feature.
Yeah, I was wincing as you bounced around on those rigged drops, I know how it is, doesn't feel as bad as it might look, nevertheless.
Swearing??? I never scream "Let go of the f'ing rope now!" during some semi-botched rig. My favorite was "Wake up!!! Ground worker was literally asleep sitting on the ground holding the rope. To his credit he played the rig perfectly but I think it was accidental. Good guy overall but never worked with me after.
I don't get my weird kicks abusing ground workers as I've unfortunately seen from the worst examples of our profession but when you're up there and stuff on the ground goes wonky too many times it gets heated.
-AJ
Last edited:
moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
We should make an obscenity mix tape, kind of like an old-school laugh track with a backbeat. It would be freely available to buzzer video makers, just add it in to your soundtrack when you didn't swear and you should've.
-AJ
-AJ
moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
To ramble on further... it takes a special person to be a great ground worker, they stay productive and focused while the climber is getting around the tree and setting up. They're fine with the "hurry up and wait" situations. And when things get critical, they're right there with relaxed but full focus and good communication. And that doesn't even address the super skilled ground worker who knows exactly how big the piece should be and will let you know, and you never have to say let it run, or hold it, more than once per rig 'cause they know what's what. There's a ground worker who was my best mentor when I first started with tree work. He knew I was a strong climber and he knew I didn't know much about the practical basics of tree work, generously taught me a lot.
-AJ
-AJ
rope-a-dope
Branched out member
- Location
- Asheville
Ugh. You ever find yourself plotting years into the future to get groundie revenge? Like I'm gonna spend years teaching him how to climb then convince him to do a technical removal with negative rigging and guess who's on the porta wrap? Old rusty spikes, remembering every heinous body slam at the top of a spar...go ahead I'm ready to "let it run."
I get flung around enough in the eighty footers around here. At 150’+? Lol bombs away and good luck to whatever’s down there.
I wouldn’t even look for a groundie I’d look for another climber who should have a deeper understanding of what’s gonna happen if it don’t run.
I wouldn’t even look for a groundie I’d look for another climber who should have a deeper understanding of what’s gonna happen if it don’t run.
Serf Life
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Maine Island
Before I started climbing I watched my boss wreck the climber on a red pine spar. I was lowering until we got into bigger wood and he came over (as I was super green) and "he's got it", too many wraps and no run. Climber's chest got smacked hard and went home for the day, "I said let it fucking run!" Years under the belt isn't everything.
Yea many folks haven't experienced the movement you get on a 150 foot spar. You are basically standing on a big old rubber band, so blowin' tops and negative rigging can certainly give you a ride.
Last edited:
