It's variegated. some of the Japanese Maple variegated cultivars start to revert over time.
We see that a ton out here in the PNW, with so many stupid J. Maple cultivars. Its like the tree decides it is fed up with not photosynthesizing enough.
Stitched terminations are typically much strong than knots. Stitched and spliced eyes are roughly the same when it comes to break test numbers. So yes, you can climb directly off of a rope that has been 'hard connected' to an anchor.
The only rope manufacturer termination that i would NOT say...
https://www.treestuff.com/husqvarna-felling-bar-with-cant-hook/
I use one of these when I am on a spar tipping vertical wood. Works wonders. I just take the cant hook off when i am using it on big doug fir spars. Really nice for felling smaller trees in thick woods.
it is like 2 or 3 feet long. I use mine on spars. perfect for tipping over wood. It is easy enough to carry around when felling trees because it replaces wedges, axe, and pevey.
You gotta get yourself a felling bar. for small trees like that there is nothing better. http://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?category_id=295&item=1486
Wow! thats a cool one! Looks like it was grafted onto an A. grisium root stock. I think if you could hit the books a little bit using the dark colored buds, tri-foliate leaves, and very fuzzy twigs and petiole as your guiding stars you could come up with a good result.
I would try searching...