Mike Islander
Branched out member
- Location
- Lowcountry of South Carolina
As of yesterday I had only practiced with my gear in my warehouse and climbed straight up one short magnolia to trim a limb hanging in my neighbor's driveway. .
Yesterday I was practicing line shots with my air cannon and got a 10oz throw weight stuck about 40 feet up a big live oak after bazooka-shooting it far past the target pine. Only a 3/8" inch branch, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't break the branch. Binos verified the bag had looped itself tight, so climb it or leave it.
REALITIES OF REAL WORLD CLIMBING
Set my rope bag onto a "good" spot and suited up. Looking at the bright red rope bag a few minutes later, I noticed it was alive. About 200 furious ground hornets were doing their best to kill the bag. Turned out it was sitting about two feet from the opening to their ground nest.
After hotshotting the hornets and covering their hole with dirt it was time to climb. 45 minutes gone.
Hand-launched my spare throw line over a fat lower crotch about 25 feet high and went up with RRP via knee and foot ascender. Then moved up in steps very slowly, alternating between my SRT RRP and using my lanyard as a mini DRT. Flopped around on the lanyard a few times and generally left rookie sweat all over the tree for the next 20 minutes as I very cautiously moved up.
The throw line was caught about 25 feet out from the main stem, so I set a canopy anchor with a butterfly and Quickie about 15 feet above the branch on the main stem (no good branch above the stuck throw weight). Maybe 50 feet up, my heart was beating pretty good. I felt safe, but still a bit intimidating.
Dropped down to the limb the weight was stuck on. Tightroped out as far as I could standing, then sat on what was now a 3" branch. Dry mouth and heart racing, I could not force myself to go out any further. Wasn't worried about falling, but didn't want to get tangled if the branch snapped. My mind understood that a lot of my weight was handled by the anchor, but just not comfortable enough to push out further. Cut the branch at the 3" point. Time to go home, or so I thought.
Got all cleaned up and descended peacefully. Reality check; the rope would not come out of the tree no matter how hard I pulled. Learned that oaks are damned rough and create tremendous friction. Next time I'll leave a longer loop in the butterfly and maybe put in a Texas Tug.
Climbed back up, 50 feet, breathing hard. Moved the canopy anchor to an 8" limb that was almost at 90 degrees to the stem and a bit smoother and dropped down again. Still had a heck of a time pulling down the line.
I'm in good shape, regularly riding dirt bikes, hiking/hunting with a 70 pound pack, maintaining an average 160 bpm for hours straight. But this was darn hard work. Lots of upper body, and surprisingly lower as well. Yoga classes would help! Lots of brain work to get properly positioned and climb safely.
It was a wake up call. More physically and mentally demanding than expected. I have a whole new respect for those who do this for a living.
Yesterday I was practicing line shots with my air cannon and got a 10oz throw weight stuck about 40 feet up a big live oak after bazooka-shooting it far past the target pine. Only a 3/8" inch branch, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't break the branch. Binos verified the bag had looped itself tight, so climb it or leave it.
REALITIES OF REAL WORLD CLIMBING
Set my rope bag onto a "good" spot and suited up. Looking at the bright red rope bag a few minutes later, I noticed it was alive. About 200 furious ground hornets were doing their best to kill the bag. Turned out it was sitting about two feet from the opening to their ground nest.
After hotshotting the hornets and covering their hole with dirt it was time to climb. 45 minutes gone.
Hand-launched my spare throw line over a fat lower crotch about 25 feet high and went up with RRP via knee and foot ascender. Then moved up in steps very slowly, alternating between my SRT RRP and using my lanyard as a mini DRT. Flopped around on the lanyard a few times and generally left rookie sweat all over the tree for the next 20 minutes as I very cautiously moved up.
The throw line was caught about 25 feet out from the main stem, so I set a canopy anchor with a butterfly and Quickie about 15 feet above the branch on the main stem (no good branch above the stuck throw weight). Maybe 50 feet up, my heart was beating pretty good. I felt safe, but still a bit intimidating.
Dropped down to the limb the weight was stuck on. Tightroped out as far as I could standing, then sat on what was now a 3" branch. Dry mouth and heart racing, I could not force myself to go out any further. Wasn't worried about falling, but didn't want to get tangled if the branch snapped. My mind understood that a lot of my weight was handled by the anchor, but just not comfortable enough to push out further. Cut the branch at the 3" point. Time to go home, or so I thought.
Got all cleaned up and descended peacefully. Reality check; the rope would not come out of the tree no matter how hard I pulled. Learned that oaks are damned rough and create tremendous friction. Next time I'll leave a longer loop in the butterfly and maybe put in a Texas Tug.
Climbed back up, 50 feet, breathing hard. Moved the canopy anchor to an 8" limb that was almost at 90 degrees to the stem and a bit smoother and dropped down again. Still had a heck of a time pulling down the line.
I'm in good shape, regularly riding dirt bikes, hiking/hunting with a 70 pound pack, maintaining an average 160 bpm for hours straight. But this was darn hard work. Lots of upper body, and surprisingly lower as well. Yoga classes would help! Lots of brain work to get properly positioned and climb safely.
It was a wake up call. More physically and mentally demanding than expected. I have a whole new respect for those who do this for a living.
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