New Zealand TCC

Congrats to Jimmy and Nicky for well earned wins !!! Congrats to all who helped set up, judge, tech, and volunteer for this event !!

MAD RESPECT to Zane Wedding and Johno Smith for standing up for what is right and highlighting the hypocrisy that continues in many, but certainly not all, of the ISA Chapters.
Keep fighting the good fight !!!
 
Might be worth having a chat to the people concerned instead of instrumentalising them to suit you own goals, Rich. So easy to portray this in black and white – especially when you're standing on the outside.

Hypocrisy indeed.
 
The sad thing is that it wouldn't suprise me at all if the view from the ivory tower was damn near identical to the view from way down here....

The interpretation of that view is where we are having the MAJOR disconnect...

As quite a few of the ISA Chapters have seen fit to ignore the rulings from the ISA TCC, perhaps the conversation should start there....Why do so many of the Chapters disagree with the ISA TAC? What knowledge or information do you have that supersedes the working history of many of the SLWP techniques?
 
At all the recent events I have been to recently, ETCC, ITCC, Swiss TCC and the NZ TCC, these and other issues were discussed at the climbers' meetings in an open, respectful fashion. The climbers present were able to voice their concerns and opinions — and were supportive of the approach that is being taken.

YOUR dissconnect is that you are not part of that process. This one will not be worked out by shouting and stamping feet on social media and blogs.

As I said, I would suggest that you speak to Johno and Zane as to what actually happened on the weekend — before you use them to promote your product. Or is that really not the point here?
 
For the record, I do the sell The Rope Wrench, Unicender, hopefully the Hitchhiker and a multitude of other tools, including Hitchclimbers, CE lanyards, Petzl, DMM, ISC, CT, Samson, Yale Cordage, New England Ropes, Teufelberger, and just about anything else that a climber would want to use......

Care to know why I sell such a large variety of products? Because EVERY climber is different. Because there is no single system that works ideally for every climber. Because NO single system operates exactly the same way for every climber. Because it is important for the climber to be comfortable while in the tree in order to be able to make good decisions that could keep them safe in a dangerous environment.

This is why I support climbers who KNOW that SLWP is best option for them while climbing. And this why I cannot understand the abject refusal by the TAC to view SLWP as a viable option. For many, many climbers SLWP is SAFER for them to use than DdRT...and somehow this is wrong?
 
Single line work positioning is allowed at ITCC using products whose manufacturers have provided us with the requested documentation. To date only Petzl have been willing and/ or able to do so for the RIG and the I'D. If — and hopefully — when other manufacturers follow this example we'll be able to expand the range of devices.

All I have to say really in this matter. And not exactly breaking news either...

Rich, I find it really sad and upsetting the way you turn this into a "us" against "them" issue, because that's quite simply not the way it is. We've been going to great lengths to be fair and level-headed about this so as to be able to work forwards in a constructive fashion. I'd really appreciate it if you could see a way to being slightly less confrontational.

Regards,

Mark
 
Mark,

I agree that this is not an "us vs. them" issue, nor is it a personal "me vs. you" issue. In fact, I promised Chris that I would back off and just let things run their natural course as it is clear that SLWP will eventually get approved.... I have a feeling this is your wish as well..

Considering that no systems involving hitches can obtain CE certification anymore I am really interested in seeing what piece of information finally allows SLWP to gain approval from the TAC. I hope it is information and not influence that decides the issue once and for all.

Believe it or not, I do appreciate and respect the work that you are doing Mark.
 
How is a hitch in Ddrt system get a CE approval? Obviously a hitch is allowed in that system for comp. How different is it in a SRT system? Can't it be tested the same way?

Seems to me that maybe the same questions should be answered for Ddrt. I wanna see how they are tested and approved? or are they?
 
What was requested for the RW that was provided/validated? On a separate note, has anything in our industry caught on as fast as the RW? Is it possible that the RW is just happening to fast for large organizations with huge amounts of liability? I do believe that everyone has each others best interest in mind here.
 
[ QUOTE ]
On a separate note, has anything in our industry caught on as fast as the RW?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes..the transition from tautline to Blake's hitch.

That transition was a HUGE incremental step in moving to modern/progressive, call it what you want, tree climbing.

SRT is now becoming another step in the advancement of climbing. This is LONG overdue.

Like any technological change there is going to be resistance and some rough spots. We'll get over them and the next generation of climbers will wonder what the fuss was about.
 
Im not aware of anything specifically requested from Singing Tree. Singing Tree has repeatedly requested a request for some time now. Maybe that request has gone to ISC now.


However, this thread is not concerning the RW. Turns out, Rock Exotica writes on all their gear "must be used with a backup- never trust your life to a single tool."

Someone in the New Zealand comp apparently used a Rock exotica tool for Single line work positioning and was disqualified from the comp for using it without a backup. How many climbers at the ITCC in Portland should have been DQ'd for using Rock Exotica I wonder.
 
[ QUOTE ]


Seems to me that maybe the same questions should be answered for Ddrt. I wanna see how they are tested and approved? or are they?

[/ QUOTE ]

Derrick, This is the essence of the performance review criteria

http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=336505&an=0&page=0#336505

I am sure many have commented and given valuable input, but now is the time if you have not.

I agree with Tom the switch to the Blake's hitch, the fair lead/slack tender, wide spread throw line use all came about very quickly. It pays to also recall the painful aspects of that switch over; the close calls, the poor interfaces of gear, climbers and tree. It pays to learn from our past.

Tony
 
[ QUOTE ]
sounds good tony! i can only imagine some of the TIP and interesting interfacing going on when it took off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually...what we learned within two weeks of climbing on a Blake's was that we didn't need to put the stopper knot in the tail to prevent roll-out like with a tautline. No one that I've ever talked to that was climbing during this transition ever had any problems with the Blakes...as long as it was tied right and not in the sui-slide version.

At the time the way to share the info was via phone...hard-wired not mobile...fax...not email...or...in person! Ohhhh...how times have changed so quickly :)
 
Forming the hitch wrong in the Sui-slide configuration was a big problem. It looked so much like the correct way!

Using two half hitch or a bowline for a termination knot caused a fair bit of trouble as well.

The unique ways I tried and saw others attach a fair lead slack tender makes me cringe knowing what I know now.

I never really thought about how different types of rope would work when merged together and diameter was for trees not cordage!
Theses things have become second nature now and make all the difference.

In the end the benefits outweighed the problems, but it was a struggle that could have been avoided for many. The advent of the ways we share and gather information in some ways help, in others hurt.

A trade off we continue with to this day.

Be careful, make sound decisions, go low and slow and learn from other's mistakes.

Tony
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom