Public Park Climbing....

[colb]

As a matter of fact this happened to me 3 days ago. I found a heritage red oak on the internet that was only 30 mins from me. A beautiful majestic tree approx. 300 years old. It was in the middle large field at a park that has a waterfront trail. It was the center piece of the parks entrance....I told myself I had to climb it. I drove down and it was cold and windy. The wind was coming hard off the lake. Probably the windiest day I have ever climbed in. I still had to climb it...it was a disaster. Throw cube tumbling across the field, line spewed out all across the ground. I finally get a line set and ascend the tree, set my PSP and start working the tree. I set up a re direct to get to the tips of a sprawling limb. When what do I hear..."Hey, what do you think you are doing up there?"
Me "climbing this big beautiful Oak tree"

"You can't do that. Its a public tree"

"Is the path that you are walking on a public path? Do you go to the public beach to swim? Do you take your grand children to the public park?"

"Your going to hurt this tree. This is an important tree."

"I promise I will not hurt this tree. I am a trained professional and I assure you I care more about tree preservation then you do."

"I have called the by law officer and taken your license plate. Your going to be in big big trouble."

"Thank you sir, appreciate that. You have a wonderful day."...

By law guy did show up. He was a nice guy and we chatted for a bit. Actually took a business card because he does work for the municipal tendered jobs in the city so said he might be able to get us some more work...lol.

That sounds like an awesome day, a great tree, and solid outcome. Thanks for sharing.

 

[colb]

I wouldn't be a climber if I hadn't gone out into the woods and learned to climb solo. I was reading everything I could on the techniques and talking to people on tree climbing forums and in my first year of climbing decided to go visit Peter Jenkins/TCI in Atlanta and take his basic tree climber course. After the course I had a safety protocol for my climbing and a good understanding of basic tree climbing techniques but I still had a LOT to learn about being in trees on rope.

That's funny. I was like "hey, there's a shiny new piece of kit that everyone seems to love [rope wrench zk2]. I'll slap it on my old rock climbing line along with that foot ascender thingy, and Onyx, and TreeBuzz, and good to go!"

 

[moss]

That tree has a lovecraftian vibe to it. Kinda like it is just gonna uproot itself and start walking around.

Yeah Aaron has good taste in trees, when everyone else is throwing at a group climb Aaron is standing there off in the woods peering at some tree no one noticed. Turns out to be a good one.
-AJ

 

[moss]

That's funny. I was like "hey, there's a shiny new piece of kit that everyone seems to love [rope wrench zk2]. I'll slap it on my old rock climbing line along with that foot ascender thingy, and Onyx, and TreeBuzz, and good to go!"

Ha! I was out there in the woods banging my head against one tree after another, the nuthatches were there to laugh at every massive throwline tangle or two hours of throwing at some monster of a tree that got me nothing ;-)

Christ, last night I was fighting my way up through a vine covered white pine in gusty winds trying to set up a swing, no headlamp, it was lost on the ground. Luckily no one to hear the expletives. For some reason I just had to do it. I figure it builds character, my excuse anyway for the shenanigans.
-AJ

 

[Winchman]

Ha! I was out there in the woods banging my head against one tree after another, the nuthatches were there to laugh at every massive throwline tangle or two hours of throwing at some monster of a tree that got me nothing ;-)
-AJ

Yeah, some days are like that, but yesterday it was one click, swoosh, hiss, plop, and I had the line over the crotch I wanted sixty feet up, the throw weight on the ground, and only a couple of limbs on the near and far sides to deal with. I sent the 40 ounce weight up twice to isolate the crotch, and I was ready to set up the 3:1 for what turned out to be a fun climb to clear out some dead limbs in one of the backyard oaks.