Recreational climbing fun: swinging

MikoDel

MikoDel

Participating member
Location
SE PA
Swinging around the base before an ascent helps me to warm up and stretch. It's also got some practical benefts... the more I learn to use my weight to shift position the better I'm able to deal with scenarios aloft where I've fallen off my balance point and end up swinging "out in the middle of nowhere." And it's good fun.

At my old place we had a tree swing that hung perfectly between two very mature trees about 12ft apart, and my daughter and I used take turns swinging between the two, doing slow and fast multiple twirls on the way from one trunk to the other. The trick was to get your timing right so you wouldn't end up slamming into either tree. After awhile we had it down to a science, being able to do one super-slow rotation, or up to six very fast rotations with all combos in between.

Just a quick caution - the higher up/closer to your T.I.P. you do this the more your movements will create oscillations and sway the limb you're tied to. So keep an eye on it guys and gals.

In case you didn't get that there's a link embedded in the text it's here:
 
John@TreeXP said:
You know, this is a thing....
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Damn! What an incredibly well done video. Thanks for giving us all hope that we can one day be understudies for Cirque de Soleil performers! I really wanna do stuff like that w/my body but my hereditary inflexibility feels like this... "creak... stretch... OWWWW!! STOP! creak... stretch... AHHHH!!! YOU'RE BREAKING YOURSELF!!!" [Ed. The last thing I want is to minimize the importance of YOGA. Doing it hanging from a tree makes it, for me, all the more inviting. 1st of all I'm adopted, so I've no real evidence of anything "hereditary". And 2nd, increasing flexibility is a path to greater health and well-being, and also greater protection from injury. This I have always known. So just to be clear, on the record: STING does yoga every day. And look at HIS life.]
 
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Bob Bob said:
It amazing how quickly they forget about the craziness when they want a tree pruned or other aerial tree work done.
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Man you got THAT RIGHT. My mom was always like "Stay out of those damn trees! That's so dangerous! You make me worry." Then their beloved dogwood split in half and fell on the neighbors garage, and the inevitable call came... "Mike, do you think you can take a ride up here sometime and fix this situation?"

Ha ha! Sure ma, I said, it'd be my genuine pleasure.
 
Bob Bob said:
That's cool stuff. So fluid it almost seems underwater. I wonder what kN those oversized hammocks are rated for?
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I wonder that too. The fabric is 40 Denier Tricot. I bought enough for a double hammock. This quick-drying, lightweight, 4-way stretch tricot, homemade hammock is far more comfortable than other parachute like nylon rip-stop hammocks I've used and much less expensive. Just need to tie off the ends onto carabiners with anchor hitches. Seems to work well for aerial yoga too. I've left it outside for months, without any problems, rips or holes.
 
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John@TreeXP said:
I wonder that too. The fabric is 40 Denier Tricot. I bought enough for a double hammock. This quick-drying, lightweight, 4-way stretch tricot, homemade hammock is far more comfortable than other parachute like nylon hammocks I've used and much less expensive. Just need to tie off the ends onto carabiners with anchor hitches. Seems to work well for aerial yoga too. I've left it outside for months, without any problems, rips or holes.
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4 way strech hammock?
 
MikoDel said:
Damn! What an incredibly well done video. Thanks for giving us all hope that we can one day be understudies for Cirque de Soleil performers! I really wanna do stuff like that w/my body but my hereditary inflexibility feels like this... "creak... stretch... OWWWW!! STOP! creak... stretch... AHHHH!!! YOU'RE BREAKING YOURSELF!!!" [Ed. The last thing I want is to minimize the importance of YOGA. Doing it hanging from a tree makes it, for me, all the more inviting. 1st of all I'm adopted, so I've no real evidence of anything "hereditary". And 2nd, increasing flexibility is a path to greater health and well-being, and also greater protection from injury. This I have always known. So just to be clear, on the record: STING does yoga every day. And look at HIS life.]
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Sorry if the Aerial Yoga comparison was too much for the typical tree climber to process. Still, anytime I'm suspended from a tree on rope, I feel as though I can do all kinds yoga like movements while playfully sailing gracefully around the canopy, while the birds sing and the tree sways during a warm summer breeze, while the sun sets over the snow capped mountains on the horizon. That said, what I envision and what I actually appear to be doing is usually something entirely different, but it's the thought that counts, right?
 
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