- Location
- Penticton, British Columbia
Thought I\'d share this with ya\'ll
On our second job of the day, we had a pine to clear off service and deadwood, and a medium honey locust to remove a hanger from. I grabbed the throwline and my gear and went to the backyard to ascend, get the hanger and then come down. Hit my target union (50') on the first shot
, but it went through a smaller union over a small branch that was drooping slightly. In the process of isolating the good union, my throwline became tangled...and I got so frustrated by this that I said 'ah screw it, just get up there it'll be fine.' I srt'd to the work ~25', leaned over to grab a branch to bring me closer to the cut and suddenly things slowed right down....I was in a free fall. I grabbed onto my rope with my gloved (brand new opened that morning 
) right hand and somehow managed to slow my fall enough to be able to hit the ground like a parachutist. I bounced back up...examined my hand...pinky got the worst of it, the rope burned through the glove and my skin to the fat, but my index and middle finger are pretty burnt too. Ditched the now useless glove and teetered off to bandage my hand. Came back, srt'd back up and cut the hanger out (and the small drooping branch that let me go...I was mad at it).
I got lucky...very lucky to be able to walk away from a 25 foot free fall with nothing more than some small rope burns on my hands and a bruised ego.
Lessons learned:
1. Isolate the good TIP even if it means an extra 10 mins to do a small amount of work. Made me respect heights and gravity all over again.
2. Gloves are always a good idea when climbing...I'm sure it would have been a hospital trip without them. My pinky lost some pretty significant skin area where it came into contact with the rope and I'm certain that it would have been far more serious if not for the glove.
3. Slow down...when I'm feeling rushed or like I'm falling behind on production is when I have made mistakes. If I didn't feel like the tangled throwline screwed up our time on the job, then I might have been more inclined to take the extra 5-10 to isolate the good union.
4. Tree climbing is serious business. Even a small job can bite you in the if you don't take the proper precautions. Perhaps I've become somewhat complacent with regards to the way in which I view my skill set. You can bet your that I'll be taking that time to set a good TIP from now on.
On our second job of the day, we had a pine to clear off service and deadwood, and a medium honey locust to remove a hanger from. I grabbed the throwline and my gear and went to the backyard to ascend, get the hanger and then come down. Hit my target union (50') on the first shot
, but it went through a smaller union over a small branch that was drooping slightly. In the process of isolating the good union, my throwline became tangled...and I got so frustrated by this that I said 'ah screw it, just get up there it'll be fine.' I srt'd to the work ~25', leaned over to grab a branch to bring me closer to the cut and suddenly things slowed right down....I was in a free fall. I grabbed onto my rope with my gloved (brand new opened that morning ) right hand and somehow managed to slow my fall enough to be able to hit the ground like a parachutist. I bounced back up...examined my hand...pinky got the worst of it, the rope burned through the glove and my skin to the fat, but my index and middle finger are pretty burnt too. Ditched the now useless glove and teetered off to bandage my hand. Came back, srt'd back up and cut the hanger out (and the small drooping branch that let me go...I was mad at it).I got lucky...very lucky to be able to walk away from a 25 foot free fall with nothing more than some small rope burns on my hands and a bruised ego.
Lessons learned:
1. Isolate the good TIP even if it means an extra 10 mins to do a small amount of work. Made me respect heights and gravity all over again.
2. Gloves are always a good idea when climbing...I'm sure it would have been a hospital trip without them. My pinky lost some pretty significant skin area where it came into contact with the rope and I'm certain that it would have been far more serious if not for the glove.
3. Slow down...when I'm feeling rushed or like I'm falling behind on production is when I have made mistakes. If I didn't feel like the tangled throwline screwed up our time on the job, then I might have been more inclined to take the extra 5-10 to isolate the good union.
4. Tree climbing is serious business. Even a small job can bite you in the if you don't take the proper precautions. Perhaps I've become somewhat complacent with regards to the way in which I view my skill set. You can bet your that I'll be taking that time to set a good TIP from now on.
