Partially failed Cottonwood felling.

Here is a recent climb involving the felling of a partially failed Cottonwood (partial root failure, leaning over roadway). I utilized two independent SRT work lines, one anchored on each side of the road, to position myself and work the tree safely from two suspension points.

Ornamental Work: Getting Personal.

Cleaned and cabled an old cherry recently with Alan Krieg Tree Care. Most of the crown was accessible from ladders, the roof and with pole tools, but as my friend Alan Krieg says, "sometimes you just gotta get personal." And for some of the thinning cuts and the cable installation, I found myself using my big canopy concepts in order to make small ornamental work less tiresome as well.

We tend to give the enormous climbs all the glory, but more often than not small ornamental canopies provide just as much a challenge, even if those challenges are presented on a smaller scale.

In the photo above: triple crotching while both of my bridges are engaged, uh yea and I'm about 14 feet off the ground. SRT, DRT and a static lanyard all deployed. My argument for it? Comfort I guess, and the fact that it looks super dooper cool.

SRT Technique: Attaching a second line to the original access line after line advancement.

Short video of a technique I've been playing around with to attach a second rope to my access line after advancing off of the access line.

On The Road.

Last week I traveled south for some contract climbing with Preservation Tree. Big oak deadwooding and some reduction pruning was the recipe and although cold weather lingered, the big climbs kept me warm.

Daily Kit. Racking. Nuts and Bolts.

I see the trend of light and fast dominating the climbing scene. As a production climbing arborist, and as a competition climber, speed and style are necessities. Gear is getting lighter, more streamlined and efficient. I believe climbers are getting smarter, more educated on the latest techniques, and so the competitive bar is raised. But, I believe that one of the ultimate keys to speed and efficiency in the canopy is organization. I know I've recently talked about what's on my harness, so I'd like to further discuss how an organized and well rounded daily climbing kit can make for more efficient climbing.

Two ropes for larger canopies is usually typical for me. I carry a 200' hank of static line for my access system and a 150' of double braid for my working system.  Each rope is stored in a separate rope bag with it's own friction hitch and/or mechanical hitch.  In my case I have a rope wrench/hitch cord/micro pulley system on my static line and a rope runner on my double braid.  Of course I do not necessarily deploy both ropes on all large canopies.  Sometimes one rope may be deployed on a basal anchor and one set-up with a canopy anchor. My point is, these ropes of this length works for me over a vast array of situations. Also, by having these organized in a designated rope bag with the hitch already packaged with the rope, a ground technician can send either rope aloft without any confusion.

I know I've talked about my harness recently in a post, but I'll revisit some of those points again here. I have most of my other climbing nic-naks organized on my saddle before I ascend. This includes: lanyard, slings, accessory carabiners, ascenders, my canopy anchor and an extra climbing hitch and pulley for working off the tail of my climb line. Each piece of gear on my saddle has a designated location so that when I need something in a particular situation, I'm not fumbling around and risking the chance of dropping a critical piece of gear. My saddle always gets re-racked that same way after every climb and stored this way. In this sense, organization is a ritual for me before and after every climb.

It can be argued that the most important of all a production climber's tools is the throwline.  For me, it either makes or breaks my day. If I am on with the throwline, my mood is immediately positive. A bad morning throwing can tip the whole ship sometimes. I'm sure you all know what those mornings can be like.  Anyway, I carry three cubes and a big shot always. Each cube has two throw weights on each end of the line for isolation. Why three cubes? I've had two throwlines stuck on more occasions than I can count. I'll save getting into too much detail about the art of the throwline and save that for another piece, but in production tree climbing, mastering the use of throwline can really raise the bar of your climbing game.

Now for the miscellaneous: gaffs, handsaw and chainsaw. I favor carrying two handsaws, one big and one small.  Sometimes for reduction work at the tips it's nice to have a large handsaw for those 3 and 4 inch collar cuts rather than hauling up a chainsaw on a flimsy work position. I also run two top-held chainsaws, both STIHL: MS201T and MS192T. The latter of the two is bit lighter and I prefer for lighter deadwooding and such.

For putting it all together, I love my ECKLA beach rolley. My gear stays organized in my rolley, I can roll up to the try being worked and unpack as necessary. So, on that note, stay tuned for my next piece: Pimp my Eckla, where I'll attempt to really lock down this concept of organization and how important it is in production climbing. I hope I've at least scratched the surface.