Tree Climbing

http://www.fs.fed.us/treeclimbing/

So that isn't me in the photo. Nor do I have any photos of my previous two-day tree climbing class...which is a bummer. But I CAN do what that fella in the picture is doing!

When walking through the office a couple months ago, I happened by the District silviculturalist and she was talking about a climbing class. After I expressed some interest in that sort of thing, she got very excited and gave me names and instructions on how to get signed up. And so I did. I didn't, and still don't, really know HOW I will be used in this capacity, but it's always better to have a little bit of training under your belt just in case an opportunity arises.

We started off class learning how to use lanyards and ladders. This involved hoisting sections of narrow ladders against the bole of the tree and chaining it on. The safety side of this involved a section of rope attached to your harness...kinda what you always imagine in a tree climber....and can kinda see in the photo above.

We saw a demonstration by a re-cert candidate on climbing spurs, rescue, rappel, etc. We didn't have the time to go through it all that first day and teach us two new guys, so we basically just observed and jumped in when we could. This involved playing around and practicing with a rappel rack as well as using nothing but ropes to ascend into the canopy. Ooh, and three-point climbing. Which is basically what you did as a kid but with more regulation involved. The scary thing is that once you get up the bole, most of the time you are expected to basically free climb into the very tops of trees to acquire cones or scion wood. (Don't ask me about scion. All I know is they top certain trees than graft that onto others back at the nursery.) This can easily lead you WAY up there. Sketchy to say the least. But, we learned the techniques for making climbing above the 4-inch diameter section...ie) the tippy-top..."safER." I wouldn't say safe, but emphasize the "ER" part.

It's interesting to note that the Forest Service has a special OSHA waiver on some aspects of safety just for their tree climbing work. For example, hard-soled leather boots with 8" tops is not necessarily good for general climbing (unless you have spurs on) which I found out the hard way that first day. Those ladders are so narrow, even with tennis shoes it's next to impossible to put both feet on a single rung. Gloves are optional unless you're rappelling. Hardhats are NOT acceptable...only climbing helmets. You get the idea.

Okay. So the next day me and the other new guy Luke ended up out at a seed orchard in Sandpoint to finish our training. Arriving at the site at 0730, the instructor says, "we're starting with spurring. Let's go." No warm up. No review. Just, "Let's go. Who's first?" I timidly volunteered, put my White's on, donned said spurs, and roped myself into the tree. The first steps weren't too bad...getting the feel for the bite of the spurs into the tree, feeling how to flick the rope up and around the bole. Gaining confidence I moved a little quicker to the first "limb-over." What that means is that you have to throw a second lanyard above the limb, move your weight onto that new one, and then release the first. This allows you to pass limbs without cutting them off. But it's risky business, because if for some reason you managed to release the one that is holding you...well, the ground meets up with you quickly. So I'm slightly above that first set of branches and one spur disengages from the tree and I have a mild heart attack. Only 20 feet or so in the air, but things are still very real at that height...standing on two 2" spurs, leaning out from the bole, trusting a rope. The single spur held and I was able to do the next limb-over. Okay, managed to get pretty high up in this tree...sweat about a gallon, and made my way down. Then the instructor says, "Alright, let's see a burnout." Which translates into: "Jump off the tree and arrest your fall using your lanyard." Hmmm. Great. I must say it went well and I thought, "That would be something to do on the way UP so you knew you could stop a fall." Luke then jumped on the tree after I got down and did just that...unintentionally. He stopped his fall entirely on the instinct of clutching that lanyard and holding it tight. Very cool.

Got that done and then moved on to another site to play with Figure-8 rappel devices. That went very well because I'm much more familiar with those and consequently had more confidence. I even had some fun with it...go figure.

Now the serious, real, mind-altering part came in. Aerial rescue. We each had to be a "rescuer" and a "rescuee." Again, I volunteered to be the first rescuer. Trusting that you get your gear right, the knots right, the steps done in the correct order, to the point that you trust your own AND someone else's life to it is mentally taxing to say the least. This done, slowly I might add, I rappelled us both to the ground. Then Luke did the same. (My made up injury was that I was just too damn tired to climb out of the tree...which was getting close to being true.)

We finished the class and the day with a written test, then some knot work. That done, we are now considered Forest Service tree climbers.

We both wouldn't mind some more practice before we're expected to really go all-in, but at the same time...it's great to have this option as a portion of our job. It's an interesting field of work. The adrenaline rush isn't exciting as much as it just makes you slow down and really think. Different than most adrenaline rushes.

But how many people can say they can climb to the tops of trees as part of their JOB? That's pretty interesting to say the least.