Climbing the nine foot Black Fox Sugar Pine

Neat.
Where about is that tree situated, it is not mentioned in Van Pelt?
 
Nice big tree, Oxman. I hope to climb a big tree like that someday. Biggest tree I ever climbed was a 120' Tulip poplar in NJ.
 
Next time I get tired ascending I have to remember to swing around and make it look like I am playing and not sucking wind.
 
Usually there are no witnesses as everyone faints from a lack of oxygen in a wide radius around me.
 
Good to read you Ox.

Now I understand the current strange weather patterns-Darin has been climbing and casusingshifts in frontal tracks.
 
come on Ox we need some bottom and Top pixs of this tree please . . . heck U could of only been 10' off the ground with photo trickery
 
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  • #13
At the summit of the Black Fox Sugar Pine

These shots were taken in October of '07. It was a real challenge to get our video person to back up fom the tree far enough away to get the entire tree in the frame.

Steven Barry is my climbing buddy on several jaunts in the redwoods on the coast, in the Giant Sequoias in the Sierra Mountains near Yosemite, and on Mt Shasta in Northern California.

This 230 footer is on an old logging road east of Mt. Shasta, heading towards Reno. The volcanic ash must've absorbed some nutrients since this baby erupted only 15,000 years ago, cause its sure good growing ground.

This is by no means a champion tree, but it is not common, either. Right now it is inaccessible by car due to a lot of snow on the ground. A couple of ATV's and you'd have the place all to yourself.

If anybody wants to come out west, this is a great time to enjoy uninterrupted solitude in some mighty pretty country. We'll se if we can't find something decent for you to climb in.

Black Fox Final


<embed id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-5005689910008948322&hl=en&fs=true" style="width:400px;height:326px"
 
Anyone notice how inefficient the climb is? Every time the guy steps up 1 foot, he drops back half that far. It seems like some of it is coming from the rope and some of it from his connection (Croll?).
 
A good opportunity for me to ask a question that I've been wondering about for a long time: On those real tall trees, like the big ones out in the west coast, after getting a line over a limb with a line gun..whatever, how do you tell that you have your rope over a safe limb? I've never read anyone mentioning that.

Thanks.
 
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  • #21
TNT is correct, because he knows its all just trick photography.

Good observation of the backsliding. You probably noticed both hands are together on the upper ascender. Since this climb, I have added a 4th ascender for the right hand to operate. It helps stay upright by spreading the hands. Here's a photo of the Croll jugging in the 4 ascender system.

aOxWeb1DSC07691.JPG


Notice the Archos helmetcam above the right ear.

The above photo is from the last page of the Bogachiel Spruce Reclimb report from last February on treeclimbing.com.

The rope has a bit of stretch from being tied off at the ground, running up over a limb at 130', then back down to my harness. This is a very skinny 3/8th inch New England KMIII static line. It is possible to 'ride the bounce' in the line as it occilates lengthwise. Sorta like being the snapper on the end of a bullwhip.

The chest harness moves around, and should actually be attached to the saddle in the back, or it could cause choking when clashing with the helmet chinstrap.

The next shot is a picture of efficiency. This is Dan Kraus set to ascend the 10' diameter spruce tree. To zoom in, click on the photo.

aKraus1DSC07641.JPG
 
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  • #22
I stayed up all night to reedit the video.

Lets address the issue woodworkingboy raises. There is always some question of the security of remotely set lines. From the ground, the angle of the observers eye looking upward can't show the precise position of the rope running over the fork. It is possible to visualize a mental image of how the branch unions connect with the trunk, and where the arrow has passed on its arcing route thru the canopy during the flight from the bow.

Imagine the duration of the arrow flight while it progresses upwards, then passes the trunk and begins to fall behind the tree, out of sight. The archers familiarity with the bow allows a prediction of how much to compensate for 'arrow drop'. The drop is how high it is necessary to 'lead' the intended target fork, based on the maximum range of the bow.

Another way to describe this aiming point is 'tracking' the route of the arrow while it is still in sight after leaving the bow. A 'trail' of fishing line is spooling off the reel as the arrow moves upward. The line makes a zinging sound as it uncoils, giving an audible cue as to the direction of the arrow.

Ever watch movies of an airplane doing a stall at the top of a vertical climb? An arrow also slows down dramatically at the top of its arc, allowing time to see which branch it passes over. What is cool is the time delay as the echo of the arrow striking the trunk or a branch produces a sound that doesn't immediately arrive back at our ears down on the ground. We see it change direction or bounce, but don't hear it for a second or so. The arrow leaves the bow at 230 feet per second, but is only traveling at a fraction of that speed at maximum height, which is around 150' for this combination of bow, string tautness, 28" shaft length & 3.3 ounce weight of the bolt, and 20# strength rating of the fishing line and its drag spooling off of the reel. The vertical angle of the shot creating a flat trajectory is another important factor that the archer can use to mentally picture which branch the arrow has passed over, and how far it is from the trunk.

Here's Dan Kraus shooting a line into a 220' Spruce. To zoom, click on the photo.


aKraus2DSC07613.JPG
 
Good stuff, Oxman! Nice photos and discussion. How long does it take you guys to get your line in place? Does the first guy up sometimes reposition the TIP for following climbers? Do you give up on SRT once you reach the first line position?
 
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  • #24
The amount of time to get a line set and start climbing is from 1-2 hours. With hilly ground, the high side of the tree is the best place to shoot from. The arrow can land 100' down the mountain below this point as it is lowered by the fishing reel. This distance means cooperation among the group is quite helpful to retrieve the arrow, attach a 400' throwline, begin reeling in the fishing line, add the climbing line, stow the throwline as it is pulled, etc. These operations all happen on both sides of the tree, and it helps if people don't have to run back & forth.

The second question about resetting the initial line set is addressed in the link posted earlier. Zack did just that over at: http://www.treeclimbing.com/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,49/func,view/id,131267/catid,276/limit,6/limitstart,0/

The answer to the 3rd question is yes, SRT ends when there is no line anchored overhead.

Buy the 2 hour Recreational Climber DVD video as a Christmas present for yourself for twenty bucks. Its from this page: http://www.atreestory.com/videos2.php You can see a sample film clip of how its done for yourself.

It is recommended that the skills for single rope technique be aquired prior to climbing the big stuff. The first time I ever saw or used a borrowed figure eight descender was on a 165 foot rappel, which was a big mistake. It could have been catastrophic.

Two problems combined due to inexperience. First, my arm cramped up from clutching the rope too tightly for too long. Plus, I could smell the nylon rope melting, and when I burned myself on the hot aluminum, I almost let go of the rope. Both were opportunities for instant death. Here's a shot of that tree from my website, treedr.com. That photo was taken by Jerry Beranek, and several other pics were taken in the top, over 330' feet above the ground. Those pics, plus hundreds of others, are on the A Tree Story CD-ROM, which is what prospective old growth climbers need to know prior to entering the grove. Do not fail to notice the 2 word sentence on that web page that says: "The biggies". These are not tourist shots of big trees. These are actual climbs. Take some time and relive with us what its like to be up there in the top.

stearns.jpg
 
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