thank you

[onepaw]

Hello everyone. I just wanted to thank you all for all the information and knowledge. My best friend,who owned a tree service company a few years ago, started teaching me to climb in September. He had given up on the company and only had an old rope and a few carabiners left when I asked him if he could teach me. I had an old safety harness that worked. We started and the harness hurt like hell but after teaching me some knots and hitches and walking back and forth on the ground to see how they worked I was able to climb about 10 feet. And I was hooked! After that we started buying stuff. He had never used a split tail, just a closed system. So we started there. New ropes, split tails, carabiners, saddles. After a few climbs then split tail with a pulley. Then we decided to try hitchclimber pulleys. New world. He loved it. Then about a month later he started talking srt. He had never tried any of these things and wanted to. I was reeling from all the new learning but couldn't get enough of it. I loved it all. Would stay up late tying knots and watching videos, and reading tree house! Any way we got a hitchhiker, foot ascended, and Haas system. He told me that it was better having someone here to help and show me than learning by myself. Trim the learning curve a bit. Plus he always wanted to try it and never did. The kicker is that while we were doing this he had throat cancer. Our last climb together was in January. He really enjoyed being able to learn and climb until the end. He would read the forums here and direct me to it if I had questions. So once again I want to thank you all for teaching and thank butcher for creating such a neat site. I have tons of questions!!!

 

[woodslinger]

That is quite a post. I am very familiar with the addiction part of learning different/better/new-to-me climbing techniques and gear. I'm sorry to hear that it was such a short run for your friend, but happy that you and he had that time together before it was too late. I also credit this forum and its membership for enabling me to get up to speed on all this in a safe manner.
So cheers to you my friend, and your friend as well.
And ask away, your at the right place for questions.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Welcome to the TreeHouse, brother. My name is Butch...

 

[onepaw]

Thank you! I think this is the most interesting thing I've ever done. Always more to learn. We would get up in a tree and he would guide me through things. He said the climbing was keeping him going. Good times!

 

[onepaw]

Hi butch. My name is Guy. Thanks for such a cool site. I get lost for hours reading!

 

[rskybiz]

Very nice post onepaw. Sure sound like a very special bond. One you both enjoyed and benefited from! Rest in peace good man.
Joel

 

[pantheraba]

Welcome, onepaw. Pull up a log.

Very cool you got to learn climbing from your friend...and that you could help him learn about all the new innovations happening in the tree world.

Pose your questions, share your experiences and post some pictures as you can.

And be careful out there.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Don't be shy about filling out your profile!

 

[onepaw]

Thank you Chris,Gary and Joel. We had a great time together. Sometimes I feel like my head is spinning from all the information and from wanting to try it all at once. Feels different doing it on my own.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Welcome Guy.

Make yourself at home. My name is Jim.

 

[onepaw]

Hi Jim. Thanks.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Welcome guy. Thanks for sharing that. Sorry for your loss
I think it was great what you guys shared.

 

[onepaw]

Thank you cursed! Feels good talking to the people that I've just been reading they're posts on here. We had a good time. I remember being in this red oak with him. He was showing me redirects. I told him I've never been 40 feet up in a tree talking to someone. He smiled and said me either! Kind of sappy but still a fond memory.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Climbing with a buddy adds a great dimension the experience.

 

[Fiddler]

Welcome Guy.

Great thing you guys had going. Glad you decided to start posting.

 

[sawman]

Welcome
Your in the right place to learn some new tricks..
Sorry about your bud.
George

 

[Merle Nelson]

Incredible of your to share that with us Guy. I read that to my wife and she said, "What a gift he gave him." I agree.

Sometimes the concept of death will come up in any given conversation and the first thing that pops into my personal thoughts is, "there are far worse things than dying."

It sounds like not only in the experiences you had together but, also in the camaraderie of it, you helped him to experience and re-experience some of the very best that life has to offer. What a gift you gave him!

 

[onepaw]

Thank you all for the welcomes. I appreciate it. I've been wanting to post for awhile but havnt. Timings everything. Luckily a change in jobs allowed me the time to spend with him and climbing. Time is more precious than anything!! He was down to 130 pounds and still climbing. Srt really helped out! When we were ordering the hitch hiker from treestuff I think he was talking to someone named Paul. Anyway he told them of his condition and what we wanted to try and they offered him a wraptor to use. He turned it down but we both thought it was awesome that they would offer!! Incredible company!!! They have a lifetime fan and customer in me!

 

[Limbrat]

Welcome Guy! You're right about TreeStuff, some great folks there.

 

[Altissimus]

Welcome , really man. The House is the place for the info. Camaraderie and some laughs too. Dave

 

[Chris E]

Hi Guy, thanks for sharing your story, its special and unique on a few different levels... something to be proud of. Cheers

 

[Raj]

Welcome, sorry about your friend.

 

[DMc]

Welcome to the sight, Guy. That was a nice story, thank you for sharing it.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Agreed. Welcome!

 

[Burnham]

Glad to have you here, Guy. Welcome. Condolences on the loss of your friend. Sounds like a special relationship, given all the extra stuff around it.