On the 5th of June 2023, I was the highest I'd ever been.
Teacher said it was 40ft, and I didn't measure it so I'll never know. What I can tell you is that I was bricking it, but I battled through it and got the job done. Plus, that weather though...
This isn’t a “wow look how skilled at this thing I am” type of post. Truth be told this was a hard day at college and whilst I felt great for overcoming a series of personal mountains and just cracking on, I have much to learn. Not least of which is not to ruin your new ropes by spiking them. I certainly wouldn’t have been pleased with my overall performance with myself if this was a paid job. Having said that, I ended the day on a high and giving myself some credit here – it was the first time I’d actually combined climbing with ropes, spiking with a wire strop and cutting with rear-handled saw. My exact comment to Steve (teacher) was that this is exactly why I came to college. He told me to take it slowly and not rush. I am not sure, but I imagine he didn’t think it would take me four and a half hours.
The Job - dismantle it?
When we rocked up to the site we were told what needed doing. There was one tree that everyone was a little wary of. I was wary of it. It looked very high. Given that I am now at the end of first year, I’ve been feeling like I was looking for an end of level boss and this tree was it. A nearly dismantled poplar with two remaining stems.
As I’ve stated, I don’t know how high this was. Chris & Steve (teachers) said the top of that limb on the right was forty feet. I can tell you it felt like the highest I’ve ever been purely because of the fact that there were no limbs around me. Just me, my spikes, my grazed knuckles (I did eventually give in and put gloves on) and the (what felt like) a very bendy limb holding me in the sky.
I was climbing and my first lesson was that I didn’t make myself fully aware of what needed doing. I was so caught up in what I was doing - climbing up the big limb to set anchor points that I didn’t ask why I was doing it. For all of you extreme ownership fans (of which I am one) this would fall under Chapter 7 - Prioritise and execute. I thought (incorrectly) because I had spikes on that I was to set an anchor point with a running bowline that was suitable for chunking down (cutting it into firewood sized rounds and letting it drop) the large limb that I had just climbed.
I was wrong. I was actually setting top anchor points so I could dismantled the lower limbs.
1. Ascending the big limb & setting anchors
The following pics were taken by Henry and Toby. I’m very grateful for them for doing so. They show my (very slow) ascent up the stem.
This part of the job took what felt like two and a half hours. There were three main reasons for this. First, and most obviously I was bricking it. I made it up, and it was fine, but this was the first time I’d climbed something this exposed. It’s not so bad when you’re in a tree because you’re surrounded by limbs and other things at the same height. But when there’s just you and you can feel and see the movement of the limb, it takes a bit of getting used to. So I took it very slowly. The second reason was that I was struggling with the wire strop I was using. It had a prussic knot adjuster and it was SUPER SUPER tight. I should have checked that on the ground but adjusting it was hard, which meant I was both fighting to adjust it and fighting spinning around onto the underside of the thing I was spiking. The third and final reason was throwing the ropes over the v-crotch to set the anchor points. I could have made it easier by climbing up more, but the first reason, combined with the second reason made that a non-viable option for me.
However, eventually I got there and set the anchor points. I was at a point where I could have given up. I had not eaten lunch (or anything since 8pm the previous day) and I was very hungry and dehydrated. Chris and Henry both “suggested” that I stay in the tree. So I did. At this point I was starting to get cramps in my calves from the spikes and in my hips. I have a deep fear of cramps (incident in a swimming pool in Greece when I was nine-ish) and I’ve been dreading getting cramps up a tree. It wasn’t pleasant at all, and the fear to bail out was intense, but I stayed up, turned it into a mini-adult tantrum, acknowledged the tantrum to those around me (Henry & Chris) and meditated my way out of it. This was another monumental moment for me but as it was internal there was nothing external to experience other than “oh look he’s stopped behaving like a child”.
2. Descending incorrectly - the wrong side.
So I stayed up and attempted to descend into position for the next task. Setting an anchor point on the lower left hand limb so I could get a safe working position for chunking out the lower section.
Climbing requires practice and so does descending. When I came down from the top anchor points I allowed gravity to put me where it wanted. This was the wrong choice. I should have told gravity where I wanted to be. No one got any pictures of me struggling here (maybe out of politeness) but I spent a good hour figuring out how to get myself from underneath a limb to on top of it. Turns out the answer is just muscling yourself into a position and then using the ropes as as a weird mysterious force. I cannot explain this in any more fidelity than “weird mysterious force” but I certainly felt it. It’s the same force that you rest into when limb walking, but I noticed yesterday that you can swing yourself into a position where that force becomes available. I have not figured this out completely yet, but I know for a fact that it is there and yesterday I managed to feel it.
Anyway, after a good hour and half I managed to get on the right side of the limb and ready to set the other anchor point so I could attain the elusive goal of the day – a comfortable working position.
3. Chunking it down.
Eventually the comfortable working position was assumed so I could start work. The below video is the first ever time I’ve chunked something out of a tree. Many thanks again to Henry for recording it - above and beyond from a groundie.
I must point out that I would have failed my dismantling ticket in that first cut, I was using chainsaw above chest height. My teachers were quick to point this out in a pleasant way after the fact. I was comfortable doing it though, I’ve got a fair bit of experience with a Stihl 261 now and I’m pretty confident in how they’ll react.
A hard, wonderful day
It was one of those days that you want only before and after you’ve done them. Whilst you’re doing them your “nope” alarm is going off. But as I mentioned to Steve - this is why I came to college; to learn this stuff rather than smash out six tickets in twelve weeks and put myself straight into work. Whilst that is great for some people, I cannot do that. I work best learning the thing, practicing the thing and then being paid money to do the thing when I’m confident of my abilities.
The best way to learn the thing is to have a series of days that are really hard. The days where a one hour task takes four and a half. The days in which you don’t give up and get it done. Monday the 5th of June 2023 was one of those days for me and it was epic. Chris asked me how I felt after I sent the final chunk down. My answer was “on top of the world”.
It was a seriously good climb, glad I could help
Out on the ground