Climb Number: 4
Disclaimer: I took quite a few photos of this handsome tree, and the GPS coordinates, and then accidentally erased them. I'll update the posting when I can go back and get a location fix and more photos of the tree.
Date: 12/06/08
Location: Willamette Valley
Tree Type: Quercus garryana (Oregon White Oak)
Tree Name: I haven't named this one yet, but I intend to climb it again and will name it someday
Weather: Sunny, cool, beautiful late Fall day.
Placement: Hand-toss 14 oz bag and Zing-it line.
Rope: The Fly, 200 feet. Poison Ivy, 200 feet.
Anchor Type: Fly line in DRT set-up with Dan House rope sleeve not quite able to get all the way around the branch. A second anchor was manually placed with the Poison Ivy and a leather cambium protector.
Ascent: Initial: DRT with a Blake's hitch and foot lock. Secondary: DRT with Petzl ascenders and straps.
Pitches: No additional pitches were made other than the placement of a secondary (and better positioned) ascend/descend line once up in the tree.
Movement in the tree: Chameleon rope and Cinch in a DRT on one side, and the primary line in a DRT set-up on the other for limb walking and tree boat placement
Decent: Petzl I'D on a DRT line.
Problems:
First time I'd really used DRT to ascend. I like SRT much better. The whole pull twice as much rope through as you climb seems like walking in mud - slow and laborious.
Other than that there were no major problems. Climb was more to practice DRT and lateral movement / tree boat set-up. Biggest "problem" was accidentally erasing all the SLR pictures I had of the tree (both in it and from the ground).
Things that went well:
1) Beautiful tree, located on a friend's property that I can use "anytime" (sweet)
2) Had time to do everything I wanted to, for once.
3) First real in-tree tree boat set-up outside of my SRT training class. This tree is great for it.
Additional Comments: I hope to "upgrade" this post with better pictures and location information in the future.
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