Climb 9

The tree from back on the street.  Part circled was not the highest climbed, however.

Climb Number: 9

Date: 08/25/2012 and 08/31/2012

Location: McMinnville, OR on the Cook School Property (I'll add coordinates later)

Tree Type: Ponderosa Pine

Tree Name: Mac

Weather: Cool, sunny, perfect.

Placement: 10 gm bag thrown by Big Shot to a branch about 50 feet up.

Rope: Snakebite

Anchor Type:  SRT.  Screw link cinched up over limb

Ascent: Yo-yo with Petzl Rig

Pitches: Multiple to get to top of tree.  

Movement in the tree: I did some lateral movement at about 45 feet to place the tree boat, otherwise, it was up and down the tree only.

Decent: Petzl Pirana with a prusik back-up

Problems:
None major. Branch placement required circling around the trunk some as I ascended.  There was no clear shot to the ground at highest point, so rather than dropping highest tie-in-point straight down I just descended down the same track I ascended.

Things that went well:
1) Getting permission from the school superintendent to climb the tree
2) Pretty clean tree for a "wild" (all but lower 30 feet) tree.  One rather large deadwood branch was mostly out of the way
3) Gorgeous views.  Interesting to climb such a big tree in a very urban setting.  This was a real first.
4) A "plaque" was left at the top with name, date climbed, and a dedication to the students, teachers, administrators and staff of McMinnville School District.

Things that didn't go well:
Without dropping a new line straight down from the highest tie-in-point, the friction on the rope over branches and around trunk all but negates the use of a descending device.  To affix the plaque at the top I did have to put in a small screw bolt into the tree itself, but it should not hurt the tree any. 

View from the top looking West

View looking towards downtown McMinnville

A picture of the "plaque" placed on the top

I had strung a tree boat about 40 feet up.  I didn't get any pictures but my wife snapped this of me taking it down.  The yellow lines show the approximate placement.

Here's a link to a newspaper article on the tree climb:

"It's the climb" (NewsRegister, McMinnville)

Climb Number: 8

 Date: 08/28/2011

 Location:  N 48° 11.972', W 120° 46.601'

 Tree Type: Ponderosa Pine (I think)

 Tree Name: Karla 

Weather: Warm, dry

The second tree climbed at Holden Village.   Date climbed is +/- a week.  Not a lot of details remembered about this climb either, but here are some photos:

The canopy got pretty dense, and I did not "bushwhack" much to go higher than pictured in this tree

A self portrait (safety glasses temporarily off) from the top

Typical tie-in: a cinch and a double laynard

A forced perspective picture, looking down at the lodges below.

A little video tour from the highest point I climbed.  (The part about Bonanza Peak may or may not be accurate, I need to check into that more)

Climb Number: 7

 Date: 08/28/2011

 Location: N 48° 12.030', W 120° 46.407'

 Tree Type: Sitka Spruce (pretty sure)

 Tree Name: Alexa Weather: Warm, dry

 This tree was climbed while at Holden Village, off of Lake Chelan, WA in the Cascade Mountains. I'll post a few photos, but I don't remember much about the climb. I brought only snakebite rope as climbing rope.

A view of the tree with me in it (inset).  I didn't climb much higher than this.

Looking up from below.

The view from up in the tree - looking West at some of the Chalets at Holden Village

A photo that shows the whole tree and base.