Norway Spruce Advice

[jtw2140]

Hi all,

 

I do tree works as my 'part time on the side' from my main job, and have only been qualified as a climber for about 18 months now and I'm not afraid to say I lack experience! More so in terms of species and the knowledge of them.

 

Today I had to climb and dead wood and crown raise two fully mature Norway Spruces in a very large garden. Now as I ascended, I used a WP Lanyard and my main line (DdRT) to make progress until I reached a sufficient Top Anchor.

 

Ideally, I wanted to anchor each time I progressed, around the main stem. But because it was so large, I couldn't reach round to grab either my lanyard or climbing rope. So I had to choose the largest limb above me and tie in to that each time!

It didn't sit comfortably because as much as the limbs I used seemed a sufficient size where they met the stem, they of course soon became thin as they 'branch out'.

 

Apologies for the long intro, but I am asking for some advice from experience, as to how strong a Norway spruce is, and whether what I did was correct given the circumstances or should I have done anything different to ensure my anchor each time I weighted the system...

 

Thanks for reading!

Edited May 3, 2016 by jtw2140

[born2trot]

No this is the way to do it as you describe . The limbs are tough and strong just make sure that the limb you anchor round is not dead . As you get higher it should be much easier to get your mainline round behind the stem , give yourself plenty slack and climb a metre or so above your anchor if you can . Shouldn't take you that long really .