Cant believe im asking this...

[easy-lift guy]

Have faith in yourself and your abilities. Your kit and practice will serve you well. Remember there are hundreds if not thousands who have gone thru what your dealing with ATM. You will overcome!.

easy-lift guy

[Paul Smith]

A healthy respect for heights and the tree is not a bad thing! The day you loose the respect will be the day you have an accident through complacency!

[alex_m]

I'd say for at least 2 years you'll question if you have what it takes to be a climber, almost on a daily basis

 

this is true in my case. in the past on a big or tricky tree i have doubted myself, then said 'dont be silly' and got on with it.

after nearly 2 years full time climbing, i'm actually starting to reach the point that i can say i can climb anything and my confidence is quite high. climbing is good at the moment

[Xerxses]

I think we all have had Discolegs at some point...

[Stephen Blair]

If you are scared then you are normal and wise.

 

I dreamed about being a tree surgeon all my life, in my head i was swinging about and it was basically a montage lol.

 

Then i went and bought a harness and spikes, built them up in my girlfriends house, they all ooo and aaaa. I walked like John wayne into their woods.

When they came in 30 mins later to watch me in action, i was still stuck up a big pine about 25 feet up lol

I couldnt bring myself to take the weight off and come down lol

 

Looking at the tiny friction chord thinking, hold hold hold hold ha ha.

 

I spent my first 2 months at every job going finding somewhere to empty my bowels as i was so nervous.

 

Scared is good:001_smile:

[Tom Mabbutt]

"Do one thing every day that scares you. - Eleanor Roosevelt"

 

One of the things that your cs38 will do is help you to overcome 'the fear', help with your understanding of the dynamics behind basic tree climbing techniques and like previously said 'to trust your equipment' and and gain confidence overall. At this early stage which your at I think its perfectly normal to get wobbly and want to come down. I found that as soon as I started to think about things going wrong on my cs38 my legs went to jelly and it was practically game over for that climb.

 

Don't give up, the first few trees are the hardest, but each time it gets a little bit easier and you enjoy it more and more The fact your conscious of danger is a healthy thing.

 

Good luck mate and don't give up.

[Mesterh]

Get yourself up in a MEWP, that will make you realise being tied into a tree is much, much better!

 

I would say keep all you climbing gear very simple, you don't want krabs and pulleys rattling about everywhere if your still learning to trust the gear.

 

A side strop, and a prussik with one krab on your main line will make things very simple and very easy to check.

 

You can then move on to the more technical stuff that will make your life easier but don't leave that too late like me or you will never get used to it.

 

Good luck and persevere.

[Paul Smith]

I wouldn't recommend going in a MEWP at this stage, I don't like them, far too much bounce and as said you will feel much more content with a rope and harness tied in a tree!

[Sciadopitys]

Stick at it mate! You'll be fine! :-)

[RobRainford]

i was in a similar position but not as severe, i didnt like climbing onto my own feet on my first days of the climbing course, i always liked having my weight in the harness and it would take me ages to climb anything, now freeclimbing is fun and makes the job a lot easier sometimes.

 

i found it was trust in kit, but go up to a nice long branch on a tree and go out a little bit, then jump off and swing back in, do that till you feel good about it then keep increasing the distance you do the swing up to a safe level where you arent taking tarzan wings across a tree, but doing nice controllable swings where you wont hit anything that could hurt.

 

pushing your comfort zone is what its all about!