Beginners climbing guide, hints, tips and general climbing techniques

[silky fox]

Never to old to learn.....Excellent! You must be very proud of yourself...

[TIMON]

Just passed my CS38. ( at 53 ) í*½í¸í*½í¸

 

 

Congrats... Two of our guys are doing theirs next week.

[Grüße]

just photobucket them and voila

 

 

i hope

 

I would say rig as much as you can wherever you get a chance, it is by far the safest and quickest option and the risk of injury from the saw is minimal as you can use both hands on the saw. It takes a bit of getting used to but it eliminates the risk of dropping logs on people's fences or cutting your hands off! Start from the ground up - choose the most suitable rigging points and plan from there mate.

[Paul Cleaver]

I would say the other end of your climbing line, but that would be wrong:001_smile:

 

I always have a shortish length of old climbing line with a fixed eye permenantly attached. Takes a few seconds to get it sent up, then use it to lower or just hold.

 

I used to use that method alot on branches that are dodgy to hold with your hands - often used to avoid over reaching (leads to less control) where you want to hold the branch when cut , hope that makes sense

[maria warwick]

Congratulations. How quick was your rescue

 

Not too bad ….. I am quicker at getting people down than climbing up the tree !! ………. I have to use a foot ascender to help me up , my upper body strength is not great…..never been up a tree or used ropes until the start of the course…..

[twobyfour]

Ok, first post after lurking a while.

 

I`m hoping to complete CS38/39 this autumn/winter, so I`ve been out practicing furiously for about 6 weeks. I did CS30/31 some years ago along with PA1/6 before that. I have a background in conservation and `habitat management`, climbing seems to be the next logical step, despite my age (44). Plus, it is also brilliantly absorbing.

 

I suppose this post is just the reflections of a beginner climber, a few things I`ve noticed that may help other novices. I`m prepared to be flamed ;-)

 

I`d seriously recommend a hitch climber setup for long hauls, also, experiment with a floating prusik, for both long hauls and limb walks, it really is worth the extra £50 or so.

 

At first I had a significant `pucker factor` when untying from the main climbing line and relying on your flip-line/lanyard whilst I repositioned the climbing line. Obviously achieving a high anchor point is the ideal, but its not always possible, just practice untying, tying in, positioning, changing the anchor for descent, moving around on your flip-line etc, the comfort of security does come. Eventually. As does the confidence.

 

Get a catapult, getting your throw-line where you want it (particularly in summer foliage) is a pain in the a*se.

 

Gloves. Sticky ones are great for going up, however, beware they don't foul your friction hitch on descent. Potentially dangerous, and, embarrassing.

 

Now that I`m more confident actually being `up there` and moving around, I intend to get to grips with limb walking. Any advice or tips on this subject would be most welcome.

 

Also, also being a one time rock climber, I have seen opportunities where a sling or a quick-draw would really help as further protection perhaps. Naturally, the Karibiners on those would have to be 3 way locking rather than the usual none-locking gate. I`m not sure, anyone here use them or similar?

 

Twobyfour.

[Djvicke1]

In regards to limb walking it might seem obvious but a technique that really helped me was holding my climbing line with one hand as it works like a handle to balance yourself.

 

Look for a crotch on the branch to get your leg through then you can really grip the branch with your legs.

 

You won't always look good getting out on tricky limbs so just use any way you can to get out there if needs be, even just wrapping your body around the branch and 'shunting' your way up it

 

To get back into the tree off a long branch just reverse every move you made to get out there.

 

Also get used to trusting your ropes and turning away from your anchor point and using both hands as if you're using a saw.

 

Practice makes perfect and theres no rush, take your time and be safe.

[stihlmadasever]

Hi twobyfour, For limb walks keep ur centre of gravity low use your free hand for gripping the branches as you move along the limb.If you dont feel comfortable you can use the free end of your rope to tie in to another anchor point giving you two ropes to steady yourself.Redirects can also help immensley in allowing you to move out further on the limb.The real key is to keep as much weight as possible on your harness-unless its a sturdy limb capable of holding your weight.

As for quickfdraws-No go mate,all biners need triple action opening gates.A great investment are endless slings,the uses and applications for these really are endless,amazing cheap pieces of equiptment.

I would agree with all that Djvicke1 advised aswell.

Hope that helps mate

Climb safe

[RichieR]

Two by four The Only thing you may want to change is your set up . I was practising using a hitch climber only to find I was only allowed to climb on a simple prussic and practice climbing with both ends of the rope

[Mick Dempsey]

Here's a little thing I picked up lately from a forum. It's obvious and probably everyone else does it but.....

When ascending a conifer with a flip line whilst snedding on the way up, take your climbing line reel it up and hook it off your harness, so that it won't get entangled with the branches on the floor. Which annoys the groundies and the climber.