Tall Tree Climbing

[swoollard]

As promised earlier, details of climbing the tallest trees in the UK from the horses mouth.

 

I'm second year tutor for the ND Arb and For at Sparsholt College, Hants. My colleague and trip organiser is Mark Tansley, the course tutor. We were joined by Justin Palmer from Safety Technology Ltd, Chris Hunter from Urban Forestry (Bury St Edmonds) and Lukasz Warzecha, and fortunate enough to be sponsered by Stihl throughout our trip. It was Lukasz's baby really. He works for Frontier Forestry in Edinburgh, but is an award winning photographer www.lwimages.co.uk/talltrees The images may not be on here yet, but should be soon. We climbed and measured three trees, but weren't permitted to climb Dughall Mor which was previously regarded as the country's tallest.

 

It was an unbelievable experience. One which I feel privileged to have been a part of.

 

Articles to appear in trade press soon, and more photos to follow- Watch this space!

 

Anyway, the results are:

 

 

 

· Douglas Fir at the Stronardron Estate, Argyll

 

o No accurate ground based measurements possible due to time constraints & tree location

 

o Climbed measurement from tip to highest point at base was 63.79m

 

· Douglas Fir at The Hermitage, Dunkeld, Perthshire.

 

o 2 x ground based measurements at 60.95m & 60.68m

 

o Climbed measurement from tip to highest point at base was 61.31m

 

· Grand Fir at Diana’s Grove, Blair Castle, Perthshire

 

o 3 x ground based measurements at 62.32m, 62.60m & 62.47 – other measurements were taken but were discounted due to being unable to clearly sight the stem base

 

o Climbed measurement from tip to highest point at base was 62.70m

 

· Douglas Fir (“Dughall Mor”) at Reelig Glen, Inverness

 

o 10 x ground based measurements from a range of positions:

 

§ Position 1 – 61.68 & 61.46

 

§ Position 2 – 63.15 & 62.64

 

§ Position 3 – 60.13 & 58.62 – Measurements discounted due to site – unable to confidently see the tree tip

 

§ Position 4 – 61.53 & 62.21

 

§ Position 5 – 62.07 & 61.91

 

o Average height taken from positions 1,2,4 & 5 – 62.02m

 

 

 

I therefore advise that we have a new tallest tree in the UK – the Stronardron Douglas Fir in Argyll owned by Mr Robin Creelman as well as a

2nd place tree in the form of the Grand Fir at Blair Castle!

[Tommy_B]

Brilliant pictures mate. Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

Tom

[Steve Bullman]

is chris a member here? havent seen him in ages.

[Mark T]

Hi there,

 

3rd member of the Tall Trees Project 2009 team checking in... it was an amzing trip that I doubt any of us will ever forget!

 

We should have a load more pictures soon, Lukasz (LWimages) should be sorting through the hundreds that he took so when they're sorted we'll post some more.

 

I hope you find the project interesting, we certainly did! The 3 trees that we climbed were immense plants that deserve recognition.

 

As for us... this will hopefully be the first of many expeditions with the backing from STIHL and Safety Technology. Next up, the UK's tallest broadleaf and Englands tallest tree... who knows where from there! I look forward to keeping you all informed.

 

All the best,

 

Mark

[Mark T]

is chris a member here? havent seen him in ages.

 

Haha! You'll be lucky... he has only just got used to the TV remote - let alone computers!

 

He's good though - still working for Reg.

[Buzz]

Blimey Mark i remember drinking tea with you in my flat in Aldershot when you came to meet Anna and i ref. having that young girl on work placement (who's name i forget) !

 

Small world !

[palmerarb]

I was lucky enough to be involved in the UK Tall Trees 2009 Project. What a fantastic three days, climbing three 200ft+ trees. The climbing technique's were a combination of SRT and DRT. Using the trusted TreeFlex harness. We also had a bit of help from the ACC electric ascender and the PME petrol ascender. All very kindly lent to us from Safetytechnology.co.uk

 

 

Here is the first video of three

 

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEUcsWyfbac[/ame]

[Stephen Blair]

well done guys.

[Steve Bullman]

what helmet camera setup are you using?

[Will Hinchliffe]

Good work guys.

 

Fantastic project.

 

My work mate was a student of yours last year.