Your scariest climb?

[Cloud9climber]

Always interesting to hear some stories about big or scary stuff you have climbed. Just recently climbed a few that I wasn't that confident in but have been totally sound. Any big leaners? Or maybe dead stuff? Pics would be good too!

 

 

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[Mark Bolam]

Lombardy pop I did as one of my first private jobs. Guessed about 60', it was closer to 90.

Nowt wrong with the tree, I was just totally out of my depth, and lucky I didn't kill myself with some really bad rigging.

I came down, had a sleepless night and nailed it the next day.

 

I still have nightmares about that tree.

[Stephen Blair]

I had a dead elm jammed up against 2 Sycsmores on a big banking, I climbed up under the elm up the Sycsmores , but the elm was taller than both sycamores.

Long story short, the first 2 limbs I touched I jammed saws, so I had 2 , 026's tied off on major limbs and had a 46 left to under cut the head.

Also what I was on was going to move and there was a walled garden underneath.

Very hard to visualise what a horrible mess this was and there was no other way to do the trees.

Anyhoo, vroom vroom, clench clench, serious disco leg,a big crash bang , what I was on dropped a few feet, both 26's were left dangling and I was still there and the walled garden was ok.

Worked my way down and the final cut on the elm about 20 ft up the stem it just slid off and the root came up, luckily by this time I was on a sycamore.

Oh there's been hundreds of scary ones lol

[WeeDee]

Not the scariest but the worst.

 

Worked on a whippy poplar in high winds with a head torch (so no peripheral vision).

 

By the time I came down, I was sea-sick beyond belief. Couldn't close my eyes for the rest of the night for fear of falling off the floor!

[WeeDee]

I had a dead elm jammed up against 2 Sycsmores on a big banking, I climbed up under the elm up the Sycsmores , but the elm was taller than both sycamores.

Long story short, the first 2 limbs I touched I jammed saws, so I had 2 , 026's tied off on major limbs and had a 46 left to under cut the head.

Also what I was on was going to move and there was a walled garden underneath.

Very hard to visualise what a horrible mess this was and there was no other way to do the trees.

Anyhoo, vroom vroom, clench clench, serious disco leg,a big crash bang , what I was on dropped a few feet, both 26's were left dangling and I was still there and the walled garden was ok.

Worked my way down and the final cut on the elm about 20 ft up the stem it just slid off and the root came up, luckily by this time I was on a sycamore.

Oh there's been hundreds of scary ones lol

 

Trouser soup!

[Matthew Storrs]

I remember bein taken to the top of this massive Robinia when I was very new to climbing big stuff. My then boss, who was at the top with me looked at me as I was looking rather chuffed with myself being 60ft up perched on a limb. My legs were a little disco anyhow but he said ' matt, I don't want to panic you but your not actually tied in'

Instantly I started trembling like a leaf , aware of how precarious my position now was. I don't think my hands have ever fumbled so much trying to reconnect by krabs.

[Paul Cleaver]

had notice from a building co that a tree needs to felled pronto as it might fall. Well probably over exaggerated I thought. No it wasn't. a 70 ft willow bifurcated at 15 ft - included bark, and a split between the two was expanding and contracting in a fresh breeze. I had no kids then so I got up quick and section felled it. I remember my groundsman went all fingers and thumbs trying to put the 020 on my rope -

 

NEVER AGAIN

[D A Tree Surgeons]

large Leaning Sycamore over hanging main Road

you could feel it wanted to go, i wasnt up this tree a second longer than i had to be!

should have priced for cherry picker

[Ant-h83]

It was a few years ago but I remember it clearly, I was up a large black poplar,we had 2 pulleys placed 2/3 of the way up the crown, equally placed to spread the load and all that, anyhow we were all rigged to take a big chunk of log off,

so the groundy tensioned the lowering line with our recently aquired gcrs winch and sent me up the ms440, I was in a slightly awkward position so I opted for a step cut, after thinking I'd made a decent cut I shouted down to the groundy to get winding on the winch,

after 10-20 mins of shouting back & forth about it getting hard to wind, me doing a bit more cutting and me saying keep going I hear a crashing sound

I look up to see we had actually winched most of the top of the tree out, I decended straight away and got through quite a few smokes!!

Il never underestimate our gcrs again!!

[marcus_arb]

Had a big beech riddled with ganoderma and a nasty old wound about 5-6m up the stem with more gano coming out of that.

It was in a woodland so was well sheltered from the strong winds except for the very top.

I was boshing whole limbs of as we had a digger to clear it up, and was try to bosh strategically to keep the weight even on the tree as it was leaning nastily as well.

Got every thing off except for the top and whilst waiting for a bigger saw I heard a crack then I vibration run up the stem followed by another crack an vibration,

And I absolutely crapped my pants and shouted down to hurry up with the saw because all I wanted to do was get the top off and get down, scary as hell