RC0

Yeah the same one....probably not more than 4 hours flying time later. Apparently it came to pickup from the helipad ie the video, then took off with a couple of lads, lost power, thankfully Kyle the awesome pilot that he is was able to drop it on the pad again but it fell off and took a roll. Nobody hurt just badly shaken. 2 mins before or after landing would been a completely different outcome. Because your on a mountain full of big trees with no openings in the canopy. By the grace of God or freak luck it didn't happen that way and them lads are ok.

No worries mate. Stein spikes with the long gaffs. You can send the tops anywhere Will, but you can't leave hangers. Monday was my last day until next week....as I had jobs booked in of my own. Then I recieved some shocking news from today, and later this pic from Dan Holiday.

We don't do the base cutting Tom. They just make two opposing cuts but stop short at a streak of hingewood in the middle. No overlap though. The tree hopefully just sits there.

Thanks You get 6 hours up there....or supposed to. We never seemed to get enough time before having to down tool and make haste back to the heli pad for pick up. How many youd get done depends on how far you had to hike to and between each tree. If you had 6 x 100ft trees stood together you might get all 6 done. But many of the big ones were 4-5 ft dbh and 150ft tall. So 3-5 on average. very steep ground and 2 feet of snow the first couple days. We had so much gear to pack to and up the trees....because theres no help on the ground. Getting to some of the trees was often harder than the climbing itself. Much of the time I was climbing and cutting with just a single flipline. Climbline packed away until I needed to rappel at the end. When I got into thinner wood Id use a second flipline, as it didn't hinder me so much and made it a little safer in case I gaffed out. So when I went to top the trees Id often detach the second flipline but leave it around the stump, which is probably what you saw paddy. A friend lent me the 201tc to try out. That's why you see flashes of it. Dinan. That hill had never been logged previous. But the head guy who has the contract referred to it as hurricane growth. Thereby the original forrest had been mostly levelled by a storm a few hundred years ago, and since grew back. Still some 8-9 ft dbh trees left up there, but they were al spared. The stringy bark on some of the bigger wide trees was a nuisance, yes. Because your flipline is totally maxed out, so you cant leave it loose, and then it cuts in at the back like you say. Yes we clawed a few that within reach. Saves a lot of effort, even you you just get to bypass the first 50ft on the bigger trees. I'm due back there next week

If you've never heard of this. The selected trees in a forest are stripped, topped and appropriately flagged. They are then cut at the bottom all for a strip of holding wood in the centre....and picked by sky crane helicopter at a later date. A better alternative to clear cutting I believe. Some climbing and topping footage. Western red cedars upto about 150ft x 5ft dbh. Use HD setting. Thank

Now you tell me. I felt so bad I went back and cleaned up ! I'm ben driving in, rather than staying. 4 hours there and. up at 4:30 am. pretty knackered actually.

Nice setting Adam. How you getting on mate ?

Thanks all. Did any of you ever see that's TV series, Heli loggers ? Well that's whats going on here. Not the TV part obviously. They call it single stemming. You strip out and top selected and otherwise inaccessible trees in the forest. Then a huge helicopter comes and plucks them at a later date. Its hard work actually....especially where we're working right now because there's 2, 3 feet of snow on the ground....although its thawing thank God. Lots of hiking up steep terrain through the snow with all your gear i.e. climbing gear, fuel, saws, hand tools etc. And because there's no ground support your packing it all up the trees with you. All western red cedar on this particular job. Up to 140ft or there abouts. So you're spiking up carrying your rope in backpack, wedges and axe, grappling hook, fuel, radio....and other bits of crap that you might need. Lot of extra weight in other words. But to be honest, getting to the trees is harder than the actual climbing until the snow melts. Today me and another guy hiked or climbed for probably an hour to the top couple of tree....on our hands and knees at times....because you don't know where the ground is with the snow. Lucky for me I get to work with Dan Holiday and Martin Evans on our section....both British guys and great company too. Yes Jon, never appealed. But in these situations theres no other way really. A surreal experience over the forest to say the least. We are on a 7 day shift, so leaving gear at the heli pad in fine.

Not familiar with Samson nystron. I probably had the first sample in the UK some years back....and I recall looking at the stats of cycles to failure v double esterlon. Even though the MBS was very close, the CTF of the polydyne lasted something like 80 % longer. It was some years ago mind, so that figure could be more or less.... but I remember raising my eyebrows upon looking at the chart.

Cool perspective from today. Use HD setting. Thanks

Good to see there's some available options. But, if you need something right away that'll custom fit any amount of clutter....then, B&Q or wherever

five minute job at best

Too dangerous. Accidentally snag that lever and your in freefall

Stick with it Steve. Don't go overboard on the gear. Not much to gain with removals. But big trees for pruning, way easier. You can access so much more of the tree via one route....or on your way up for that matter. No worrying or consideration of rope friction or any of that. The fluency stuff is not so much lost....it just changes shape as does your strategy. When I switched over I kept thinking I should be busier, out of habit I suppose. Busy fool more like. All that pulling and thrusting about. Sooner or later you'll do a big climb and think 'God that was easy'. The adjustments take time, but they will come good soon enough. All these converts, even Bolam, cant all be wrong.

Nope. Can't see em. It's just sunny

That's great news. Build on it. Be interested to see where you're up to a year from now.

Yes, great effort as always. Sorry to see you get a relatively cool response throughout your thread (make that pisspoor) for the hard graft you're putting on display here....not to mention the time you put into editing it all. You have my respect at least, for what it's worth. Stick with it mate.

Yes, we'll done John. Great day for it.

Yeah it was the cycles to failure I was referring to, not the MBS Rich. The elasticity of polydyne is what gives it the ability to absorb way more shock loads than the others. That blue rope I was using is 3/4 in. The red sling is 1 in, or 24 mm....both polydyne

IIRC, what's that ? That's just a blue bag I'm carrying. It has stuff in it.

Alright Rich. Yeah its brilliant stuff. I recall reading the stats on it once and the the cycles to failure rate via shock-loading was off the scale compared to the competition. Very reassuring stuff to use.

Thanks. Any more expats out there ?

I really rate this company, above all other rope manufacturers. I made a short video for them from yesterdays job. Use HD setting. Thanks.

I think a heavy duty rigging kit is a good investment. Light duty, you'll always be limited to moderate loads and a lot more climbing around. Obviously you have to moderate the size of what you send down depending on the drop zone and the ground workers ability to cope. In regards to bringing a GRCS or simply expensive equipment. That's a tough one if it gets damaged....I've often pondered it. Say, if the groundworker either over or under wraps the line....the line breaks or simply runs out if control and the clog hits the device. Whose fault is it ? The groundworkers or the climbers for bad planning or expecting too much. Can you really put 'blame' on a groundworker for lacking experience....or panicking in a moment. It's debatable in my thinking. If I had a GRCS and was still subbing, I think I'd leave it at home.

Great stuff, Nathan. The whole thread !