Jason James Gairn

Andy Goldsworthy. google his name and go to google images oh and add sheep folds. The man has taken drystone walling to the next level. His books are awesome and the one called `wood' is very cool indeed. check it out.

can you feel it? QTSA, elastica and the Strokes, all good, had abit of arave up there for 10 mins until the actual rave clip, then I sat back down again and drank some tea.

Girl noise. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr I like girl noise...Huggy bear, bikini kill, babes in toyland, the slits. Rubella need a new drummer.

Oh and I forgot to say, remember your feet. most beginers forget to actually stand up and end up using too much upper body.

Indeed there are few of us on here. If it's your first outing then make sure you don't get `pumped' too quickly. start with big hand holds to warm your muscle up and work towards more fingery stuff. If your forearms turn into solid iron, then shake out the arm and wait for the lactic acid to reduce. A good stretching for 5-10 mins before will help. presumably your going with an experienced party. they'll take care of you I'm sure. have a great time, movement on rock will inform your tree climbing for the better. Remember the photos for us arbtalkes.

Up a tree with a big 6? well thats chogging down a big stem where the agile and nimble are not necessary. Indeed the more lean climber is less likely to be able to lift as big a lump of timber as a big guy. yes and not all tree work is about subtle and cat like movements. But this thread was about climbing to the extremities, above and beyond the anchor point. Where it's crucial that very small branches don't fail. Why do we carry alloy gear, not steel? Because it's light, and light is where it's at when defying gravity. I am also 15 stone, but very sorry to say that's not the buff body I once had, mostly beer and cakes. But there's also the question of agility, as well as actually breaking timber in the tree. I am in no way suggesting that anyone over 12 stone has not the grace and movement to be very competent in a tree, no way. What I'm saying is that, being light and strong will be an advantage, and any extra weight is not going to help. There's an optimum power to weight ratio, and in my experience it's around 12 stone.

On the question of size, weight and power to weight ratios. Here is Bernd Strasser, who we all know, all 11 stone of him followed by Chris Sharma, the best rock climber the world has ever known. Last of all some condom full of marbles, 18 stone of ripped muscle. Theres avery good reason why the first two don't look like the last. other than it looks horrible and uber-vain.

The Blakes hitch is so very last century. Nasty ugly knot.

Taking abite out of the rope and clipping the Hitchclimber into it well above the attachment point on the harness means you can go hand over hand on long ascents. Once in the crown attachment resumes normal play.

Anyone remember the Oregon green boot? They had a layer of rubber as chinsaw protection. Whatever, get steel caps not plastic.

I've used that machine from universal, awesome bit of kit. The supplied operator used to be a guy called Lee. The combination was very effective.

Hi Al, Rigging work is the pinicle of any climbers skill set. You need to have an experienced rigger show you the ropes (first time that's ever come up, although, once we got the tractor stuck in the woods, finally after 5 hours we got it going on harder ground, but there was 100m to go, I said "yes we're up and running, but we're not out of the woods yet" how we laughed. I am prone to the occasional Ronnie Corbet tangental digression. Sorry) It doesn't get more technical than this Al, great that you want to take it to the next level, but ignore all arbtalk teachings on rigging and get your self an acourse or better still 1 to 1 experience with a top rigger. The most interesting and exciting work often involves complex rigging solutions.

Here I am folks.

check this out law enfocement boot by Haix http://www.haix.com/eng/lawenforcement_produktdetail_en.php?artikel=201002 But this is the best boot i ever had. http://www.haix.com/eng/workwear_produktdetail_en.php?artikel=603010 Heroes wear Haix

If your serious about being a climber, then there is no such thing as a starter kit. Buy the best you can afford right now and go outside and climb a tree. Cheap is cheap for a reason, don't compromise on this stuff. Personal choice reigns supreme with the best gear, so you'll have to try at least 5 harnesses before you find the one you like. it's an important bit of kit and shouldn't be chosen lightly, especially as the best ones are very expensive. Once again, don't wait for employment to give you justification, go climb now in the dark, every day all day and don't come down until your puking oak apples.

can only ditto the picture comments. real nice

Thats really good advice, its odd that so much that we do is instinct, particularly for me, as I cant always articulate the actual climbing strategy I have used, or am about to use. I just do it and only ever remember how If I make a conscious effort to do so beforehand. Tim's point is also very valid. The picture is very helpful too, anyone else got pics of actual Anchor points?

Just signed in and saw loads of posts on this thread. imagine my disappointment. I thought i had loads of work inquiries. Great idea though.

Every tree is an individual, an as such dictates the tactics required. Species, condition, growth habit and time of year will all play a part in the position of the t.i.p. It is usually necessary to climb above that point or to the extremities of the limbs to carry out small reduction percentages. If its above the anchor point, assuming the point is as high as it can go, then it is an advantage to be light and nimble, one is climbing the tree at this point (which i generally do anyway) secondary points are of no use. The same goes for the extremities, the working at height regs state that the secondary point must be able to support the climbers weight, not just supply an aid to balance. Once again the lightweight climber wins hands down. Power to weight ratio is essential in the tree, on the ground being built like a brick house is an advantage, up in the fragile world of trees it is of no help. Rock climbing requires the lead climber to constantly climb above his gear, this is called arun out, I've had run outs of 30 ft before now which has been helpful when faced with 10 ft of work above the t.i.p. There's very few hard and fast rules with trees, nature doesn't create predictable physics.

Issac newton agrees with me. newtonian physics will basically say a branch will snap the more weight is applied to it. You cant get out as far as a lighter guy, that's science. Anecdotes about amazing climbers who weigh 15 stone are all very well, and I'm not doubting it, but think what they could do if they lost 3 stone.

Hi guys. As you may or may not know, I have retired from commercial climbing as of last October. I am now concentrating on filmmaking and photography full time. I was earning more from it anyway. As far as I know I am the only professional filmmaker/Photographer/tree climber in the UK. If You the tree world is ever in need of professionaly produced Video or photographic content for web sites, vanity, whatever, please give me a chance to quote for the work. If it's crazyarse interesting I'll do it for cost and the crack. Show reel and portfolio available. PM me for details.

Personally, I just climb out there, this is where most of the work will be on a reduction anyway. As I've got heavier, the distance I can go has reduced. Light lean and strong, the perfect climber. Anything above 12 stone is a hindrance. If the crown is fairly dense, any slip will not be too important, so a secondary wouldn't be necessary, as a fall would be less likely to end in a pendulum/drop. Of coarse I'm not advocating not using a secondary, just telling you what I do. You should never go beyond your limitations as a climber for any reason, particularly with running saws. Confidence in Competence is key to fast competitive arb work.

All but Novelty theory. Terrance McKenna, not Lilly. here you go, 30 years before QI, [ame] [/ame]Clear as mud?

Sonic youth. The interplay between the two guitars is beautiful. [ame] [/ame] Mogwai The best thing to come out of Scotland ever. Gorgeous vocoder nonsense. You can hear The interplay of Glasgow and Glen Coe deep in the mix. Very Scottish [ame] [/ame]

That's not music