Have YOU ever took the plunge?

[MasterBlaster]

I've fell twice so far, knock on wood. The first time was an attempt at free climbing a HUGE pecan. I fell maybe 17', 18' landing on my feet. As I collapsed into myself my chin smashed into my knee, wrenching my back and ankle. I was stove up for a couple days, but I REALLY was one lucky sob. That broke me from free climbing from that moment on.
Proper training would have been a much easier lesson.

The 2nd time was another HUGE pecan TD, dead as a doornail. There was no top 'cause it had broken out allready, just one of those Y shaped types, with no proper TIP. Tied into the left Y, I went to far out onto the right Y, and I heard that crunchy-snap sound no climber ever wants to hear. My rope stopped me at maybe 15", maybe 20" from the ground, but it still blew my left knee out. Stoved me up that time 7 or 8 weeks. Bummer. Coulda been worse though.
I went too far out on the dead limb, trying to miss the driveway. It was so dead I should have just butt-jumped it; Roping it would have concussed the tree too much.
Dead trees demand the UTMOST RESPECT.

 

[njarbor]

never took the plunge but just the other day i swung out to a branch and didnt have enough momentum . i grabbed a little sucker but i was too much for it. i swung backwards and it wouldnt have scared me as much but i was going backwards and was afraid to smash my head . yes i was wearing a helmet

 

[ORclimber]

I've haven't had a bad fall. Was fliplined into a little pear tree and broke the top out, fell about 8' landed on my face, headache for a week. Have had branches break out from under me, but have always been tied in...knock on wood.

 

[monkeypuzzle]

Dead Pecans, man they are tough,very hard to climb and like MB states no TIP. My dad has fallen three times over 20+ years of climbing but never any real injury, just pride and sore for a few days.


NEVER for me!:angel:

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

No falls (touch wood) but one bad swing put me into a stub that wend under my humlut and woulda done my neck something offal if it was just a smidgion longer. I flush most cuts on removals these past few years.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I'm fanatical about not leaving any stubs as I climb.

The least they can do is foul your rope, and the worst they can do is penetrate you.

Yikes!

 

[ramanujan]

very nearly went to the ground about two months ago. was climbing clumps of norway maples to reduce them, vista pruning. jobsite steep ivy covered bank. one clump had several dead stems, so i of course chose the largest healthiest stem to climb and tie into.

just after i started to trim the other stems...creeack! the tree broke off at the base and was heading for the ground with me in it.

just happened that on the way down, at about 30 degrees off vertical, another tree came in between myself and the falling tree and my weight was enough to stop the fall of the tree (in effect i was supporting the tree with my weight on my lanyard in a U shape around the other tree.)


so i untied from my TIP and tied into the second tree, unclipped my lanyard not without some real effort and watch the tree fall about 50' to the ground. i was fairly shook up, was not at all expecting any sort of that trouble.

turns out the portion of the multi-stemmed stump that the healthy stem was growing out of was 90% rotten, other stems had died from what appeared to be verticillium wilt.

 

[Rob Murphy]

Fall

Tied into one side off an included co-dominant stem climed up enought to weight/weaken the crotch .As the stem started to accelerate and I was moveing earthward I crashed into a large shrub which cushoined my fall.I was only up about 30'.
CHEAP lesson at the beggining of my climbing exp(14years ago)....Watch those inclusions!!!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Re: Fall

Originally posted by Rob Murphy
I was only up about 30'.

ONLY 30 feet? Thats a goodly distance!
The bush probably saved yur arse!

 

[Curtis James]

I personally haven't fallen, my old boss cut himself off of a twenty five foot trunk he was chunking out. cut through his saftey and his climbing line. He blames it on being in to much of a hurry. I wasn't there but I hear he to fell onto a shrub that broke his fall. All he had was a sprained ankle. I feel as though I would have been able to prevent this, I have a habit of checking on all those around me, boss or not. I am usually the one who says lets put a rope on that. He is also lucky the saw stayed put up in the trunk.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Originally posted by Curtis James
I am usually the one who says lets put a rope on that.

I'm the same way, it never hurts!

 

[ok2climb]

My only fall was while removing a dead pecan outside of dallas. I was new to the area, never had worked in one before, and should have been alot more careful in my pre-climb inspection of the tree. Long story short, I got up about 30 ft started my saw and thats all I really remember. Goundmen said at that point the tree broke off about 2 ft up the base, sending me onto the pressure treated deck below. Rode it down on the high side and on impact with the deck the force swung me to the right where I hit the deck on the right side of my neck. Tree collapsed all around me, i got up, unhooked my lanyard from the trunk, shut off my saw and then passed out. Woke up in the ambulance, then in the careflight to parkland hospital, then in the cat-scan tube. Remember bits and pieces but not too much, MD's were saying possible bleed in my brain, broken neck, broken R wrist and arm. The powers up above were with me that day and it has changed me and my whole work attitude. Before I would climb just about anything, no problem. Alot smarter these days, with my emphasis on safety before anything, and quality work. No tree is worth any of our lives, have since walked away from a few. I still deal with pain in my jaw, ringing in my R ear, and soreness in my wrist, but wont stop doing what i love.

 

[Holmes Tree]

fell

I fell about 50' on sept 22 of this year. Landed on my feet and crushed both calcanious bones {heals} and also fractured three lumbar vertibrae. They did surgeries of 6 1/2 and 7 hours on the feet and put in host bones, steel plates and screws. I have to wear a jewit brace for my back. I am still in a wheelchair for quite a while longer and I am in pain always.
Simple tree job of windowing tree for sattelite reception. The ones that we think are routine are the ones we need to pay attention to. Hope to be working again in a year.

 

[Jumper]

Nothing involving heights is ever routine, no matter how many time the person has done it.....I worked with a climber that had broken his heels as well, and I am happy to report they healed completely. Not so sure about your back, get a good physiotherapist and if it appeals to you at all, see an accupuncturist to deal with acute pain. I fell about 50 feet in '99 (not out of a tree mind you) and have a plate and six screws in my left arm as testament. More aggrevating howver are the two crushed disks in my lower back, which have healed to the point they only hurt when I sit down too long! Wore a brace for almost two months. Hopefully you are insured for all this stuff. Get a good doctor, one who is not afraid to prescribe pain meds and anti inflammitory meds(I take Celebrex) as required. Get well.

 

[Holmes Tree]

Just meant nothing technical, by saying routine.
The pain is actually in my feet, and my back doesn't even bother me. I was airlifted to Harborview in Seattle and is the best hospital around here and did have a good surgeon, but the problem is they are operated by the university of Wa. and as soon as the surgery is over, they turn your ass over to young aspiring doctors and nurses that may be on their eighth year or their first semester!
Either way I have not had pain meds for about 2 1/2 weeks and I think they are afraid to prescribe them because they are so addictive.

 

[Jumper]

Refusal to prescribe effective pain meds is my cue to immediately find a new doctor. Yes they are addictive, but the alternative is a hinderance to getting better as quickly as possible, both mentally and physically. If you are in bad pain all the time it afffects your mental well being and if that is depressed, you will not get better as quickly.I speak from experience. I was on percocet for almost two months, and when it was time to stop, I switched to Motrin 800s. No problem. I recently was on percocet again for my feet courtesy of a compassionate and understanding doctor, who decided correctly that if my feet only could fit into bedroom slippers I was not making up the story about being in unbearable pain. You know yourself what you need for meds in general terms, and look around for a doc that will speed your recovery. I went through this horse **** with military docs for years, and be d*mned if I am going to take it from civy ones too. Serious about the accupuncture, get an assessment nd see if they can help you for your heels as well, it really got rid of the worst of ity in my back. An older tricyclic anti depressant prescribed at night, by product being drowsiness, will also help-speak to your doc.

 

[Holmes Tree]

Good advice, I'll call in the morn. Both of my feet are still swollen and the numbness is begining to leave my left foot. I might get about 3 hours of sleep a night due to the pain, sometimes I get none. My primary doc there now is a female that is maybe 30? If she dealt with this for one day, I would have free reign of the pharmacy. I'll look into the accupuncture as well, either you have a clinic somewhere that you operate or it really works. I'll try anything. Thank you

 

[Arboristic]

After about 5 years into my climbing. I started to make climb a big popular tree. I noticed my safety rope wasnt big enough to go around the base of the tree. Instead of going to the truck and taking the time to make me a saftey rope that would fit. I felt i could free climb it on my spurs to the first limb and tie in real quick. I made my walk up and got to the first limb. I had throwed my left arm over the limb hooking it, Within the time i was able to get my hand to my saftey rope to unsnap it to tie off. My spurs kicked out. I took the plunge for 27 feet. I was lucky i broke my arm in several places where i landed on it but lesson learned. If your not tied off your not safe. If you could predict and accident i am sure we all would but ALL we can do is minimize the accidents. Even on a 3point climb you dont know when them squirrels is gonna come out of them nest on you. So be tied in at all times to make a start at minimizing the falling accidents. Today 12 years later i am still no better of a climber just a wiser climber.

No.1 rule make sure your always tied in and have yourself safe.
Remember at the end of the day we want the whole crew to go home to the families safe.

 

[xander9727]

I've never taken a fall out of a tree but I did fall approx. 80' when a parachute failed while in the military. Prior to that I always "pressed the envelope". Now I use much more caution, mostly because my neurologist said I only have one "crash" left (fractured c3,c4&c5).

 

[MasterBlaster]

One time, while trimming a huge old plantation Oak, the 4" limb I was advancing on snapped off right under me. Later inspection revealed years old squirrel damage at the union, which I had overlooked.
I had a fair bit of slack in my rope, so I fell maybe 12 or 15 feet straight down at the speed of gravity and 210 lbs.
This particular type of fall was new to me, and as I fell I was curious about the outcome.
It was all good. When my line caught, my saddle flipped me right-side up just like a bungee chair. I held on to my saw, which was a good thing because the groundie was dragging brush right under me. The whole time he never knew what was happening above him. Har!
Due to the dynamic nature of my Safety Blue, the recoil of the recovery was de nada. I've hurt myself worse taking a dump.

What REALLY SUCKED was getting out of the dangling situation I was in. The fall had jammed my line in the broken V crotch.

BUMMER!!!

I had to pull myself up, hand over hand, until I could lanyard off at the crotch, and recover. Back then I had a gut, and on that day I really felt it! Tons of fun!

That day, I learned that I needed to upgrade my cursory inspections to a tad higher level, or more.

And I also learned the value of a dynamic climbing line working in conjunction with a properly-adjusted saddle!