Wildland Firefighter Applying for Tree Climber Position- SOS!

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dxarmbar06

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Hi all,

I'm a wildland firefighter with the US Forest Service and there's a climb test for arborists next week that I want to take, but I've never actually rigged and climbed a tree. I've climbed a ski tower once with a rigging system but someone else set it up for me. I know how and can free climb a rope using the footlock technique but like I said I've just never done it on a tree before. Here's how the test was explained to me:

First I'd be interviewed, then I'd be asked to demonstrate knots (I think they said blakes hitch, clothes hitch and some others).

I'd be given 10 minutes to rig myself into a harness and climb a tree-- I can free climb a rope but I'm not sure if they want me to do a technical climb involving rigging.

I have to climb up to another branch, tie myself into another rope, retrieve a yellow flag, then tie off the branch as if I were going to lower it. -- I have no idea about any of this.

My strength comes in using the chainsaw, I'm a B-Restricted Sawyer and can take trees with and against their lean, on a slope, hazard tree, limbing and bucking, everything. We did a lot of work with chainsaws in the Forest Service. I just don't know anything about climbing.

Can anyone give me a run down on what I'll be expected to do so I can brush up for the test next week? Knots, rigging, etc?

Thanks in advance.
 
I am no good with a clothes hitch , usually use pins for that but a clove hitch is easy as tying your boots , well actually other then the goofy little bows at the end it's exactly like tying your boots , hope that helped
 
Kinda sorta cutting it a little close on learning a lot of technical skills? You might wanna think about waiting for the next test after that and dig in and actually learn your new to you trade first. Just sayin/

I putz around with wrenches, and I seriously doubt I could go with one weeks notice and go pass some advanced mechanics certification.
 
Hi all,

I'm a wildland firefighter with the US Forest Service and there's a climb test for arborists next week that I want to take, but I've never actually rigged and climbed a tree. I've climbed a ski tower once with a rigging system but someone else set it up for me. I know how and can free climb a rope using the footlock technique but like I said I've just never done it on a tree before. Here's how the test was explained to me:

First I'd be interviewed, then I'd be asked to demonstrate knots (I think they said blakes hitch, clothes hitch and some others).

I'd be given 10 minutes to rig myself into a harness and climb a tree-- I can free climb a rope but I'm not sure if they want me to do a technical climb involving rigging.

I have to climb up to another branch, tie myself into another rope, retrieve a yellow flag, then tie off the branch as if I were going to lower it. -- I have no idea about any of this.

My strength comes in using the chainsaw, I'm a B-Restricted Sawyer and can take trees with and against their lean, on a slope, hazard tree, limbing and bucking, everything. We did a lot of work with chainsaws in the Forest Service. I just don't know anything about climbing.

Can anyone give me a run down on what I'll be expected to do so I can brush up for the test next week? Knots, rigging, etc?

Thanks in advance.

So lets get this straight, you have Never rigged or climbed a tree but you want us to tell you how, so you can pass an climb test for Arborist??

Your going about this all wrong, not trying to be harsh, Learn how to climb a tree first, the right way, (doesnt happen in a week) and be good at it then take test so you dont hurt yourself or others around you...take the time to Learn it bro
 
I'm kind of offended that everyone is getting on my case for a typo. No, I've never climbed a tree and to be honest I've never had much of an interest in rock climbing, but like I said I've climbed ski towers for the ski patrol and have an extensive background in forestry. These skills are more than transferable to arboriculture and many firefighters I've worked with previous have gone into it in the private sector by just applying and learning the skills on the job, not by going to "special training." Working with a chainsaw is the most dangerous part of working with trees, as anyone who actually works around trees would know, so I'm wondering how many people on this board are actually in the industry and how many are enthusiasts. The tree we're testing on is going to be all of 10 feet off the ground, wow so unsafe. My weakness is in rigging, since I know nothing about ropes, but my strengths are in the actual climbing and of course the directional tree felling and limbing. If anyone can point me in the direction of rigging tutorials and what specific keywords I should be looking up I'd appreciate it. For everyone else that is flaming me for trying to get a good job that I'm qualified for, I take offense.
 
I'm kind of offended that everyone is getting on my case for a typo. No, I've never climbed a tree and to be honest I've never had much of an interest in rock climbing, but like I said I've climbed ski towers for the ski patrol and have an extensive background in forestry. These skills are more than transferable to arboriculture and many firefighters I've worked with previous have gone into it in the private sector by just applying and learning the skills on the job, not by going to "special training." Working with a chainsaw is the most dangerous part of working with trees, as anyone who actually works around trees would know, so I'm wondering how many people on this board are actually in the industry and how many are enthusiasts. The tree we're testing on is going to be all of 10 feet off the ground, wow so unsafe. My weakness is in rigging, since I know nothing about ropes, but my strengths are in the actual climbing and of course the directional tree felling and limbing. If anyone can point me in the direction of rigging tutorials and what specific keywords I should be looking up I'd appreciate it. For everyone else that is flaming me for trying to get a good job that I'm qualified for, I take offense.

Well, I am not qualified either.

You are being given a dose of reality, you just now claim to be qualified, yet you want to know some tips and tricks in order to pass the test that says you are qualified.

Which is it man, are you qualified for climbing and rigging, or not?

In-tree work is a specialty job that requires a lot of hands on experience..

OK, turn it around, your ground work fighting fires.

Really, turn it around, an urban city tree climber wants to come directly out on a job, big dangerous fire..he is qualified immediately as a hot shot smoke jumper etc because he can start and run a saw, can ascend into a tree, and back down????

think about it...

You were given a decent reference book, and you can go back and read a ton of posts on the subject here, that will give you an idea about what is involved, but short of learning/practicing with a more experienced guy, that just isn't getting the knowledge/skills/muscle memory, etc for a new to you similar but *different* quite hazardous profession.

I think you got razzed a little because this is razz worthy.

If this "certification" and test to pass is actually something you can learn in a week or less..it ain't worth squat, IMO.

Good luck with whatever you do, just try to put it more in perspective.

I have changed out busted plumbing, water heaters, etc..I doubt I could pass a professional plumbers cert (whatever that is) with one week's notice. Add any other technical skills like that.

And if I went to a plumber's forum and asked how to pass this professional grade test with one week to spare..don't you think I would get razzed by the people there?
 
I can see the crossover skills you have and your interest in the field is a good thing. It puts you above most other people that want to do this sort of thing. Why not apply with some of the big tree companies...Davey, etc...and start with them. You would start on the ground, and with training work your way up.
 
Are they even gonna have the test with the government shut down?

Sounds like you have alot to learn before applying for that job.

Using a saw in the tree is a different animal then using a saw on the ground.
 
Heck, I've been climbing for years, even got certified, but I still feel like I'm a newbie sometimes. :msp_tongue:
 
Son, you're giving us agency cutters a bad name. I'm a western C-faller for goin' on 8 years, been rock climbing for 13 years, own spurs and a belt, have actually climbed a few trees, and know enough to know I shouldn't go certify next week to be a climber.

Yes, I have friends that used to be cutters in fire that are now climbers too. But they started working on the ground for arborists, and learned how to climb from there. (Including one C-cutter who spent 4 years on the saw squad of the Entiat hotshots after 3 years of cutting on a type 2 crew and 2 years of logging) Just like on handcrews, (at least out west) we don't have rookies running saws on fire. If a guy has lots of experience skydiving but no fire experience, do you think he should be a smokejumper his rookie year?

As has been said, cutting from the ground is an entirely different animal than working in the tree. Also, you're only a restricted B-faller, which typically means you aren't that skilled working from the stump anyhow. You have a great base, but you don't know what you don't know.

It's great to have dreams and aspirations. Tree work (whether from the ground or a rope) is not something that is learned in a classroom or from a book. Rush into the difficult aspects of cutting, and you're apt to hurt yourself or someone else. Don't give up on your aspiration to be a climber. But maybe accept that you need to work on the ground for an arborist first.

And now the caveat: I take cutting seriously. I have had two friends die from trees now, Andy Palmer (NorCal 2008) and Anne Veseth (Idaho 2012), and I never want another family to needlessly go though what the Palmers and Veseths went though. I ride cutters hard and do not hand out certifications. Maybe it doesn't need to be taken as seriously as I think it does, but I'm not letting up.
 
Son, you're giving us agency cutters a bad name. I'm a western C-faller for goin' on 8 years, been rock climbing for 13 years, own spurs and a belt, have actually climbed a few trees, and know enough to know I shouldn't go certify next week to be a climber.

Yes, I have friends that used to be cutters in fire that are now climbers too. But they started working on the ground for arborists, and learned how to climb from there. (Including one C-cutter who spent 4 years on the saw squad of the Entiat hotshots after 3 years of cutting on a type 2 crew and 2 years of logging) Just like on handcrews, (at least out west) we don't have rookies running saws on fire. If a guy has lots of experience skydiving but no fire experience, do you think he should be a smokejumper his rookie year?

As has been said, cutting from the ground is an entirely different animal than working in the tree. Also, you're only a restricted B-faller, which typically means you aren't that skilled working from the stump anyhow. You have a great base, but you don't know what you don't know.

It's great to have dreams and aspirations. Tree work (whether from the ground or a rope) is not something that is learned in a classroom or from a book. Rush into the difficult aspects of cutting, and you're apt to hurt yourself or someone else. Don't give up on your aspiration to be a climber. But maybe accept that you need to work on the ground for an arborist first.

And now the caveat: I take cutting seriously. I have had two friends die from trees now, Andy Palmer (NorCal 2008) and Anne Veseth (Idaho 2012), and I never want another family to needlessly go though what the Palmers and Veseths went though. I ride cutters hard and do not hand out certifications. Maybe it doesn't need to be taken as seriously as I think it does, but I'm not letting up.


Well said!
 
I started out with CDF fighting a lot of fires and cutting a lot of line over the years. I got on a felling crew, and later on got on a climbing crew doing bug trees. Each was different and required learning a new set of skills. Running 1st saw on the line isn't the same as learning to fell a tree. Taking a big top while on spikes isn't like felling a tree down on the ground.
Don't embarrass your self trying to pass a climbing test. The instructor will see through you in the first 10 min. Thats not being negative, but real. You can't fake experience for long.
Doesn't say a lot for your creditably and honesty lieing about your skills either, just saying. What would be really scary is if you did some how pass it. Why? because you don'
t have the skills.
Thats not to say you can't learn them. But taking short cuts is just going to cause you problems all around. I have 30 years + climbing . Come work with me cert. or no cert. but claiming to be and know something you don't your going to go home humiliated. On the other hand come in as a novice with a willingness to learn and some integrity. You'll be ready to take and pass that test in a year maybe.
You wouldn't believe how many wannabe climber not make it up that 10' stick. Only advice I have for you is don't put the spikes on the wrong feet. That's what posers always seem to do. Man I wish I could be there.
Being humble and a willingness to learn is what makes a newbie a pro. That paper doesn't mean crap if you can't walk the walk.
 

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