Spot to Rec climb around pittsburgh

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Try that park where they hold the vintage car race in the summer. It's over near Carnegie Mellon; is it Schenely Park? That's a nice place. I used to go there on Sunday mornings to do laps on my motorcycle.

Frick Park is fine. I mountain biked all through there at all times of the day. There's a nice parking area off Braddock Ave where all the dog-walkers park because there's a big open grassy field. I'm sure you could find a tall tree to climb on the edge of the grassy field and I really doubt the dog walkers will bother you.
 
Try that park where they hold the vintage car race in the summer. It's over near Carnegie Mellon; is it Schenely Park? That's a nice place. I used to go there on Sunday mornings to do laps on my motorcycle.

Frick Park is fine. I mountain biked all through there at all times of the day. There's a nice parking area off Braddock Ave where all the dog-walkers park because there's a big open grassy field. I'm sure you could find a tall tree to climb on the edge of the grassy field and I really doubt the dog walkers will bother you.

Schenley IS where they have the vintage grand prix. :rock:
 
I'm a rec. Climb Facilatator here in PA. I checked with the Dep. Of Forestry a few years ago about rec. Climbing on stste land. The word straight from Harrisburg is that you may climb in any state forrest or state gameland as long as no har is done to the trees. Use your rope sleeves and you're good. Just be nice if a Ranger stops you and explain what you're doing. You should be good.

The idea of befriending a farmer is good too. Biggest tree I've ever went up was owned by a farmer I met while on the job. Good luck.
 
I am not being smart here,I have about 35 acres up here in Lawrence County. Liability is getting to be a huge thing.There is no way I would let anyone on my property to climb with out some kind of legal waiver and proof of liability insurance. No offense is meant to anyone,but I have heard some horror stories when it comes to land owner liability.
A friend of mine had a 2 kids on one quad wreck on his property. He never gave them permission to ride there. The kids parents sued my friend and won. They took all the insurance would pay and then some.
I have since put up fences and no trespassing signs,not to be a jerk. But I am worried about loosing everything I have worked for,to some illegal trespasser and a court that does not care about a land owner.20 years ago I would not run a fly off of my place,today you are nuts if you do not.
 
I am not being smart here,I have about 35 acres up here in Lawrence County. Liability is getting to be a huge thing.There is no way I would let anyone on my property to climb with out some kind of legal waiver and proof of liability insurance. No offense is meant to anyone,but I have heard some horror stories when it comes to land owner liability.
A friend of mine had a 2 kids on one quad wreck on his property. He never gave them permission to ride there. The kids parents sued my friend and won. They took all the insurance would pay and then some.
I have since put up fences and no trespassing signs,not to be a jerk. But I am worried about loosing everything I have worked for,to some illegal trespasser and a court that does not care about a land owner.20 years ago I would not run a fly off of my place,today you are nuts if you do not.

Not to worry, if a tree climber trespasses on your land and hurts themselves you have no responsibility. Look at it this way, if a burglar tried to break into your house, fell off the porch roof and broke their leg do you think you'd have to pay their hospital bills?

The good news for private land owners is they are greatly protected from liability when they grant permission for recreational activity on their land, just as long as they don't charge a fee. If you charge money for land use then insurance becomes an issue. It's different for each state but every state has what's called "Recreational Use Statutes" which are written to encourage private landowners to allow recreational use of their land without fear of being sued.

I have verbal agreements with several private landowners to climb on their land. I have no specific tree climber liability insurance, no waivers etc. When practiced by skilled climbers who understand the fundamentals and follow accepted safety protocols recreational rope and harness tree climbing is safer than hiking a trail.
-AJ
 
A friend of mine had a 2 kids on one quad wreck on his property. He never gave them permission to ride there. The kids parents sued my friend and won. They took all the insurance would pay and then some.

There's more to that story. Typically a suit like that succeeds because there is an "attractive nuisance/hazardous conditions". Guessing their land was used regularly by ATV's, some with permission, some not. It's a "he said, she said" argument if that's the case, they probably argued that the land had an established ATV track which created an attractive nuisance/hazard.

If everyone gives in to fear of lawsuits we might as well all sit around in our basements in padded suits.
-AJ
 
It is not a matter of giving in,it is a matter of common sense. This is meant as no offense to you,but if you are not a lawyer your advise is as good as mine,which legally is worthless.
Just because someone trespasses does not take away your liability.In case you have not noticed,things in this country have changed over the last several years. The object IMHO is for a lawyer to get it to a jury trail. Once that happens anything can come out of it,you and I have no idea how a jury will decide.
Basically I am not in fear of trespassers,I carry liability insurance,and have upped it over the years.Recently I had a GTG at my place. Before I even offered to have the GTG,I checked with my insurance to make sure I was covered in case of an accident.
In the case of Rec. tree climbers,would my insurance cover them?Probably. But if that climber fell out of a tree,and died,a good lawyer would probably find some way to make me liable. Yep I have insurance,it covers 1 million dollars in liability. But how much is a life worth? Today my insurance most likely would not cover the settlement.
Nope I am not scared,no one is coming on my land to climb,with my permission period. If someone is trespassing and I find them in a tree they will be arrested. If I hire a tree company to top a tree,like any contractor,they will have insurance and workmen's comp or they are not working here. This is a mistake that a lot of homeowners are making. They allow a fly by night tree cutter to come in. If this guy gets hurt and does not have insurance and comp the home owner could be paying a lot more then hiring a company that is covered in the first place.
You are looking at it from a tree climbers prospective,with no liability,I from a land owner's prospective,with a lot of liability. If other land owners allow you to climb that is great,I will not.
 
I hear you Wampum, just a heads up on the recreational use liability statutes, it's not all on the ambulance chasers side.

I also hear you on the fallibility of the jury system, I could tell some stories.

Anytime an adult goes into the woods whether it's to hike, hunt or tree climb, the responsibility is on them to be smart about it. When you have children getting into accidents in the woods on ATV's etc. it's pretty much guaranteed an adult screwed up, probably their parents.

Speaking of hunting... deer hunters fall out of trees more than pro tree climbers, rec tree climbers or any one else. I haven't heard of a deer hunter suing a property owner because of falling out of a tree, I suppose it's possible, hard sell to a jury though.

Reality is there are so few active rec tree climbers, the chances of someone climbing in your woods is close to zero and if they fall out of your tree I'd go play the lottery.
-AJ
 
That story I told you about a friend being sued. They (the parents)also sued the grandfather that allowed the 2 of them on one quad. Actually they sued the grandfather's insurance company.
To give you the facts of the story,my buddy was building a new house.He had dozed most of the top soil into a pile and leveled the rest of the property. He worked steady 4 to 12 and never saw the kids riding their quads,(they stayed at grandpa's until mom got them after work)but you are right they had rode there before. After the house was done he started to spread the top soil back and cut a large part off of the front of the pile. At about 2:30 he quit and got ready for work. After the kids got home from school they got on the quad and rode up the pile and went right over the edge he had dozed away.
The quad was clearly labeled no one under 16 and one rider. Both boys were under 14. they also had to travel about 300 yards to get to the pile.My buddies wife had chased them off several times,before that day. It did not matter the jury awarded them the max. The jury ruled that my buddy should have put up warning signs and barricades,even though it was private property that was clearly posted. To me the one responsible was grandpa. I do not trust juries at all. Juries are to easy to be swayed.
 
yards to get to the pile.My buddies wife had chased them off several times,before that day. It did not matter the jury awarded them the max. The jury ruled that my buddy should have put up warning signs and barricades,even though it was private property that was clearly posted. To me the one responsible was grandpa. I do not trust juries at all. Juries are to easy to be swayed.

Sorry to hear about that. The entire litigation/insurance system is rotten and everyone's eager to take advantage of it.
-AJ
 
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