moss
ArboristSite Guru
A rec climb for northeast Arboristsite folks was held on Saturday, May 12. Treebeach was our host, with OTG Boston and my mossy self providing backup.
The climb was held on a fine white oak a mile+ walk in from the road in Petersham, Mass. The weather was excellent, sunny and warm but not too warm. I don't know the final head count but I think we had 14 or so climbers plus friends on the ground. An interesting array of human powered transportation devices was used to carry gear and reach the tree: bicyles, wagons, trailers (and a unicycle with knobby tires!). As we prepared to hike in I think I heard someone say "wagonpalooza!" We might have called the climb "blackflypalooza". So we donated blood to the local ecosystem, fair enough.
Climb020 made it up from New Jersey and Adrpk from NYC. also had climbers from Connecticut, New Hampshire and from Mass. A variety of interesting gear configurations and climb techniques were used. A new climber made his first ascent in a tree and Treebeach and others demonstrated throwing and other climb techniques. Climb020 demo'd an SRT false crotch/DdRT system and wowed the group with his quick as a cat movement in the tree. Meanwhile some big swings were happening in the crown. Climbers were still in the tree 4-5 hours after the start. As we wound up Treebeach ran a throwing drill to help climbers prepare for upcoming competition. I'll leave it to others to offer their pics, reports and comments. I'll post my pics too.
-blackFlyChewedButHappyMoss
The climb was held on a fine white oak a mile+ walk in from the road in Petersham, Mass. The weather was excellent, sunny and warm but not too warm. I don't know the final head count but I think we had 14 or so climbers plus friends on the ground. An interesting array of human powered transportation devices was used to carry gear and reach the tree: bicyles, wagons, trailers (and a unicycle with knobby tires!). As we prepared to hike in I think I heard someone say "wagonpalooza!" We might have called the climb "blackflypalooza". So we donated blood to the local ecosystem, fair enough.
Climb020 made it up from New Jersey and Adrpk from NYC. also had climbers from Connecticut, New Hampshire and from Mass. A variety of interesting gear configurations and climb techniques were used. A new climber made his first ascent in a tree and Treebeach and others demonstrated throwing and other climb techniques. Climb020 demo'd an SRT false crotch/DdRT system and wowed the group with his quick as a cat movement in the tree. Meanwhile some big swings were happening in the crown. Climbers were still in the tree 4-5 hours after the start. As we wound up Treebeach ran a throwing drill to help climbers prepare for upcoming competition. I'll leave it to others to offer their pics, reports and comments. I'll post my pics too.
-blackFlyChewedButHappyMoss
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