Thanks for posting the pics, Andy! Got back from Crystal an hour ago. It started off sunny, then fogged in, then lightly snowed from 11 am on...put the kibosh on out of the area touring we were considering. A vicious north upslope wind had messed up some great north faces. First real turns were dropping into Lobotomy, which is next to Brain Damage. Had to traverse Pinball to get a pow pocket on the side of the next couloir. The three closest lines just left of the summit in this pic, shot last Feb.:
Found better snow in the North Backcountry, 12-16" of very skiable powder, and plenty of spots that had been missed by the masses.....And wow, did they ever glade the hell out of Left Angle over to Niagara....now some of the best steep trees in the US of Eh....1800 vert of 32 degrees....
To answer some questions. The set up was: Set blue plasma high modulus zero stretch line (1/2 inch and 36k tensile) to support the two fir trunks. Then, I set a lowering block 30 feet above to lower the top. Below the plasma line and about 12 feet above where the hemlock was lodged, I set our other high modulus line through my big block which was rigged to both trunks in a fashion that would cinch them together under load--with a 54,000# tensile spectra 5/8th inch sling, and ran it to the GRCS. Then I climbed out on the leaner, topped it, lowered it, then chunked it back to the fir. Next, I carefully cut the lower trunk on the other side of where it was lodged, which suspended the leaner. Lots of pressures in play there, but managed to not pinch the saw ( unlike in andy's pic fromt he next day, when I stupidly tried to cut the stuck piece out, pinching the 346--had to call for a wedge and hammer to free the saw.) Then I descended, and we cut the tree off the stump till it was vertical and the butt was next to the fir where the GRCS was attached. Then, we continued to cut 4-6 foot sections off as we lowered it down, till it 20 feet long and we could lay it down. I reckon we had 8-10k pounds of tree hanging!
Fir was appx 155 feet tall, hemlock? maybe 140 plus...
It was getting dark on day one, so Scott only got a few pics. John the customer shot a video and kindly presented me with a DVD the next day when I went back to drop the fir, after derigged the gear.
Yes, that last shot of me rapping off that tiny stub shows some dingbatty carelessness. I did unclip my lanyard and forgot the lifeline was only around that small stub...I was near the ground and spurred down, holding on to the trunk. In the old days, I used to spur up free too often and too high...
*passes them around*
