Slvrmple72
Addicted to ArboristSite
I was removing a large primary limb this week that separated into a "Y" with one half going up at about 85 degrees and the other half going over the roof of the two story house at about 65 degrees. I limbed the upper one and was using it as my working spar to get out on the end of the lower half of the Y to cut it and piece it down. Anyhow, not having a suitable tie in for a secondary anchor I used my reliable tree sloth method... that is I climb out under the limb against the pull of my line with my lanyard around the limb so I can delimb it on my way up. This was working fine except it was another cold and wet day in lovely Ohio and that made the going rough. I had unclipped my lanyard to untangle it, still anchored by my climbing line, and that is when I lost my grip on the limb and the realization of what I had done wrong set in. I had climbed out with my tie in on the upper spar going UNDER the lower limb so as I lost my grip and gaffed out I was swinging wildly like a Yo-Yo on the end of my rope bouncing that spar like mad and peppering the cold air with expletives. Thankfully everyone had a good chuckle and I can tolerate being called "George" for a while but I want to stress the importance of thinking through your setup... this could have wound up in an entirely different forum on this site. Climb safe!
