Tim,
That looks like no fun... no fun at all.
A couple of threads come to mind when looking at that last pic..
Skinny pines..
plunging the spar..
the thread on safety Brian started after your friend was killed..
Here's a quote from the safety thread that I wrote..
"Clear communication, especially from climber to ground support, and being willing to stop the work long enough to make sure everyone knows what's going on, even if that seems redundant... "
Now that's a perfect example... You'd expect the ground suppoprt to know how much pull to use and when to stop pulling and let it fall. They've probably done it right a hundred times.. so what happenned on the 101st??? It might have SEEMED redundant or a waste of time to check with them to make sure they knew how much pull you were looking for. To me it's worth the extra time just to make sure.
Also from the same thread... "getting a sense when the energy of a crew is off.. seeing the little warnings, the mini-mishaps (broken polesaws... mishandled chainsaws, damage to fences, planters....trips, slips,and scrapes etc).. these warnings are always present prior to accidents for those who are paying attention"
In my way of thinking you've had your warning.. Something is amiss with the ground crew... They did something that put your safety in jepardy... Next time you might get hurt. So a serious talk is in order... not over lunch or coffee. And keep your awareness up.. watch them and protect yourself.
What kind of notch did you use?...
There was quite a bit of discussion about type of notch and backcut speed , etc on the skinny pines thread.
I guess you were not using an open face because you didn't want the but to kick back towards the house.
Also were you tied in using a choked climbing line as well as the steel core lanyard?
And what kind of chain saw lanyard were you using?
To me that's another safety issue.. using a saw lanyard lets the climber drop the saw without thinking and use both hands to secure his safety.
Safe climbing to all.
God Bless,
Daniel