West Coast Redwood climb

[frans]

I would like to share a recent get together a group of friends and myself did. This took place at the Redwoods River Resort (www.redwoodriverresort.com/) and across the hwy. at Confusion Hill. These places are just off hwy. 101 just north of Leggitt, CA.
My friend Jack owns the place and we have been climbing there for many years.
A few links for additional information about us and what we do:
http://www.wesjones.com/climbing1.htm#source
www.atreestory.com
www.newtribe.com
http://www.gypoclimber.com/showthread.php?t=12444

I drove my (new to me) Land Rover series 11a 109. This was a shake down cruise after extensive modifications.
I bought the Land Rover from Ike at www.pangolin4x4. This rover has a heart transplant which is a 283 SBC engine, a forward control transmission, salsbury rear axle and a stage 1 front axle.
'Lumpy' made the trip fine except that after about 10 miles into the trip I asked my if he smelled something burning. Ha! I had wired up the battery isolator incorrectly (to run the fridge off of a deep cycle battery). So it was overcharging. No big deal really, I just disconnected a wire and we were on our way.

This get together consisted of a couple of climbers from the U.K., and lots of folks from the East Coast. Many of them having never seen a redwood, much less climbed one.

The purpose of the climb was to test out a prototype rope ascending device which our friend had just invented. This is a motorized ascender which climbs up a rope.
Sure makes is easy to make those long ascents!
How we climb is to 'set' a rope over several branches far into the canopy, tie one end off to the base of the tree, and climb up the other end of the rope. The way we get a rope up to the 125' range (height of the lowest branches, is by using a 'big shot'. sorta a sling shot on steroids. Details in one of the pictures.
This was an exciting and rewarding trip. We even got to bring a complete novice into the tree, and down safely. Her picture is the one of her standing on the Segway.
It is really a blast to introduce people to these natural wonders.
I feel so lucky to live in a place (ca.) that has these natural wonders.
Anyhow here are some pictures of the event, and pictures of Lumpy the rover. Also one picture of our mascot, Jerry the ken doll.
Enjoy:
ps: (I also threw in one sorta blurry picture of me climbing in a Giant Sequoia. Its the one with the branches over 6 feet thick!)

[frans]

The tree climbing we do, is a very specialized activity involving highly evolved gear and techniques.
The methods we use are completely oriented toward preservation. We use no climbing spikes, for example, on these trees. Rather, we use non-invasive rope climbing techniques. Even the ropes hanging over limbs are protected by 'Cambium Savers' which eliminate the rope rubbing on the limbs.
Our group consists of professional licensed certified arborists, High and low angle rope rescue instructors, Forest service forester, and professional licensed timber operators, forest canopy researchers, published authors, and tree climbing instructors.
We have a combined experience of, gosh, well, many decades of time.
I say this because of the inherently contentious nature of climbing these trees which we consider to be a national heritage. As a treasure of our nation, we feel it is paramount to observe closely evey possible precaution to leave these trees in exactly the condition that we found them.
We also feel that it is important to educated the public on these natural wonders to keep awareness high of them, and work to insure that they are here for generations to come.

a few more pictures:

[kellymoe]

What is the safety back up should the motorized ascender fail? Is it a series of rollers creating friction or two wheels camming on the rope? Looks interesting.

[frans]

I want to add that my purchase of a series land rover has always been a dream of mine.
I grew up on the t.v. shows which included land rovers, dreamed of cruising along in an old land rover, and got a real kick out of the movie 'the gods must be crazy'.
Part of owning a land rover for me is being out in and enjoying the back county of our state.
I also don't mind working on vehicles, which is lucky seeing as how this land rover is older than I am.
We live in such a unique place. What other place can boast that within a few short hours you can drive from a temperate rain forest with the tallest trees in the world, to the oldest trees in the world (still under investigation), to the largest trees in the world?
We have deserts, rain forests, places where the snow has never melted, to places that have no rain at all!
We are truly lucky to live in such a wonderful place.
I look forward to driving my series land rover to many of these places, and hopefully to meeting many of you expo members.
The next place I intend on going is to the All British Field Meet in Portland Or.
Hope to see you there!

-frans

[Co-opski]

Keen TR! I have only seen redwoods in Europe and a few arboretums here and there in the N. America. Some day I plan on making that trip down to see them full grown in Cali.

[frans]

What is the safety back up should the motorized ascender fail? Is it a series of rollers creating friction or two wheels camming on the rope? Looks interesting.

The Ropetek Wraptor!
The rope feeds into a 'v' pulley which captivates it. At the top of the device is a CMI Ropewalker. Which is a cam type rope grab.
So in the event of a failure, the ropewalker will grab the rope.
Good question as we always have two separate systems in personal fall protection
here is a close up of the ropetek wraptor. It is a prototype so all the kinks have not been worked out. The narrow black and yellow rope is called 'Beeline' and is rated to just over 8000lbs. at the end of the b-line is a double auto locking snap not visible in the pix. So you tie into the ring at the base of the device and then snap the b-line also to your saddle. The ropewalker 'walks' above the device:

[frans]

I would also like to say that I am open to any questions or comments regarding the possible negative effects of climbing/touching these trees. I will do my level best to answer anyones thoughts on this topic.
I think that questions and comments can be very valuable. I also feel that I can always learn something new.

Some concerns I have had include:
On some of these group climbs, I have seen climbers breaking small twigs off of the tree while thrashing/climbing in the canopy. Is it better to just not climb the tree? Can breaking pencil sized twigs have a negative effect? I personally think so, when you think about the cumulative effect is has. Just take a look at the Ponderosa Pines in Yosemite Village. They have had people tramping around the bases and compacting the soil. Some have even failed because of this.

Anyhow, open to discussion if anyone is interested.

-frans

[frans]

Keen TR! I have only seen redwoods in Europe and a few arboretums here and there in the N. America. Some day I plan on making that trip down to see them full grown in Cali.

Oh you gotta make the trip! New Zealand has redwoods also.

[HiddenDuke]

What would happen to these trees if everyone climbed them?

[kjp1969]

I would also like to say that I am open to any questions or comments regarding the possible negative effects of climbing/touching these trees. I will do my level best to answer anyones thoughts on this topic.
I think that questions and comments can be very valuable. I also feel that I can always learn something new.

Some concerns I have had include:
On some of these group climbs, I have seen climbers breaking small twigs off of the tree while thrashing/climbing in the canopy. Is it better to just not climb the tree? Can breaking pencil sized twigs have a negative effect? I personally think so, when you think about the cumulative effect is has. Just take a look at the Ponderosa Pines in Yosemite Village. They have had people tramping around the bases and compacting the soil. Some have even failed because of this.

Anyhow, open to discussion if anyone is interested.

-frans

http://www.mdvaden.com/redwood_climbing.shtml

"But however delicately a climber moves, they must grab branches, wrap ropes over limbs, stand on bark and slide clothing against buds and lichens. It's not possible to move through a redwood without changing it."