Treetools Blog 

LATE BREAKING NEWS!

Last week Treetools blogged about the progress a certain NZ Arbor sub-committee was making in recognizing the subtleties of single rope technique (remember the irritating debate at the Auckland Regional TCC regarding the use of SRT Work Positioning in the competition).

The NZ Arbor sub-committee were onto cutting edge stuff with this submission, since most ISA chapters are still bundling the term SRT under one umbrella - download the proposed NZ Arbor BPG submission document here.

Apparently the Treetools blog post put the cat amongst the pigeons!

All of a sudden the world was looking at New Zealand for direction on the use of SRT Ascent and Work Positioning (a spike in visitor numbers to the Treetools blog confirms this assertion).

And yet, if you read the submission, it's content is commonsense and not controversial at all.

Apart, of course, the fact that Single Rope Technique is divided into two distinct categories, namely SRT Ascent and SRT Work Positioning.

Now, with heat from the ITCC spot light on the humble kiwi SRT submission, a rethink is afoot.

According to sub-committee member Jerry Lynch, the NZ tree climbing community has about 3 weeks to collate and review SRT submissions for inclusion in the 2012 Best Practice Guideline.

A unique email address has even been set up to receive climber input (climbsrt@gmail.com) - please forgive the bias in the name.

A single rope technique symposium in Auckland is also on the cards.

The proposed symposium would offer a chance for everyone involved in New Zealand tree climbing to have their say regarding the use of SRT Ascent and Work Positioning in tree care (for and against).

This includes the use of the Rope Wrench and the Unicender (SRT Work Positioning) as well as the traditional 'frog' systems (SRT Ascent).

Treetools will post more information as it comes to hand.

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When asked by Jordan Glossop of iClimbinc in a recent interview what his current all-round favorite climbing line was, three times Asia-Pacific TCC winner James Kilpatrick answered "Donaghys Cougar Blue" - see the full interview here.

Endorsement by one of the world's leading tree climbers (and the men's world foot lock record holder) is high praise indeed for this new rope from Donaghys.

Cougar Blue is based on the existing 11mm 'Cougar' rope manufactured by New Zealand-based company, Donaghys.

Braiding 'tweaks', under the direction of Australian tree climber Grant Cody and current world champion Scott Forrest have resulted in a climbing line rapidly gaining favor with tree climbers all over the world.

Donaghys are a relatively small rope manufacturer by world standards, not unlike the size of the NZ tree climbing community - and yet both punch well above their weight on the world stage.

Treetools New Zealand is the exclusive distributor of Cougar Blue in this country.

10% of all sales through Treetools goes directly to the Scott Forrest Legends Foundation, a funding mechanism for New Zealand tree climbers competing internationally, of which James is one.

Thanks for the endorsement James - much appreciated!

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It takes big balls to publicize your mishaps… but most tree climbers really appreciate the sharing of experiences - both good and bad.

Shaun Hardman posted a video late last week showing the little problem he had wrestling a large pine section to the ground.

Many people might shy away from this kind of exposure but its lessons like Shaun's that help consolidate the industry's thinking on safety.

Plenty of 'incidents' get swept under the carpet, rendering them useless in terms of learning.

You will note from the video that Shaun was not wearing a lanyard.

The decision not to use a lanyard was a conscious one and not sloppiness on his behalf. Indeed the lack of a lanyard, in this instance, may have saved his life.

The other components in Shaun's system behaved as they were designed. That is, they helped dissipate the energy produced when the climbing line snagged on the falling piece.

The friction hitch and bridge on the Treemotion harness absorbed much of this energy.

The Treemotion bridge, in particular, took a fairly substantial hit, loading on one end resulting in the stopper knot rolling about 20mm. The tail sucked in through the knot by a similar amount and leading bight on the knot constricted onto the rope bridge itself almost cutting through.

All these small movements help release the build up of energy, rather than concentrate the power into the otherwise weakest link in the system - Shaun's body.

On behalf of the tree climbing community, thanks for sharing Shaun!

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In a word, SAFETY!

NZ Arbor BPG Committee member Mark Roberts got it right when he said "we need to get a few key safety points into existence before someone kills themselves"

The BPG Committee is well aware that SRT Ascent systems are becoming more and more commonplace in NZ tree work.

The committee is probably also aware that real-world application of these ascent systems suggest they are not as safe as first imagined. The problem is compounded when the systems are mis-configured or mis-used - which is very easily done.

In theory at least, SRT Accent systems do present a compelling safety argument - possibly the reason why this method is endorsed by the ITCC and why most of the major arb companies in New Zealand use a single line for ascent into big trees.

Efficiency, lower-ability of the climber in the case of an emergency and the setting of an additional lowerable, access line in the tree all sound very safe indeed.

The problem is, work-place reality is slightly different.

Climbers regularly Work Position on SRT Ascent equipment and the toothed-cam ascenders commonly used in SRT Ascent are not designed for that application (as cavers well know).

Moving laterally on the single line (using toothed-cam ascenders), stepping up onto a branch, or introducing even small amounts of slack into the SRT Ascent system can be fatal - see previous blog post on the subject here.

It's safety concerns like these that are driving many arb companies and individual aerial arborists to adopt the use of Single Line Work Positioning (contrary to what some industry pundits have to say).

Single Line Work Positioning equipment allows for efficient ascent as well as lateral movement in the tree, not unlike DbRT  - in short, the best of both worlds in terms of safety. A separate access line can still be installed if that was deemed necessary.



Johno Smith Single Line Work Positioning on the Unicender.

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Make full screen for better viewing.

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Number five ranked NZ tree climber Shaun Hardman has been sitting at home for the last week nursing a broken tailbone following a small accident (more on that soon) but he has put this down time to good use.

Check out the video below showing his helicopter removal of a large Macrocarpa on One Tree Hill, for Treescape Auckland.

Shaun shoots his video footage with a GoPro camera and edits using Adobe Premier Elements 10, challenging Tumai Laybourn for the best NZ tree climbing video - see Tumai's work here.

Shaun works for Treescape and Tumai is with Oakwood although they both worked together at Treescape in the past.

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One expects to see kiwi tree climbers featuring on New Zealand websites but its great to see them on international sites as well.

Jordan Glossop's Singapore-based iClimbinc.com is the latest website to acknowledge the influence of kiwi tree climbers on the world scene.

Scott 'the Legend' Forrest, Ross Kite, James Kilpatrick and Drew Bristow all have cameo spots on the new site and there is even a 'group' photo of NZ tree climbers, which looks like it was taken at the 2010 New Zealand National TCC at Ellereslie Racecourse in Auckland.

And Jordan is full of praise for his kiwi supporters; here's what he had to say when Treetools spoke with him earlier today

"It feels great to finally have the website back on-line after months of reconstruction. Thanks for the patience in between time and we hope you all enjoy the new site.

The iClimbinc team would like to thank everyone who has contributed and inspired us; and while we have an opportunity to share a few comments here on the Treetools Blog, we would like mention some of the kiwi supporters who have motivated, supported and sponsored iCLIMBinc.com since the beginning.

A big shout out to Treetools, Climb Every Thing, Thoughtplanters, Fisher Photo Industry, Pro Climb and NZ Arbor. Without support and inspiration nothing is possible, and this team from New Zealand have been awesome from the get go! Thank you".

Good on ya Jordo! Your new site looks fantastic!


Legends Foundation patron and current world champion Scott Forrest features in the home page slide show on the newly launched iClimbinc website (along with a few other familiar kiwi tree climbing faces).

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According to Andy Harrison of Harrison Rockets fame, kiwi tree climbers first used SRT Work Positioning (in a TCC) back in 1996 - that's sixteen years ago - see link below.

In another first, Auckland contract climber, Johno Smith is now world recognized for his use of the Unicender while climbing single line.

More recently, Asplundh aerial arborist Guy Clark entered the NZ TCC history books when he completed the Aerial Rescue and Work Climb at the NZ Arbor sanctioned Taranaki Open TCC in February while using the Singing Tree Rope Wrench.

The 'Wrench' allowed Guy to climb on a single line while still utilizing a traditional friction hitch.

And earlier this week Treetools blogged about the progress made by the NZ Arbor Best Practice Guidelines Committee in recognizing the different forms of single rope technique; namely, SRT Ascent and SRT Work Positioning.

As far as Treetools is aware, New Zealand Arbor may be the first ISA affiliated chapter to differentiate between the two forms of single rope technique in tree work.

So what you say? Well… just stop and think about this for a minute.

New Zealand holds both men and women's world tree climbing titles, the men and women's world foot lock records, the ISA Vice president is a kiwi, we have a prominent kiwi arborist on the ITCC Technical Advisory Committee…

…and some of these guys are on the NZ Arbor BPG Committee. So, like it or not, they do have a major influence on the future of tree climbing in NZ and possibly the rest of the world.

More importantly, the BPG committees decision to accept the two different forms of SRT is a direct reflection of this countries acceptance of single rope work positioning in tree work.

Treetools has said it before, and we'll say it again, NZ Arbor and the kiwi tree climbing community are definitely leading the way when it comes to single rope work positioning.

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In this day and age its not a big ask to have tree climbing competition results posted on the net. And yet they are still pretty hard to find (apart from those provided by chief NZ score-keep Neal Harding)

Lack of public access to TCC results is such a shame because most competitive tree climbers like to have a look at where everyone placed in a competition, particularly the individual event scores.

Thankfully, Treetools has 'connections' so we can happily provide you with the results from the 2012 Asia-Pacific Regional TCC held recently in Hobart, Tasmania (won, of course, for the third time by kiwi tree climber and men's world foot lock record holder and iClimbinc.com hero James Kilpatrick).

Download the 2012 Asia-Pacific Regional TCC results here (our thanks to Treescape aerial arborist and Asia-Pacific Regional TCC competitor David Stejskal)

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Ox-On PowerGrab tree climbing gloves have been on the New Zealand market since March - see previous blog post here.

European experience with this particular glove had shown they were ideal for tree work, particularly when climbing with a friction hitch.

As the latex on the Ox-On PowerGrab glove deteriorates it flakes off in small pieces, rather than in long strips. Latex on similar style gloves tends to peel off in strips where it eventually rides into the friction hitch causing it to perform under par.

The Ox-On PowerGrab gloves have sold well at Treetools and our customers tell us the gloves perform as expected. Of course, they do wear out, but the latex does not thread and there are no problems with the friction hitch binding.

Ox-On PowerGrab gloves are available in Standard or Thermo.



Used Ox-On gloves kindly donated by David Kite from ProTree.

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