Mowgli Tree Climbing

We like to climb trees and so should you.  None of these posts are designed to be instructional. We simply wish to relate what we are doing to open up a discussion with other tree climbers, and to introduce others to this kick-ass sport.  We climb at our own risk.  If you decide to get up in some trees - you also do so at your own risk.  We are not to be held responsible for you falling out of trees or getting hurt in whatever way you may come up with. K? Good. Read on.

[mowglitreeclimbing-blog]

What kind of harnesses are you all using? I climb in the Petzl SRT sequoia.

In the video I was using a rock climbing harness...which I regretted. I usually wear my Petzl Navaho. I like the Sequoia, but I have found equally as many cons as there are pros between the two.

[mowglitreeclimbing-blog]

Lobbing a throw ball up into the crotch of the massive white oak to ascend to the bottom branch.

[mowglitreeclimbing-blog]

Tree-to-Tree Rappel

So Chad has this idea that it would be awesome to traverse tree-to-tree across a stretch of forest. Maybe a kilometer. Like an orangutan or tarzan. It would be pretty awesome. To test the viability of this idea, we have been practicing traversing between a couple of trees. If it can be done with 2 trees, why not a kilometer's worth?

The stars of this post are a white oak and a beech. One of the branches on the white oak spans over the top of the beech. The goal here is to climb up the white oak, out onto the branch, and then rappel down into the beech. The route is highlighted below...

It's nearly winter in the Appalachians!

As with every tree climb, you must start on the ground. Chad got the throw ball up in about 5 or 6 attempts (good job.)

He then ascended to the lowest crotch on the white oak and set up an anchor with some lanyards. Then he pulled up the rope and climbed a leader from where he lobbed the rope over a higher branch, and ascended the rope to the crown of the tree.

This is where things get a little trickier.

At this point, it was time to tie an anchor with the rope to one of the main branches for an upside down climb along the branch hanging over the beech. 2 other anchors were built for the rope as Chad under climbed out onto the branch to avoid swinging back and splatting the trunk where the first anchor was tied.

After the last anchor was set, Chad rappelled down the rope into the beech tree.

Traverse complete!