emr wrote:
I gave up on trying to isolate my line in any evergreen. I now just toss the throw line high in the canopy as close to the trunk as possible and then pull my line up. I asscend SRT which has some advantages. By climbing SRT you dont get all the sap on your rope, you dont have to install a cambium saver, and you can usually get the rope higher in the tree for your initial climb.

Yep, it's tough work to isolate a branch for DRT in many conifers. If your TIP is up high, say in the 60+ foot range then a DRT climb is going to be slow trip up (not a bad way to enjoy being in the woods though). It's doable if you don't have SRT gear.

Even for a ground anchored SRT TIP that EMR describes you still have the path up to consider. With this kind of TIP I do some throw bag manipulation to get an optimal route up. Especially with white pine there can be a thicket of dead branches to get though, I try to work my throw bag down through the most open route.
-moss

moss wrote:

Yep, it's tough work to isolate a branch for DRT in many conifers. If your TIP is up high, say in the 60+ foot range then a DRT climb is going to be slow trip up (not a bad way to enjoy being in the woods though).


I think of it as a great challenage and enjoy taking the time it takes to get a good line in a pine. Lately I have been in a few big ones with branch in the 10-14 inch ranges and lots of them.

This is practice time, being patient, bouncing the bag about and fliping. At times I amaze myself as to how it works.

I have also learned to set a lower line with a good and easy path then set a higher one once in the tree.

You can even do a bad path, then get to a point that you need to lanyard in and move the rope over a branch or two to get a better path. I am now comfortable doing that.

ALL IN ALL - it takes practice. Take the throw line out and just pitch and pitch and pitch. It is a great way to burn calories, build up arm and chest muscles and rid your self of pent up stress. (well maybe)

works for me

jz

jerseygirl wrote:

I think of it as a great challenge and enjoy taking the time it takes to get a good line in a pine. ....At times I amaze myself as to how it works.

Now yer talking. I really enjoy the process of getting a throwline over a branch. I think of it as a major sub-discipline of tree climbing. Yes it has taken me an hour or more to get the branch I want, yes I talk to the tree and sometimes use heated words I later regret. But then there's the fun of walking up to the tree, throwing and watching the bag float over the branch on the first (or second) try and then dropping down in a perfect path for the climb up.

Gravity is a great friend, it's amazing how the bag can have eyes and drop right down right where it's supposed to go. As JZ said, keep practicing and the bag will start to work for you.

There's another positive aspect of taking some time to get your line in the tree. While you're throwing and re-throwing and moving your bag around in the tree you're really getting to know the tree, seeing things that you might not have picked up on when you did your initial assessment. When I get my branch in the first couple throws on a new tree I might think "I'm not ready to climb yet". After all we just met, have to get to know you a little better!
-moss

I did the twin pines again and have a video of the way my line ended up after the isolation, NOT clean, i had to do one change. The lines were on each one side of the tree - 3 and 9 o'clock. I was able to move then both to 6 o'clock but still had two branchs in the middle of them. That would require me to climb to that point, lanyard in and just flip the line to the back side of the tree, from 6 o'clock clockwise to 3 o'clock - that brought both line with only 1 twist in line for a CLEAN climb to the TIP. My best tip yet at about 60- foot up.

video for your viewing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm2cNX8uMfg

jz

Pretty much all we have to climb around here is pines.

I tend to like (over-rely on?) gadgets, but I've found the big-shot helps a lot with Pine entry.

I fire a bag over a high branch trying to keep closer to the trunk (practically straight up) so the line up doesn't run over branches too far from the trunk. This is fairly easy to do with a Big-shot, and hard to do with a traditional throw (plus you can place a lot higher). When the bag goes over a suitable branch and down the other side, I then pull it back till it gets to the trunk, and then let it drop straight down. This gives a straight drop close to the tree.

Now you have a line going up and over on each side of the placement branch, both pretty close to the tree trunk. If the line needs a little walking to get closer to the trunk, or re-positioning, I'll usually pull the climbing rope through before making those adjustments, as the heavier rope does better at that than the throwing cord.

Then it's simply a matter of deciding which of the two ends seems more suitable for an SRT climb up. The other end I usually tie to 1-inch webbing wrapped 2-3 times around and secured to the _base_ of the tree.

Good stuff on describing Big Shot use. For the conifers that I climb a straight up shot is going be blocked by a dense array of dead branches below the crown. I usually stalk outside the perimeter of the conifer dripline looking for a window to fire just above the target branch and next to the trunk. Then the fun begins, the shot is the relatively easy part. The throwbag could be though the crown of another tree. Gentle consistent pulling brings the bag back, whenever you break though resistance let the bag drop free immediately to prevent wrapping around a small branch. It's mostly a blind process. Soon you'll be able to drop the bag down the route that you'd like to take up the tree. Work the other end of the throwline with a heavier throwbag to bring it back to the trunk enough to set up your trunk anchor, if you capture a few other limbs in the system (as emr mentioned) all the better for your safety.
-moss