A simple way to do a good ballpark measure is to drop a throwline with a throw weight on it down to the ground. You can measure your arm's spread "wingspan" and pull up your throwline measure per wingspan units.

Old maples can have lots of cavities as you describe.
-moss

I don't know Canadian blend...but in the Carolina's they call maples "kid killers" You gotta watch those limbs too, my brother fell from one that was perfectly healthy looking when we were kids. That bark seems to hide a lot of internal damage. Tie in close, and Climb Safe!

I'd climb it. Looks kinda like the poplar behind my house, which has 5 leads, 4 of which are about 80'. Nice tree.

Climb Safe!
Icabod

The joy of finding a nice big climber. . .

As I tramp through the tick infested swamps of central Jersey looking for the elusive “great climber”, I can appreciate the excitement over your recent find.
(SRT-Tech, “The Mother of All Trees”)

It has been my experience that in the wild, big trees, upon close inspection, are usually quite damaged. Sometimes to the point of being unclimbable.

If by chance your recent find is less than about 30% rotten and/or hollowed, A good pruning/clean-up job would probably add another 50 years on to her life span. If you can clean-up the damage & die-back before it gets in to the main leaders (when ever possible), your extending the tree’s survival chances tenfold.

Be the “Jonny Appleseed” of the Canadian Outback so my grandchildren can someday climb the same Monster Maple as you.

Got your SilkySaw & scabbard ready?
Regards,
-Ej-

P.S. - Blood, Sweat & Sawdust is good for your gear! Really.
P.P.S. - If possible, post a closeup photo of a leaf of the new found tree.

Thanks!

well, my VALHALLA tree is full of rotten goodness....lots of top cavities filled with soggy goop and moss, mostly a foot out from the truck on each limb. There IS about 4 stout limbs i can anchor to safely, but the rest are No Go.

Seems to be the norm for trees in that portion of the park.

I would LOVE to prune and remove deadwood from that tree, but i fear the local district would hang me from the same tree. They did'nt take kindly to my suggestion that sevral trees with huge dead limbs over a popular hiking path be pruned.....oph well, guess it will take a dead jogger of hiker to spur them into action...

BTW, this is the treeclimbign saw i own, compact, cuts FAST and clean, adn fits into a nice holster on my belt:

I could write volumes about constables or stewards of wooded areas that think they are doing “good” when they protect killer trees. Such ignorance annoys me. <sigh>

There is a particular Beech tree that I found on one of my tree-searches. I have visited the tree several times over the last few years. It is big, old, and beautiful, but was in need of maintenance. With some assistance from a fellow climber, over a two year period, we have cleaned her up quite nicely. In spite of buckshot wounds in her trunk from local hunters, that ol’ Beech should last many more years.

As for your folding saw. . .
Nice tool.
That is perfect for rec climbing.
Thanks for posting the graphic too!

From reading your posts I’ll assume that the local district knows that you are “out and about” in their trees. An interesting situation.

Keep hunting for the perfect climber. It’s out there!
-Ej-