Oldtimer,
I appreciate your welcome. Thanks. You ask some good questions. I am 55 years old. I live in Laconia NH. Beautiful mtsn. and lakes come together right here in the middle of NH.I am a therapist now,cranial sacral and breath work(been at it for 27 yrs.) It is a way to help people go deeper into themselves. I have always loved the outdoors. I do like adventure, or need it to balance the rest of my life. So when I found myself trimming trees in my yard, and going higher, it was only natural for me to hunt how to use ropes and go further with it. I have no training except for Peter's video and all that I could read. The old journals of tree climber and the tree climber's companion.
I did call the local arborist, I don't know him personally, to see if I might take a lesson or two from him, but he was unresponsive. So like any middle age guy I perused the catalogs of Sherill and New tribe. I have a newtribe harness. I have been using double rope technique and have pretty much all the basic stuff.
I have added a little something to the basic stuff that helps my arthritic fingers. I had read about Guineveve Summers using a microcender and the foot loops from new tribe. That has helped making climbing a nice balanced exercise. I also tie an extra blake's hitch on my rope to act as a tender for the main blake's hitch. Works great.
I am at the point where I am loving it more and more. I can really feel the refreshment of it physically. I have always been deeply connected to trees and have conversed with them for years. As far as the level of my accomplishment I am a rank beginner. I get an anchor as high as I can , clean up the tree if it needs it, then just enjoy at the top of my line. I sometimes go up and down a few times just for the conditioning of it, and to get more adapted to the feeling of the heights. I haven't yet set another tip in the tree. But I have been climnbing very regularly, weather permitting, even if it just for short times.
The combination of everything about this sport appeals to me. It is very much like a poem in a tree. Well I imagine I told you more then you needed to know. Thanks for the help. All the best Don Ps Where I live is on the top of a hill, but is flat on the top. My dream is to climb that 90ft. wild cherry tree behind my house. I think the view from there could be magnificent. I fantasize leaving and old line , like Peter said, and pulling up the working rope whenever I want to go to the top. Could be a fun daily vacation.