Ok, I checked out the Ascending the Giants web site and their YouTube video, at least one that I found. I didn't hear any comments about researchers but it must be somewhere. I remember these guys, a pair of arborists from Portland, Oregon. We had a discussion about them somewhere on the TCI message board. Overall they have good intent and a good message for the general public. They speak quite a bit about leave no trace and low impact climbing. They are promoting a "peak-bagging " mentality. If they're the only one doing it then it's not too much of a problem. The question is how many climbers will be inspired to follow them? We know that if the same champion trees in PNW old-growth are climbed repeatedly that there will be wear and tear on the ground, understory and in the canopy.

Just wondering though, isn't the vertical range of a big shot and fishing reel combo firing a 3 or 4 oz weight similar to crossbows or compound bows used by PNW research climbers?
-moss