Climbing News

Technically, yes, Tree Jam Camp is a climbing competition. However, at its core it's a summer getaway weekend; a time and space for men and women in the tree climbing industry to gather with their families and hold a huge tree community family reunion. It's an event where sharing skills and knowledge are encouraged and swapping tree stories are the norm. It's a space where you're around like-minded people who have the same excitement and passion for trees, the industry, and the community as do you. It's a yearly pilgrimage for those in the industry and the 2017 event was one for the ages.

Are all friction savers created equally? Do they all do the same thing? Well, let's discuss what a friction saver does and what the advantages and disadvantages are when using one of these great tools. Friction savers have been around for quite a while now and are used by some of the most efficient climbers in the world. 

Many times when rigging down limbs and logs, we as climbers can get into situations where we wished we had a rigging point where one doesn't exist ' a climber's limbo. Personally, I've had many instances when I wished I had a rigging point where one doesn't exist to aid me in getting material into the only open area around, or so branches wouldn't have to swing near me in tight quarters. One rigging technique I've found that has worked very well for this situation is Span Rigging. Span Rigging consist of using the tree you are in and another tree to create a rigging point, as well as a slight mechanical advantage for lifting or moving brush. 

It's a Great Time to Be a Climber!

Over the past 10 years, tree climbing and tree climbing equipment have moved from the stone-age straight into the 21st century. With advancements in materials used to the techniques used to access trees, it is a great time to be a tree climber! The Internet has also brought together a whole new group of climbers that are highly skilled, as well as highly willing to share their knowledge. Let's take a look at how climbing gear and techniques have changed over the past decades to help us make our days a bit easier than the days of free climbing and cross cut saws!

A Growing Scourge

In Michigan, we have been dealing with Emerald Ash Borer longer than any other state. Unfortunately, it was brought into our state on pallets from a large boat and it quickly spread to the nearby Ash trees in neighboring communities and subsequently wreaked havoc across the state. 

Though this may be old hat for some of you, it's actually quite difficult for new climbers to figure out exactly what a production climber should have in their gear bag. This also varies greatly depending on what type of production work a climber performs. What if they are a contract climber, removals climber, crane removals climber, or a fine pruning climber? All of these factors can come into account when deciding on what gear should go in the bag. Hopefully, we can cover them all. We talked to several different climbers to gather together what they do depending on the situation so that we could share with you what every production climber should have in their bag to make a safe and successful climb.

Risks Rise with the Temperature

After a cold, brutal winter like most of us had in the Midwest, it's great to think of the warm weather of summer right around the corner; if not just to wake up and hear birds singing instead of trees cracking from the sub-zero overnight temperatures. It seems like as soon as the frost turns to dew in the morning and the temps hit 40, it's t-shirt weather! However, when the temperatures begin to rise, so do the risks that are involved with our job. Let's take a look at some of the things that the summer season brings and how that relates to safe climbing. So here are some summer safety tips for tree climbers that we hope you find informative and beneficial.