Arborist Climbing Gear



The men were laughing and carrying on as they slipped into their arborist climbing gear. Checking the saddles and harnesses to make sure all the straps were tight and locked, they started attaching other equipment they would need, such as carabineers, clips, and fliplines, ascenders and descenders. Piles of brightly colored multi-strand rope surrounded them, neatly rolled up and ready to uncoil at any moment. There was rope by Arbor-Plex and Forestry Pro, and carabineers by Omea Pacific and Petzl. They were all properly fitted with the best clothing for tree climbing, clothing that was both functional and durable. They indeed looked like quite a team.



A group of children that included a prominent little girl stood nearby, ready to give them the go-a-head. After a few more minutes or preparation, they were about ready to begin their adventure. The leader backed away and looked up into the tall tree. Surely this one of the tallest trees in the state. With a trunk that had a 20 foot diameter, not a single person on the block had ever remotely contemplated trying to climb this tree. But here they were, a group of volunteer arborists standing about the base of a tree that soared high, high above them.

It was probably 100 feet to the first branch. Weather had kept the tree neatly trimmed over the centuries. When the pilgrims were landing at Plymouth, it may just as well as been a one foot sapling that could have been crushed by any hiker walking by. Now, it was a huge towering goliath of a tree. It was so tall that no one was even sure if birds flew to the top. Someone had once asked if an observation deck should be put somewhere half way up to watch for fires in the Smokey Appalachians a few miles away. But instead it had just sat there at the end of a row of nice houses, in someone's backyard.

One of the little girls, the one who stood out so much, had been crying. Other children tried to consol her as she occasionally looked and pointed up. She couldn't point to the top of the tree because no one could really even see it. At least, not from ground zero. Some parents were huddled nearby and they, too, looked concerned. It was dinnertime, but from the size of the group, it seemed as though the entire block had forgotten about dinner to come out and watch the men.