# Climber takes a ride



## serial killer (Feb 14, 2009)

On Wednesday, my buddy was out doing a simple removal of a dead sycamore. Him and one other guy, a drop it and leave it deal. He was going to top it out and then drop the stick, two cuts and go home. He absolutely knew that the roots were a little shaky and we've had quite a bit of rain in the past week, but what the heck, that's how he makes a living, right?

The force of the top sitting over and starting to break off pulled the trunk enough that the tree uprooted with him about 25 feet in the air. I wasn't there, but I estimate that he had about 5 seconds to get ready for a big hit. He made sure that he was on the high side, braced himself with with gaffs, knees, and hands and rode it down. His arms were unable to hold him from kissing the log, and he whacked it chin first and then with the front of his head.

He never got knocked out, but was pretty dazed and covered with blood. The other guy got him unclipped and hauled ass to the hospital, where he spent seven hours in the ER. When I saw him, I was amazed at how good he actually looked, considering. His chin was all swoll up, but nothing was broke and all he really needed was a bunch of stitches below his chin, inside his mouth, and below his bottom lip.

We spent most of Thursday drinking to celebrate the fact that he was still alive. He had to drink out of a straw. Then we were back to work on Friday for a full day and he spent all day today up in the bucket. We could all learn something from this guy about toughness. 

We could also learn to trust our instincts about getting into a hazardous tree. He's been in sketchy situations a thousand times before, and this one just bit him. Hopefully after going through this, he will at least think twice the next time and consider some alternatives. Finally, we could also learn how important it is to wear a helmet in the tree. I know that a lot of you guys think that hardhats are for groundies, but in this case his probably prevented a lot of much more serious injuries. He got off easy.


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## deer slayer (Feb 14, 2009)

Glad to hear he's o.k. Can't imagine what that ride felt like:jawdrop:


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## Nailsbeats (Feb 14, 2009)

You bet, I'm happy for you guys. Comming out of that situation that well is quite fortunate. 

I have often debated if you would ride it or try to unclip and jump, I always figured a guy would brace and ride. It's hard not to think about stuff like that, especially when you dream about it at night.

I like what you said about the helmet. I don't climb without mine anymore. The other day I got whacked in the ear muff with my Spiderjack which would have hurt pretty good with just a hat on.

Being what it was, he was smart to stay on the high side and have a helmet on, probably all that saved him from permanent damage.


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## slinger (Feb 14, 2009)

Wow! That is close, too close.

Motorcyclists have a saying : ATGATT means All The Gear All The Time. Looks like it applies to your biz as well.


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## tree md (Feb 14, 2009)

He's very lucky to be alive! The guy who I first worked for in this business had to ride one down. He unclipped and jumped just before he hit the ground. Blew his knee out and although he could still climb later on, he was never the same. He had practiced unclipping just for the scenario I mentioned above. Of course this was before the days of triple locking devices being mandatory.

My dad told me a story of when he was in the service about a guy who was taking a pole climbing exam for his training after monsoon rains. Said the guy got up high on the pole and it came over just like the guy you mentioned. Said that it was not the fall that killed the guy but the pole bouncing and whacking him. Definitely gives one something to think about when climbing after heavy rains.

I hear you on the helmet. I wear mine on every tree. I was only climbing a 30 Cedar today but was wearing my helmet. I had to come up under the eave of the house and whacked my head. Glad I had my helmet on. I cringe when I think about the old days when I climbed without one.


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## oldirty (Feb 14, 2009)

serial killer said:


> . He made sure that he was on the high side, braced himself with with gaffs, knees, and hands and rode it down.



unreal.

its either hug the tree or try to jump.......and you can only make that choice as its happening.


tell dude i said what up and glad to hear he's back at work.


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## Plasmech (Feb 15, 2009)

The *real* nightmare is the tree headed for the ground not to impact on the back side but on the face side that your body is on. Ugh...


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## Rickytree (Mar 1, 2009)

Just imagine how many of these killers would be out there if there was no such thing as wind. Seems like a simple job but nothing could be further from the truth. Glad to hear he's doing good and getting self medicated.


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## pdqdl (Mar 4, 2009)

Un-clip from the tree (after you get over to the high side, if possible). Jump clear at about 75% down. 

Less momentum in your body, while reducing risk of being crushed by the tree.


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## Rickytree (Mar 4, 2009)

pdqdl said:


> Un-clip from the tree (after you get over to the high side, if possible). Jump clear at about 75% down.
> 
> Less momentum in your body, while reducing risk of being crushed by the tree.



Almost sounds like this has happened to you.


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## tomtrees58 (Mar 4, 2009)

:hmm3grin2orange:thats a good one tom trees


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## treeclimber101 (Mar 4, 2009)

tomtrees58 said:


> :hmm3grin2orange:thats a good one tom trees


or do what i would do hold on tight and scream like a little girl but thats just me


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## pdqdl (Mar 4, 2009)

Rickytree said:


> Almost sounds like this has happened to you.



No! But I think about these things a lot.

I have a philosophy that covers things like this: I try to think of every bad possibility as I am doing almost anything dangerous, especially while operating machines. Then I try to think what I should do when it happens. So that when it does, I don't have to lose time figuring it out, I just implement the plan I chose earlier.

My life is so filled with accidents, disasters, and high-risk stupidity that it has become a habit for me. You should add a pretty good supply of bad luck too. I have lost track of how many miraculous recoveries I have made from tight spots just because I acted fast.

The vast majority of my near disasters were caused by my ignorant disregard for personal safety, but I am awful good at getting out of the trouble I put myself into.

It's strange, but I don't seem to put myself into danger when I am working in a tree. Then I become Mr. Careful. For example, I don't climb dead trees, unless they are in really good shape. I got cured of that very early in my tree climbing career.


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## Rickytree (Mar 4, 2009)

Gee that's weird when I get in the tree I become Mr.Perfect or Perfecto the mad magician. It's magic...You know can't believe...it's not sooo...It's magic!!


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## pdqdl (Mar 4, 2009)

Now that I think about it some more, the thing to do would be to climb down the tree as fast as you can, then jump. 

If you could run down the log like one of those competition climbers, you might get down to the ground before the spar did.


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## treeoperations (Mar 5, 2009)

glad to hear your mate is ok, i have had the same sorta thing happen to me but in reverse, tree was leaning on a house and i climbed up on spikes to start cutting it off the house and the basturd stood back up and rocked around a bit just to keep me honest.

the ride your mate had we all take that risk everyday, there are some trees that scream danger but there are others that look fine, safe as houses some might say, its just the name of the game. i get called out by local fire department to handle situations that there not trained for, i pride my self on being able to get people into there homes after there told to evacuate by fire departments, which means i climb some very dodgy trees but i weigh up the risks and i dont muck around and i try and keep weight on the tree as balanced as possible.

climb smart.


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## murphy4trees (Mar 6, 2009)

I heard a story about a guy who had a 3+ story scaffold fail underneath... He just stepped into the open window and saved his his life. When asked about it, he said he had practiced it in his head... I AM a big believer in plan B.. 

On this one he could have guyed the tree, or set the notch and back cut then come down before the pull. That might have worked if he was pulling against the lean a bit... Either way... Glad he's alive and that makes it a good story instead of a tragedy... Could have easily gone either way.. Probably gave the man some valuable perspective..


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