Newb highline tips?

[shanexv]

Ok guys I'm new to this, been climbing for close to 4 years. I've got a job soon of an extremely rotten oak, there's two healthy much taller oaks in-line enough to make a highline almost directly over it. I've seen alot of videos of this technique being used but have never used or set up one myself, I believe I can set it up no probs but with the extra forces put on the rope and anchors I am questioning the type of rope that I should use.
I have a 180' arbormaster and 120' blaze. Would it be safe to run the highline with the arbormaster, and run the blaze through a pulley in the center to climb, or should I get a different type of rope? The two trees are about 90' apart and where I have envisioned to anchor is about 75' high.

And what knots would you guys recommend on each end of the skyline rope? I'm thinking a bowline on a bite would be best in the center?

 

[beastmaster]

So you want to run a line from tree to tree over the one your working on? I've only done that twice. If that is the case I would go with the blaze. You'll be suprised how much sag you'll get in the middle of the line.You want a rope with little stretch Again I am no expert, but it seems to help to have the rope as level as possible. Only tie off one side in a tree, in the other tree put a pulley and run the rope throu it and down to the ground, that way you can really get it tight using a truckers hitch or a pulley system. The times I did it I also ran a pulley on the line between the two trees so I could glide a long, then ran my climbing line off the top of the pulley.(bottom in this case)
Just remember if a big section of tree fell and you were tied to it, and the overhead line you'ed probably get screwed up seriously. I am not saying to do this, but what I do is unhook my safety from the tree when I am dropping or lowering something that might shock it. I am talking a really rotten or dead tree. I feel it's the lesser of two evils. It's not safe, but neither is being dragged to the ground by a falling piece of tree. Good luck and be safe

 

[shanexv]

Yes that's exactly what I want to do. I would rather just climb it, but man it is a nasty s.o.b, about 2.5 ft diameter and atleast 85% hollow. The live wood doesnt appear to be supportive at all, it almost candy canes up the entire height of the tree. so I am wanting to take extra precautions to keep my butt from going to the ground in a worst case scenario. I'm guessing the highline would still be above higher than I will need to go, the rotten top leans away from my line path and it is away enough that I feel I could safely swing away if things went wrong, but I think the two trees are too far away to use 2 tie-ins.

You're saying that I should use the blaze as the highline? I was also concidering that, since it isn't as stretchy, but I doubt my hank will be long enough.
I like the pulley idea in the second tree, doing that makes me think I could change my plan to work srt from a carbiner off the highline.
I'm still debating over the lanyard possibilities. I usually use a lanyard with hip prusik and I have concidered a couple of ideas to make it safer in this situation.
a. untie the stopper knot, if anything fails grab prusik and let'r run, but I may not be fast enough or the tail may get hung up before releasing
b. attach my hip prusik to a slip knot on my d ring, and remove the snap on the other end and tie a slip knot. It would require retying the slipknot every time I position but I would be able to free myself easily, on both sides, so if things went wrong I could swing away, although I'd have to be aware to stay on the highline side and keep my swing path clear.

It's all cut and drop thank the lord so there isn't going to be any lowering, just a pull line to direct the falls so shocking it really isn't much of a concern here, but failure is always a possibility and If that thing falls I want to stay up there!

 

[beastmaster]

If the tree is in that bad of condition above ground, don't forget to check the roots below ground. might not be a bad idea to strap up the trunk for added support, and if the roots don't look good a few stabilizing lines midway. Probably over kill and not needed but some times just the piece of mind of safe guards in place in gnarly hazard trees takes some of the edge off.
I always worry when i do big hollow trees that as I change the balance of the tree by removing branches or leaders it might implode. I don't even know if thats possible. Even dead trees are pretty strong, entail their not
Be safe.

 

[thepheniox]

When I'm worried about a tree failing like that I'll put a cheap biner from a water bottle on one end of my lanyard. If something went wrong it would break but you can still be tied in for positioning. As long as you are tied in overhead.

 

[shanexv]

Thanks for the input guys. A cheap biner isn't a bad idea at all..i was messing around with one a few weeks ago to see if one would hold me..they will until i start bouncing on them and then it opens right up.
I totally agree on ratchet straps and guy lines, I wonder if strapping 2x4's vertically around the base of the tree would help to spread some of the support over a larger area? The part of decay i'm worried about is ~4' up and i'm thinking the boards may help? I wish i could show ya'll pictures but my old computer can't handle my camera. I'm trying to do as many preventive steps as possible because it's in falling range of the house, a new swimming pool and a tool shed

 

[mcfly]

I did this once myself.. I did 2 lines to a rigging plate with a pulley on the plate too for my main line. The 2 lines going to the plate were arbormaster and velocity. Crazy bounce. If I were to do it again I would have at least put the fiddle blocks on to get some serious tension on the lines and maybe just use a single extra long static line with an alpine butterfly for the pulley.

The oak I did was relatively small.. maybe 16"dbh but it was split at the base and rotted away enough I could probably have fit my giant head straight through. I used some rachet straps up past the split and everything went fine. I also had someone with me who had been doing this for about as long as I've been alive. Stay safe and good luck.

 

[beastmaster]

No reason to tie off the pulley. Set it up so it's on the overhead rope and sliding on the pulley, so long as the overhead rope is tight you'll be able to move like spiderman.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

You 10% sag in your line, running a high line like that. If you dont set it with the right tension, you can very easliy double your forces on the anchor trees.

 

[shanexv]

Forces are another concern of mine. How would I figure those forces and should I use a different rope as the highline instead of the one I climb daily with?