Getting onto the limb

Newb question alert ! After ascending to the limb I'll wanna sit on, it is indeed easier to have the main line tied to a higher limb....just climb a little past or level to the limb of choice, and voila, step onto it ! How about situations where it's difficult getting the line up to those other limbs from the ground ?....in which case, I'm looking at ascending right up to the tie in, then hoisting myself up. I'm not in "pull up shape" right now, so I'm considering tossing a length of webbing or rope over, tying it into a loop, for a step up. I do see a danger though; if I slip and fall back onto my ascender, ( which is a shunt, with which I have no fear of taking a fall ) I have to either baby sit the biner to make sure it won't cross load, or rig up something to prevent the biner rotating and cross loading. One thing I'm toying with, and haven't yet used, is taking two strips of bike inner tube and wrapping them several times on either side of the biner where it's clipped through the ascender. It holds rock solid...it would just be a pain tying and untying. Anybody else have ways to prevent cross loading ?

Tree Spider wrote: Newb question alert ! After ascending to the limb I'll wanna sit on, it is indeed easier to have the main line tied to a higher limb....just climb a little past or level to the limb of choice, and voila, step onto it ! How about situations where it's difficult getting the line up to those other limbs from the ground ?....in which case, I'm looking at ascending right up to the tie in, then hoisting myself up. I'm not in "pull up shape" right now, so I'm considering tossing a length of webbing or rope over, tying it into a loop, for a step up. I do see a danger though; if I slip and fall back onto my ascender, ( which is a shunt, with which I have no fear of taking a fall ) I have to either baby sit the biner to make sure it won't cross load, or rig up something to prevent the biner rotating and cross loading. One thing I'm toying with, and haven't yet used, is taking two strips of bike inner tube and wrapping them several times on either side of the biner where it's clipped through the ascender. It holds rock solid...it would just be a pain tying and untying. Anybody else have ways to prevent cross loading ?

A general rule of safe tree climbing is don't climb above your tie-in point. Even a short fall can generate significant forces on the climber's body and gear. Tree climbers generally climb on static or semi-static ropes, there's absolutely no forgiveness when you fall on a low stretch rope, even if the fall is 4 or 5 feet, impacts can be significant.

Climbers can use a variety of techniques to safely advance beyond an initial anchor limb. Typically a climber will carry 40-60' of throwline and a throwbag on their harness and use that to throw to a higher limb and advance their rope. If you haven't already, check out the instructional cd/video available on this web site, well worth it to introduce you to basic tree climbing concepts and technique.
-AJ