The 2005 Southern New England Rendezvous...

Well, I'm exaggerating a bit, just two of us were in attendance

Docteric (representing Connecticut) and yours truly (yep, representing Massachusetts) got together for an afternoon woods climb on 8/27.

After a hike in to my favorite sugar maples we started with a throwing clinic. Docteric has claimed he can't throw worth a.... I set him up with 2.2 mm zingit and a 12 oz bag and he nailed a 45 ft. crotch with a narrow target area on his second throw, 'nuff said.

We had a great climb, I was especially impressed with Docteric's collection of improvised and homemade equipment. He climbed on a large wild maple with a 55 or so ft. rope and assorted bits of cord using SRT and DRT. No mechanical ascenders, all friction knots, very cool.

My personal highlight besides staring out in to the woodland canopy in late afternoon light and then listening to hundreds of katydids (I think) going "shick-shick-shick" after the sun went down was using a grapnel for the first time. I was not disappointed, this tool is all it's cracked up to be.

Docteric working a traverse:


A couple more photos here:
Moss and Docteric up a tree

Happy climbing,
-moss

What a great day!

This was the first time I've ever climbed with another person - indeed Moss is the first climber I've ever met face to face. And a sterling introduction it was.

I'm sure our adventures would be mild for most folks, but they were pretty exciting to me. As Moss mentioned, I actually hit a limb - and the one I was aiming for! 3 minutes of instruction and example (he's a really good teacher by the way) was all it took. On Sunday I went to my back yard and reliably made throws it'd taken me 45 min to hit in the past.

He also taught me a lot about body thrusting and footlocking - could never figure those two out before.

The traverse in the photo was my very first - and captured for posterity.

And the climb down in the dark (I just had to make that traverse) was pretty exciting. Glad I've practiced my knots with my eyes closed.

But just meeting and get to know Moss was the highlight of the day. If all the other climbers are 1/2 as good as he is - this sport is going to attract a lot more followers.

The CT contingency will host the next "rendezvous". It'd be good to see even more folks there. We'll keep you posted.

Just want to make sure I'm not propagating incorrect terminology....

Is a traverse only crossing between two points on a fixed single line or can it be also be considered a traverse when performed as demonstrated by Docteric in the photo above?
Thanks,
-moss

Traverses can be swings, jumps, Tyrolean/ziplines or double roped like you guys set up.

A "traverse" (within TCIs lingo) is going from one tree to another tree, while a "switchover" is going from point A to point B in the same tree.

Guys this is a great posting. Getting together and exchanging climbing techniques is what it's all about.

I'd like to see something similar in central Ohio.


Regards,
JimK

Keep FIT - Fun In Trees

Rats! So I didn't do my first traverse, just another switchover. Hey, it was fun whatever we call it.

Thanks for straightening out the lingo, Tengu