Spent day columbia sc with head climbing judge

Got a last minute call 2 days ago to be able to attend a safety climbing class held yesterday. The instructor Phillip Kelley. Lead instructor, contract climber in Seattle, and head judge for the climbing competitions. I will relate some points discussed. When using lanyard use leg d-rings to take pressure off hips and better work position. Cross lanyard over itself to keep from rolling (i.e. better work position). Uses a mini ropeman with 4kn carbineer to pull himself back on limb walks 3:1 advantage (srt style). No screw locking carbineers for climbing. Only trust a crotch with a limb as big as your bicep. On his belt he carries a 2 inch long wedge with fat end that you can hit with your hand when tipping larger logs or ones that sit back on your saw chain. Uses a climbing rigging plate to set ropes first (looks like ufo). Going up uses srt style 24 or 48 strand kernmaster rope, not kernmantle or rock climbing rope. Then switches to ddrt 16 strand for work position and coming down for the shock load. The other safety training was tying a basal anchor that you could be rescued from below. Thought this might spark someone's interest.

All good stuff. Most of what you mentioned is work climbing technique so you may not get significant feedback in a rec climbing forum. Check out forums like Tree Buzz and ArboristSite to find a wealth of info on work climbing technique and issues.

Just a point on lanyard use. Majority of the time I'm attaching my lanyard at the same place on my harness that I'm attaching my main rope system. I use it as a second short rope system. It is excellent for positioning and is very comfortable to hang on as opposed to side D's and even leg rings. While using a chain saw in a tree, especially while performing a take down, attaching to side D's or leg rings makes a lot of sense, depending on the tree configuration and work positioning you're trying to achieve.
-AJ