Skagit County, Washington Climbers

Ben and Logan, Father and Son Team, have successfully accessed the canopy. Our gear, incl. New Tribe saddles, New England rope - "The Fly" and petzl pirana descender, etc. has been serving us well. Thanks to the info posted on this board and others, and just getting out there and climbing, we are having a great time. The trees on the island are awesome (the old growth firs are clean, tall, and in abundance. Still looking for active treeclimbers to refine our techniques...e-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hi Ben -

So what are you up to, up there in Skagit Co? I live in Seattle and do quite a bit of climbing in the Seattle area, and sometimes out on the Penninsula.

When you speak of coordinating canopy research efforts, and establishing a network of tree-climbing friendly "offcials", what is it you have in mind?

Ben from Skagit County is trying to find out if there are any in place restrictions on climbing, e.g., the old growth firs on Forest Service, Washington State, or DNR lands. I am a bit nervous about asking the agencies for fear they might say no way. So, to ease into the process, anyone from within these agencies that anyone has contact with quite possibly could pave the way. I really want to make my time in the canopy more than just fun, I recognize the fragile ecosystem and would like to participate in canopy research if possible. I would like to find a sponsor with A doctorate or PhD in Botany or something similar. Am willing to do the documentation and collection of data. The government does award contracts to collect cones and do some wildlife habitat work in the canopy but not sure I want to be that connected and would like the data collection to be a bit more specialized.

send us more info@ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tree climbing is great recreational activity, worth seeking training in, I agree. However, finding individuals willing to instruct can be a frustrating experience. My son and I had to just buy the equipment (Saddles and some hardware from New Tribe, rope- 1/2" The Fly from New England, from Ben Meadows & Co, some stuff from REI , etc) and figure out how to do it. We practiced knots, looked very carefully at climbing videos and books, learned what worked best for us to get the rope up (slingshot, fishing reel, 1/8" poly line and so on). Then it was a matter of planning out a climb. We put the ascenders on the rope, went up, careful to remain tied off at all times, went up for some of that awesome "treetime" in a smaller oak tree that was very "user friendly". We descended with a petzl pirana descender and what a feeling it was. We are still learning and wanting to connect with other climbers but that so far has not happened. We would be happy to share our limited knowledge with you. We have successfully climbed several Old Growth Firs here on Fidalgo Island (one 140') and are climbing usually once a week, now.

Thanks Oxman for the info on the park event in Seattle. We will plan to attend, with Sunday help an option, depending on our qualifications.... Great shot on the photo - tree pictures are difficult with the lighting problems. Treeclimbing can definitely make one smile big! We haven't gotten any of our girls up yet - we're working on them. I think they just want to be sure it is safe. We have some awesome trees up here on Fidalgo Island and some great campgrounds, too. One area at a park about 20 minutes drive from here has a great stand of old growth firs with some nice sized scrub oaks intermingled to enhance the canopy experience. Come on up sometime.....All this talk about climbing trees has given me the itch...aggghhh - got to get up a tree! Yeah, I got it bad. It is nice that with just a 10-15 minute walk from our place I can be off the trail and at the base of some great trees. Cheers, Ben

Oxman! "We missed it! I am so bummed we couldn't get down for the park climb. If you come across or organize any more events in the next few months, please let us know. Thanks, Ben and Logan from Anacortes.