Suggestions for climbing technique for maples?

I am an undergrad and am going to be doing some research for my senior project studying the distribution of epiphytes on big leaf maples over in the olympic peninsula, in Washington State. I am looking at epiphytes only on the trunk of the tree, on the N, S, E and W sides of the tree. So, I need a technique that will allow me to stay close to the trunk and to move horizontally around the tree if possible. I have experience with SRT but have not ventured into any of the more complex iterations.

So...my question, does anybody here have a suggestion for what technique might work best for this? Thanks in advance!

Here is a system Steve Sillett used to study the canopy of redwood trees. http://wesspur.com/images/treegear/kit31-500.gif It is basically just two split tail doubled rope climbing systems. You could have one Doubled rope system on one side of the trunk attached to the lowest crotch in the canopy and another on the other side of the trunk. The anchor point for both ropes should be close to the trunk to reduce the effort of advancing the friction hitch.

I am not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for.

Treezybreez has you off on a good start.

Since you're already climbing SRT I recommend looking at a RADS system, it allows you to quickly switch from ascent to descent mode without significant gear changes. The technique allows considerable mobility in a tree. Here is some video I posted on the RADS technique:


You can also do a search to find more info on it.

It's worth learning about doubled rope rope friction hitch climbing or DRT (or DdRT depending on who you're talking to).

Treezybreez mentioned the adjustable double-ended lanyard used by PNW canopy researchers. There are are many variations to this approach. General idea is use SRT to get into the tree, then switch over to a lanyard system to move around the crown. I use a long (60') and short (15') lanyard approach rather than a double-ended lanyard.

Check out Treeman's DRT basics DVD to learn more about friction hitch climbing.

Ask lots of questions.
-AJ

I was telling a friend that is interested in tree climbing, about some of Moss's videos on you tube. I explained that they are very informative and that I learned a lot from them.

He told me he was unable to locate the videos on you tube. So I went there today to try a find them, and maybe provide a link for him to use. I was very sorry to see that he was correct, all of Moss's videos have been removed.

Moss, your super-informative videos will be missed, I hope you consider sharing them again soon. I can honestly say that I learned more from your videos then The Tree Climbing Basics Video...I very much enjoyed them while they were available.

Thanks for the comments. Important thing about Treeman's basics video is exactly that, it covers the very important fundamentals of technical tree climbing. My videos were intended to brainstorm and share technique with experienced climbers but I kept hearing from beginners who were accepting some of my experimental stuff as gospel ie: proven technique/best practices. This eventually got to me to the point where I tore them all down. Plan is to re-introduce selected videos, been too busy with work lately to start sorting through and upload.
-AJ

moss, thanks for clearing up what was going on with your you tube vids. Very conciencious of you. I doff my chapeau. I look forward to being able to view your ideas in the near future.