Real Life Aerial Rescue; Have you or haven't you???

[thattreeguy]

i got a scared little newby out of a big black oak once.
i was hired to limb the house side, and set a pull line...thats it

but for some reason they felt like piecing down the tree, i had left the 1st climb line at 60 ft, and the other just a bit above at about 75 ft

well jackass got up to the end of the 1st rope, and pushed the knot up too far, so it was, sliding back, somehow he rotated and the knot looked weird
so he lanyarded in and sat

well by now im getting out of the last locked gate, when a guy flies up on a quad and takes me back..

i get there and he's froze

so i sent him a line with a splittail attached, he couldnt figure it out, or listen to me
so up i went
i got to him, tied in above him, came down and brought out 2 water bottles and 2 cigs
we sat for a bit and i tried to get him to walk down...his arm kept locking up....in the meantime the homeowner and his help are passing a bong around, laughing at him
i had the peanut gallery leave... so im walking him down and he keeps freezing up, and he told me he cant do it

so i told him lay back, i'll sit on you, strap you to me and ride you like a bitch to the ground.

he wasnt having it, he said he'd never live it down, so we walked down ever so slowly to the ground, where he ran off afterwards, and i wound up falling the tree,

and you know what i got..........ZERO, ZIP, NADA....thanks woulda been nice

i shoulda left his ass there, so the client couldve dealt with cops and fire men all over his grow and the idiots he hires

im glad i received the training over the years and have trained others to do it

i want to practice spar pole rescue next

 

[Burnham]

If there's one single AR that gives most climbers the shakes, but really ought not to, it's the incapacitated spur climber on a spar. It's pretty close to drop dead simple, more straightforward than most situations you might face.

The one that keeps me awake at night is the AR for a climber up in the small wood, mostly the cone picking scenario...that one is tough to manage safely and would suck with a half-life.

 

[stig]

I've brought a couple of froze in place kids and one climber down, but I don't really count that as rescues.
Back when we climbed and harvested branches for x-mas decorations, we had one guy panic and do the Panda up in a 12 meter high Normann fir ( a freak gust of wind made the tree sway badly and freaked him out). He sat up there for about 3 hrs with his arms and legs wrapped around the tree ( that is what we call " doing the Panda!" I tried to talk him down a couple of times, but no go.

Then just before quitting time I got a saw out of the truck, told him I would cut the tree down to get him out of there, but I'd try to make it roll off another one, so it wouldn't land too hard and he'd end up on the side away from the ground.

When I was ½ way through the facecut, he came zipping down

 

[thattreeguy]

thats so asss hole ish.......i love it

 

[pantheraba]

Then just before quitting time I got a saw out of the truck, told him I would cut the tree down to get him out of there, but I'd try to make it roll off another one, so it wouldn't land too hard and he'd end up on the side away from the ground.

When I was ½ way through the facecut, he came zipping down

Your explanation of how you would try not to have him hurt too badly had to really get his gears turning. Priceless...you win something!!!

 

[Bounce]

we had one guy panic and do the Panda

 

[Tucker943]

I've brought a couple of froze in place kids and one climber down, but I don't really count that as rescues.
Back when we climbed and harvested branches for x-mas decorations, we had one guy panic and do the Panda up in a 12 meter high Normann fir ( a freak gust of wind made the tree sway badly and freaked him out). He sat up there for about 3 hrs with his arms and legs wrapped around the tree ( that is what we call " doing the Panda!" I tried to talk him down a couple of times, but no go.

Then just before quitting time I got a saw out of the truck, told him I would cut the tree down to get him out of there, but I'd try to make it roll off another one, so it wouldn't land too hard and he'd end up on the side away from the ground.

When I was ½ way through the facecut, he came zipping down

Thats awesome

 

[Fiddler]

Had gin point break out for another foreman once and he ends up w/30'+ limb on climb line w/him swinging back and forth next to primaries. We had to talk him out of cutting himself loose so other climber could get to him while we immobilized both him and loose limb above him. 12 people on this rescue and it all worked out well.

Had my crew rescue me when the top I cut rolled and fell between me and spar and then twisted against buckstrap. I was trapped until they could get pruners up to me to cut the buck strap. Had them cut with the pruners while I hung onto end of climb line to let myself back to tree I was tied into. The guys did a really great job of keeping their mouths shut and giving me what I needed without delay.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Lordy!!!

 

[Fiddler]

I really felt the first one in my post could have been prevented had they used a block secured to the main stem of the tree. Although there were no visible defects in the limb, and both climbers in the tree were well experienced, I felt that trying to save production time and working with less equipment than should have been readily available were the main contributing factors to something that happened needlessly.

 

[Peter]

Why were you unable to cut the buckstrap yourself?

Just interested, not having a dig.

 

[Fiddler]

Peter, I had enough pressure on me that I wanted to have both hands free for hanging on/maneuvering when the strap came free. I was very close to leg breaking from angle it was at already and I had a fair distance back to the tree i was tied into. chainsaw was somehow squeezed tight between me and spar (flipped up between legs) and I couldn't free it to get it out of the way.
I could probably have cut it with my hand saw but opted for having more control over where my body went when the top fell. ('top" = 30')

 

[crawdaddy]

I had a very large limb come over to the notch just as i had planned, hung on a bullrope through a natural crotch; I was lanyarded in just below it, lots of top above me. A 1/2" stub, I mean a stub, just 1 inch long, found its way into the split ring on my spike straps and the entire 20' or so limb was hanging on my leg, the gaff having been pulled through the wood and hanging in space. The local fire and rescue was across the damned street and it took them 20 minutes to get to me. I was up a good 40 feet, so they parked the ladder truck under me, a CAPTAIN climbs the ladder, then asks me what he should do. Poor fool could not figure how to open his locking carabiner to safety himself in, could not start my saw to cut the branch loose, and could not get me onto the ladder. So after showing him (this is a rescue PROFESSIONAL) how to open and lock his 'biner, started my saw for him myself (note the 20' oak limb is still hanging off my leg), watched him almost cut my leg with the saw, I took my chances and lowered myself to the stretcher with my climbing line. Soon as I get there ,first thing they want to do is CUT MY SADDLE AND BOOTS OFF WITH A PAIR OF SCISSORS! I persuaded them not to, with much verbiage. My leg was bruised and a bit sore, but I was climbing the next day. Freakest thing that ever happened to me.

 

[Peter]

Can't really say what I would do without actually having been in that situation, but I think I would want to get free as quickly as possible....

Good on you for keeping your cool while the rescue was in progress!

 

[SkwerI]

Sometimes your safest bet is to keep the 'professionals' far away.