How to Use Trees While Rock Climbing

Video Transcript

"Hi! I’m Bill with Zoar Outdoor here on behalf of expertvillage.com. We are here today at Chapel Ledges in Ashfield, Massachusetts, the trustees of the reservations property. In this series, we are going to be talking about anchors for top rope rock climbing. So anchors of the top of cliffs. What do you tie off to? Well, one thing you often find at the top of cliffs is trees. Trees are typically great anchors and they can be really solid. Things you want to consider about trees. Well what kind of tree is it? Is is a hardwood or softwood. So if its got needles, it is coniferous in softwood. If its got leaves that fall off in the fall then it is deciduous in hardwood. Softwoods you want to have a bigger tree because the root system tends to spread out rather than going straight down so size of the tree matters and I call it about 8 inches on the softwood and 6 inches a hardwood; a guideline. You want to look at the root system. How well is this tree doing. Is it healthy, is it alive. So we’ve got needles and this tree is a little borderline. Its got some dirt around it but it is going but for now, its got a good solid root system and is alive enough that I would use this tree. It’s big enough and so this one works. Now an example of one that wouldn’t work is over here. Our friend still has some needles but has really lost its grip on the cliff and that’s what happens when too much ground compaction causes the root system to loose its grip and loose its good health and that tree you wouldn’t want to touch. "