I realize I haven't posted much content lately, lots of ideas but I haven't spent the time to organize them. So here's a go at an unorganized report:

A few days ago I accidentally got a rope stuckish in a tree and today I chose to do a the rescue.

How I got the rope stuckish:
I had created a mid-line cinch with about 25 ft of tail. I had later attached the other end of the rope to create a pulldown. (long story on why I chose to do this - but I swear it made sense!). Well, when I pulled the rope, I untied the tails when they reached me - then promptly pulled the wrong end of the rope and sent the cinch back against the limb.

I didn't feel like making people wait, nor felt like climbing again on the yoyo system (I had already climbed 210 ft on it that afternoon) so I decided I'd return later in the week.

The hike to the tree is about 45 minutes with a full pack - up a steep hill. I decided to bring the most minimal set-up I could think of in 10 minutes. Here's what I ended up bringing:


Helmet, rock harness, 3 compact carabiners, 1 HMS carabiner, a foot loop, a (modified - don't tell anyone) Tibloc. I also brought a lightweight windshirt and headlamp in case I stayed out later than I had intended or it started raining. I also brought the camera (duh!).

Essentially, I chose to climb with a Texas system - the Tibloc acting as the upper ascender and a Garda Hitch for the lower ascender. I rerouted the tail of the garda hitch through the tibloc. I could have rigged the Garda Hitch more like the grigri on a yoyo system, but this would have been less flexible for changeover.

I've taken to using the tail end of my climbing line to create a cowtail for SRT climbing - mostly out of convenience of not carrying additional cowtail. I used this approach here.



Anyways, it climbed ok. As expected, the changeover was the most difficult part, since neither device downclimbs easily. Obviously the choices I made here aren't too versatile but it worked ok for this climb. I don't think I'll use the garda hitch again - I can get a lot of benefit from other methods but without much additional weight/gear.

Thoughts?

-Oak

Now that is very interesting; something I might try to duplicate soon, but maybe with a micro-ascender. How high was the climb, and how long did it take for the change-over?

It took about 1 or 2 minutes (which is an eternity compared to most changeovers). I descended on a munter hitch, but also had to half the length of the footloop (pass the loop through the carabiners/ascenders and around the bight formed from doubling the footloop). With a different descender this would have been easier - or if I had taken more time to give myself enough rope to tie off the munter.

There's a chance the Garda hitch will slip if not tended - so be careful. Typically it is not used in a direct life-support role, with the rare occasion of being used as part of a top belay (e.g. guide climbs and uses it to belay the second). This has fallen out of favor, however. The Garda Hitch (also the Alpine Clutch) is most commonly recommended for things like hauling (another exception is even crevasse rescue hauling) and in place of a third Prusik for the Three Knot Texas system, in the case of an emergency. (but us tree climbers would probably just single foot lock...)

For those of you who don't know this hitch (excellent for a minimal progress captured haul), here are some blurry photos of how to tie it:




And the Expanded Version:


It can get super tight if subjected to a high load, and the carabiners may need to be pried apart with another carabiner.

That's an example of a system I'd have to see in person to understand, visual rope confusion!