Climbing Tips
So I've worked for a tree service for almost 4 months now, mostly feeding the chipper, bucking logs, and being a ground man. But as of last week they have started to send me up trees as a climber. The outfit is kind of a sink or swim (in this case climb or fall) kind of crew and they are all very good climbers. They gave me some climbing gear, told me the essentials and then sent me up. I'm not as comfortable as I would like to be in the tree and I know I'm too slow so I thought I would ask for some tips.
The main thing that's psyching me out is the feeling of my upper body wanting to topple and swing me around the trunk, especially on trees with a lean to them. I find it difficult to feel comfortable traversing around the circumference of the trunk because it feels like my upper body is going to topple over/around the trunk then fall sideways corkscrewing with my flipline down the tree when my gaff comes out. How do you guys rotate around the circumference comfortably, especially when there's a lean? Also what happens if both your gaffs slip at the same time? I would also appreciate tips to speed things up so I can try to keep up with the others.