Rappelling off trees and natural anchors

Im surprised nobody has chimed in with the "5 and alive" rule of thumb. Not that I adhere....

just stick to sport climbing

It kind of depends on the type of tree, root system, etc.

Some shrubs are even safe. However, and let me stress this, when in doubt or inexperienced, go with the size of your thigh rule and give it a good push test.

If unsure, there is nothing inherently dangerous about backing up a questionable anchor with a secondary bomber anchor, at least for the first rappeller. if it doesn't move, its your call if it will hold as well for rap #2.

good call, by the way on skipping the rap.

^^^^^

What they said...a three inch tree more than likely has a root system that extends 6-10 feet (a little exaggeration) in the ground which is more than enough to hold a human body. If you aren't confident in your ability to place gear, downclimb, eat taco bell breakfast, etc. a three inch tree is way way way more suitable for this situation.

If you're still gonna go nuts I believe the rule of fist is actually whats accepted by most.

Edit: If you don't believe me look at a tree with a root system that has developed over the edge of a cliff it goes a long ways.

The diameter isn't the main question. 3" is plenty large enough, IF the tree is in good condition AND the soil is such that the root/soil system is large and solid. Here is the UK this is normally the case, but in some places tress can be found in poor patches of soil just sitting on rock.

Place the rope or sling right at the base of the tree to minimise leverage.

+1 on root system being way more important than diameter.

I've heard the "5 alive" line, but statements like that will only hold true if you are looking at one kind of tree, in one kind of rock, in one geographic setting. Since there are climbers all over the world in need of good rap stations, I think this sort of generalization could do more harm than good.

This is a paper someone did on the anchor strength of trees in rescue sinerios relative to wind direction. I just skimmed it but someone might find it useful.

itrsonline.org/wordpress/wp…

Although a 3" tree is pretty small, a 4" tree is almost twice as strong (all other things equal), and would make me feel a lot better as a bare minimum.

"These days, I'm pretty convinced that well camouflaged bolts are actually lower impact rap stations that slung trees."

Best advice on this post and maybe this forum in a longtime.

Comes down to if you are ice climbing or rock climbing.

A 3" tree in the summer is pretty suspect.
A 3" tree in the winter is probably bomber (I mean, you still would back it up with that clump of bushes a couple feet away.)

Alex Bury wrote:Im surprised nobody has chimed in with the "5 and alive" rule of thumb. Not that I adhere....

The complete rule of thumb that I was taught is 5, 5, and alive. 5 inches in diameter, 5 feet tall, and still alive. And it is just that, a rule of thumb, but I generally follow it. Even a bomber tree can prove to not be so, so if there's a convenient crack nearby, I usually throw in a piece to back it up. I plan on climbing for decades and eventually the dice are going to come up snake eyes, so I like redundancy.

keithconn wrote:"These days, I'm pretty convinced that well camouflaged bolts are actually lower impact rap stations that slung trees." Best advice on this post and maybe this forum in a longtime.

+100

Great book but take someone with knowledge for a bit until you are confident.

amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors…;ie=UTF8&qid=1469040253&sr=1-1&keywords=building+anchors

Man, I was such a gumby 2 years ago.

EthanC wrote:Man, I was such a gumby 2 years ago.

We all were at some point in the past.

Shoot, I should have looked at the date of the OP and not continued to drag this from the depths.

Stole this from a canyoneering group on Facebook. Figured it was relevant. haha

Here are some better papers:

itrsonline.org/PapersFolder…

caves.org/section/vertical/…

From what they seem to show, even a 3" diameter tree in summer would still hold 1500 lbs. I've rapped off medium size shrubs about 3" diameter and it dident bother me much--they sure werent going anywhere.

I use trees the size of my wrist, but i climb trees for a living.