Tree Climbing, Fall 09

Day -1: Monkey Run Rigging

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Monkey Run, Ithaca, NY

The preparation for our first tree class is supposed to be the easiest of all the riggings for the whole course.  Unfortunately, all did not go as planned.

Julien, Lilian, and Rob lead climbed the two trees at Monkey run, with Evelyn, Sean, and myself belaying.  After Lilian placed the anchor in the tree we were working on, I decided to climb to check the anchor out, but mostly just for kicks.  I started to climb, then, while making a reach with my right hand, said something like, "Oh good, and this is my bad shoulder."  Cue dislocation number two.

Lilian lowered me down, and we all made our way very slowly back to the vehicles, me in a makeshift webbing sling.  Then on to Cayuga Medical Center, where I got some funny looks from forgetting to take off my harness... oops.  Several hours of waiting, some x-rays, and a big dose of morphine later, my arm was properly back in its socket.

Day 1: Hand over Hand

Friday, September 11th, 2009

Monkey Run, Ithaca, NY

Once again, as is the curse of day 1, we climbed in the rain.  I also had the privilege of teaching with one arm, as the other was still in a sling.  All in all though, it was a great day.  Our students showed excellent enthusiasm, despite the weather, and a genuine interest in what we were doing.  Always a good sign.

A couple of students working their way up a sycamore

Melissa and Katrina, smiling in spite of the rain

Day 2: First Ascensions

Friday, September 18th, 2009

Fischer Woods, Ithaca, NY

This is one of the busiest days of class, with a lot to learn.  Once again, our students  showed a lot of interest in the knots and the methods involved, and (obviously) loved playing with the big shot.  We had one little freak-out moment when a VERY large branch somewhere nearby broke off with a VERY loud crack, then came crashing to the floor.  Luckily, no one was near by.  It made our students a little nervous, because the branch was healthy and green, so we took it as a teachable moment to talk about tree selection and safety procedures.

Day 3: Big Tree Day

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Hoffman Challenge Course, Varna, NY

We had some issues rigging for this day, but eventually we had no problem getting everyone up and hanging out in some really tall trees.  Everyone except me, that is, who got to play ground crew thanks to my still not very functional shoulder.  Julien, Dana, and Evelyn got to try out the new tree saddles, which they were very thankful for after a lot of time literally hanging out.

Day 4: Motion Lanyards

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Stuart Park, Ithaca, NY

This was our first time trying motion lanyarding with all the students at once.  Thanks to some donations to the tree climbing program, we now have enough motion lanyards for the whole class, so we decided to give it a shot.  Everyone really loved this method, since it allows for some real tree climbing instead of rope climbing.  It was great (and a little nerve wracking) to see everyone getting off the ground and moving around independently.  Motion lanyards are a complicated system, with a lot of knots and hitches to tend, but I think the way we ran the lesson made it a manageable and safe situation for the students.

The sycamores at Stuart park have great canopies for climbing

There were a lot of people (and ropes) hanging from the trees, which made for some interesting interaction with the normal park-goers-- one guy who saw us as he walked past is now planning to take the spring tree climbing course.

Once they got the hang of it, the students made it up quite high in the trees

Dana, instructing from the ground

Apparently there are train tracks RIGHT next to Stuart park-- when the whistle blew, it was so loud that everyone about jumped out of their skin.

Overnight-- Oh wait...

We sadly had to call off our overnight, thanks to cold, rainy weather, much to the disappointment of our students.  I'm beginning to think I'm cursed as an instructor-- this is the second overnight I've had to call off.

Us Friday Tree instructors made up for our loss by pranking Saturday Tree's overnight.  They had perfect, beautiful weather, so we thought they deserved a little mayhem, involving some late-night surprise guests and a bear costume.

Tree Staff Training, Fall 09

Day 1: Alternate Ascension and Motion Lanyards

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

Hoffman Challenge Course, Dryden, NY

Before tree staff training, an email went out to all COE instructors from Mark (head of tree climbing) saying:

"I have received a number of requests from folks about attending the Fall 09 Tree Staff Training.  If you are interested in learning to tree climb, the best thing to do is to take the class.  If you are interested in teaching tree climbing, either PE classes, camps, or private lessons, you should come to the training."

Apparently, lots of people wanted to come to the training just to try it out.   We ended up with 17 people coming, which is only really shocking if you know that basically the entire tree staff consists of 8 people.

To accommodate the large number, we split into groups of more- and less-experienced tree climbers.  My group went with Keith, one of the original pioneers of tree climbing, to the platform that we use for the tree overnight.  Here, we played around with the yo-yo, frog, and unicender methods of climbing, rather than our usual Texas kick.  These basically just involved different pieces of equipment, with each methods having its own pros and cons.  I tried the yo-yo method, which involves using a gri-gri.  Lots of people enjoy this method, but I found it irritating.

Sarah, one of the instructors this year, getting set on her motion lanyard.

After ascending, we used our motion lanyards to rig the platform tree with some hammocks for those at the training who were spending the night.  Me and some others who had already slept in the platform several times bowed out so that the tree could accommodate all those who wanted to try it.

Lilian, another co-instructor, rigging hammocks

Day 2: Rescue Scenarios

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

HCC, Dryden, NY

For breakfast, we met up with those who had spent the night in the tree.  Then we split back into our groups, with my group going to the platform tree again.  Our morning wake up was a race using gri-gri direct aid, a method that allows you to lead climb a tree with no branches on it.  After that, we all headed up to the platform again.

Today, I got my chance to try the unicender.  This very unique piece of equipment is the brain child of Morgan, a friend of marks who is both a tree climber and a machinist in his spare time.  He developed the idea for this piece of gear that would allow you to go up and down easily and auto-lock, and that can be used to ascend or in a motion lanyard.  Once he had the idea, he hand machined all the parts himself, resulting in a very limited number of very expensive pieces of equipment.  I found it very convenient to ascend on, as it is auto-advancing.  I also enjoyed the new foot locking method that I learned from someone else at the staff training who spent a lot of time as a canopy photographer in Costa Rica.

Ascending under the platform on another beautiful day

We ran through some rescue scenarios while on the platform-- what happens if a student get knocked unconscious and rolls off the platform durning the overnight?  After successfully saving the helpless student with a haul system, we wrapped up for the day.  On the way down, I asked if we could test out our evacuation drill, which involves trying to lower several people at once.  In theory, this is a very safe and easy method.  In practice, I'm glad we tried it out.  I was one of the people being lowered, and it was more nerve-wracking than I thought it would be.  It was hard to get us all off the platform together, and once we did, all the extra weight on the rope made the tree groan.  However, the person on the ground lowering us had no trouble with the added weight, and we all got down safe and sound (after they suspended us in mid-air to take some pictures-- we looked pretty silly.)

Kayak Rolling Clinic

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Bebe Lake, Ithaca, NY

Bebe lake, with a crane sitting on the edge of the waterfall.

After my little adventure with sea kayaking at fall all-staff training, I managed to convince some of my friends to come to a clinic with the cornell outing club.  This meant an evening paddling around Bebe lake, then practicing some of the same rolling exercises I had learned before.  We used white water kayaks this time, which I found much harder to steer in a straight line.

Between the spray skirt and the helmet, kayaking outfits rank among the most stylish of anything I've worn.

As we packed in our kayaks, the moon rose up big and beautiful.

Fall All Staff Training

August 28th-29th, 2009

HCC, Varna, NY

So far, I don't know how well I've explained the whole COE concept, so here it is in a nutshell:  Cornell Outdoor Education is a very large group of students who are really passionate about some outdoor activity or other, and through COE they teach courses to other undergrads to share their expertise.  COE runs courses on everything from backpacking, mountain biking, and rock climbing, to caving, kayaking, and (my area of expertise) tree climbing.  This means that, when ALL the COE staff get together in the fall for one giant training session, you get a huge jumble of very enthusiastic, very individual type individuals.

This was my first all-staff training, since last year I was hired shortly after it happened, so it was my first time really meeting everyone in one place-- which means all 150 of us.  The event involved a lot of food (COE really knows how to feed people), camping out at the challenge course, a lot of get to know you activities, and various education seminars.

I think they must have special-ordered rainy, cold weather just to give us all a lesson in weather preparedness.  One of the COE full-time staff likes to use the quote, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing choices."  In spite of the general wetness, we stayed relatively dry by camping in yurts (and of course because no one was wearing cotton pants-- cotton kills!)

I got to sit in on seminar about different leadership/group interaction models, and one about basic first aid.  The afternoon saw everyone splitting up and doing what we do best-- actual outdoor activities.  The idea was to try something that wasn't in your program area, so for me that was sea kayaking.

We went out to Lake Cayuga, and the first thing we did was "wet exits," meaning you flip underwater in your kayak, then, from the upside down position, take of the spray skirt and get out of the boat.  It was a little freaky at first, but not nearly as hard as you would think.  Then learned some of the basic strokes before having to retreat to the van for a lightning drill as a big storm rolled in.  It rolled right out again pretty quickly though, and we were able to get back on the water and tour around a little.  I picked up a lot of helpful tips on form and maneuverability that I had never quite grasped before.

We also started work on rolling, which meant practicing tipping the boat side to side, then bringing your body so that it lay parallel to the water and using just your hips to pull the boat on top of you, then tip it upright again.  My sides were sore for days, but apparently I had the advantage of "spinal flexibility" over the other guys in the seminar-- women can natural tip their hips farther and with better coordination than men.  We ended the seminar with a little tour around the lake, paddling in a very pleasant light rain.

All in all, fall all-staff training was informative, entertaining, and exhausting, AND I finally got my staff shirt!

Discovery Days

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Ithaca, NY

No pictures of this, so I'll keep it short.  Discovery Days is the demo that Cornell Outdoor Education runs on the arts quad during orientation week so that freshman can see how awesome we are, basically.  We hoist tents and kayaks up into some of the trees on the quad to draw in attention, then set up a mountain biking obstacle course to demo, a slack line to try out, and (drum roll please) a zip line out of one of the tallest trees.

I volunteered for Discovery Days, first because it's the one chance a year us tree climbers get to go crazy in the trees on the arts quad, but also because Discovery Days last year was what made me decide to take tree climbing in the first place.  I basically spent the day setting up the zip line, testing it, and helping freshman into helmets and harnesses so they could give it a try themselves.  As I was in the tree tying off the tensionless hitches for the two lines of the zip, I kept waving to people on the ground, who all seemed to think it was best to ignore me-- crazy girl in a tree.  Hands down the best part of the day was, as I tested the zip line for the first time, watching the expressions of some innocent pedestrians as I zipped right at them, landing a few feet away.

Move In Extravaganza

August 22nd, 2009

Ithaca, NY

After a lot of Philip Pullman books on tape over a 14 hour drive, my parents and I arrived in Ithaca for the big move in.  Since we came a little early, the whole process was fairly simple without the usual crowds.  This year, I'm living in a dorm again, but this time it's in a suite with 5 people sharing a common room and bathroom.  Having our own space is amazing-- we are still working on the settling in process and making the suite really feel like home.

Largely, the messy process of unpacking and organizing was something that people weren't psyched for me to take pictures of, but here's what I got:

I moved in before my room mate, Illika, so I took advantage of the extra space and spread my bounty of stuff over her bed as I tried to organize.  Sorry, Illika.

Hillary rocking out to some music (after finally unpacking her ipod speakers), while trying to sort through her mountains of stuff.

Melissa spread pretty much everything she owns across her floor.  We have a phrase in Cornell Outdoor Education for when you dump out your bags after a trip-- "exploding your pack."  We decided this was "exploding your life."

Tahra's very happy about her bird, Pedro, that she just hung from the ceiling.  (not a real bird, incase you were wondering)

Tahra displaying our mood magnets (she's portraying "ecstatic")

The process of mounting posters and pictures and making the rooms personal was a lot more fun-- everyone has a lot of personality that they are proud to display on their walls.

Tahra spelled out her name and Cornell on her walls in Arabic using wall decals.

Tahra's pictures and decals add a lot of color

Hillary put up her foam finger to point people to her room....

...Unfortunately, command strips apparently don't stick to foam fingers.

Hillary's poster spread.  She has a lot of them.

Some of my posters/pictures.  Sadly, at this point, I couldn't put them all up yet because I planned to loft my bed up and maintenance hadn't got around to it yet.

Our common room, complete with my quilt, a kitchenette (aka, a fridge, microwave, and toaster oven), and a world map with pins in it for where all of us have traveled.

We put up ribbons in the hall way to use as little clothes lines for communal pictures.  The tiny colorful clothespins were an awesome AC Moore find.

The amazing view from my window-- you can see Lake Cayuga, as well as some amazing sunsets.

Adventures in Iowa

Ames, IA

August 3rd-6th, 2009

I think only those who have driven through Iowa themselves can imagine the boredom of driving highway 20 through cornfield after cornfield by yourself.  But of course, the visit to Haley was well worth it.  (I think Haley has a secret plan to keep us in separate states on a permanent-- hence why, when I came home to Wisconsin, she decided to stay in Iowa.  Don't worry though, I thwarted her schemes.)  Also, Jack and I greatly enjoyed the bonding time-- Jack being my car, who just got his AC fixed this summer, making him officially the perfect road trip vehicle.

Yay cornfields

Haley was determined to show me that, all jokes aside, Iowa is a beautiful place.  And, although there are many, many jokes to put aside, I agree in the end.  She took me to the Ledges State Park, a lovely natural area full of creeks and rock formations.  We also took a walk around her campus and the down town area, where we had some amazing pizza.

Me, sporting my Iowa State shirt, next to one of Iowa's few vertical land features.

Sharing our love of roller coasters, Haley and I also headed to Adventure Land, and amusement park in Des Moines.  We had perfect weather and a very enjoyable day of rides and deep-fried food that fell somewhere between 6 Flags and the county fair.

Haley with the Tornado, a classic wooden roller coaster

Me with Petunia the Pig, a pork sandwich stand

Of course, being horsey girls at heart, we couldn't resist the carousel.

We (but mostly Haley) got a little wet on the log ride

Enjoying and ice cream treat-- chocolate, of course

Haley, just after shoving the last 3 inches of ice cream cone in her mouth at once.

Our favorite ride of the day.  And yes, we did ride it with a lot of small children.

The ferris wheel, our last ride for the day

Miscellaneous Summer Fun

Madison, Mineral Point, and Hixton WI

Here's just a few snapshots from my summer back in the dairy state.

Fourth of July at the Jones Mansion-- the family photo that also served as a workout for my mom, who had to click the button on the camera outside, then bound up the steps to get to the upstairs porch.

Mineral Point's Fourth of July run/walk, "Get the Lead Out."  Yes, nearly half the town participated.

Learning to grill was one of my summer projects-- I progressed from brats, to veggie kabobs, to chicken, to steaks.  If only I had a grill out in Ithaca now.

Another summer project-- my bandana quilt.  During my years at the barn, I racked up an impressive collection of bandanas, so I put them to good use in a picnic quilt.  I cut each in quarters and scrambled the colors, then made the backing and the edging out of denim for durability in many picnics to come.

I just really like this picture.  My brother and I have always commented on this tree, which is very striking on the horizon as we drive to the cabin, and I just thought I would snap a picture of it on my way by.

Summer's not complete without the Dane County Fair-- Tori and Spring back at the trailer

Cowboy's little siblings, Spice with Jayme and Stetson with Heidi, all dressed up in their western gear

Saying goodbye to the good old van before donating it to Rawhide.  It served us well for many, many years.

Camping in Hixton, for the blueberry picking season

It rained a lot.

Solution to the rain-- hammock and tarp, the perfect set up.

My new quilt got to enjoy the hammock as well.