Tried to climb a dying oak yesterday and almost lost my spikes

I was up in this old red oak near Raleigh, setting my line for a deadwood removal, and the bark just peeled right off under my gaffs... nearly slid 12 feet before I caught a limb. How do you guys judge bark integrity before committing to a climb?

2 comments

2 Comments

emery60310d ago

Yeah @jenkins.alice I dunno, a full 12 foot peel sounds like more than a bad spot to me. Bark telling you something when it just gives up like that.

jenkins.alice10d ago

Call me crazy but it sounds like you just hit a bad spot. I've climbed plenty of oaks with flaky bark and never had a full peel like that.