OH yeah, trees are great for the Pro. OUCH Brad, That one looked good above where it was lodged in the crack. I wonder how many falls have been taken on that tree on Rat Race?
A friend and partner were really late coming back from some FA work in shuteye. i knew they were in the river canyon and it's like 40 min tops to get back to the camp. Well in they stroll through the darkness both wide eyed and beaten.
On the lead my friend opted to downclimb due to lack of large protection. Downaiding the crack was no problem, at the end when the crack petered out, there was a small bush. The same type of bush we had been yarding on all over the approaches and for cleaning. These things were bomber, well on the final 10 feet of downclimbing the friend grabbed the bush/root/tree etc and pop! Inverted fall onto a 60 degree scree slope, luckily falling on the opposite side of another tree from where the belay was! Stopping just before the big talus. One tree ripped the other made a catch, pretty lucky huh?