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Up a tree, in style Mail Tribune / Paul Fattig Tree-climbing enthusiast Scott Altenhoff takes a break from his work to scale 70 feet up into a fir tree near the offices of New Tribe, a company that makes tree-climbing equipment south of Grants Pass. New Tribe co-worker Viola Brumbaugh admires the view from the tree�s canopy. Company makes gear for those who climb for fun By PAUL FATTIG GRANTS PASS � When Viola Brumbaugh and Scott Altenhoff grow weary of the bounds of earth, they head for tall timber. And climb to their hearts� content. Just for the fun of it. "It�s a magical feeling," she explained. "There is something so serene about it. There is a sense of communion with trees. I hold trees as such holy entities. "To endure all the weather, to grow as old as they do � to be able to climb into the limbs of one is just breathtaking," she added. "They are magical." "For me, the most exciting part of the forest is the canopy," Altenhoff observed. "The forest floor is heavily shaded and supports a certain set of organisms. The canopy has far more sunlight. It�s a completely different environment." Brumbaugh and Altenhoff, both 34, are recreational climbers who are taking to the trees. They are also employed by New Tribe, a small firm building tree-climbing gear in the former Shan Creek Grange Hall about 10 miles south of Grants Pass. When anyone needs a break from the tedium of work, they can grab some climbing gear to scale a large fir outside the old hall where a hammock swings on a limb 70 feet above the ground. "Everybody here is involved in tree climbing," explained New Tribe co-owner Sophia Sparks. She and business partner Tom Ness, both outdoor enthusiasts, started making outdoor gear in the mid-1980s when they couldn�t find what suited their needs. In the late 1980s, they came up with what has come to be known as the Ness saddle. The goal was to create climbing gear that is comfortable, Sparks said. "On our hikes, we didn�t want to stay on the ground," she said. "Tom drew on techniques he had learned from caving, rescue, rock climbing and working as an arborist." Tree climbers have a different need than other climbers, she explained. "When you are rock climbing, you depend on your fingers and toes and body strength to hold you up," Sparks said. "You only have the rope for protection should you let go. With tree climbing, you spend a lot of time hanging on the rope. So the comfort factor is really important." With that in mind, Sparks and Ness developed the Ness saddle, which allows a person to spend hours in a tree without being uncomfortable. Thick pads support the lower buttocks and the hips. A Ness saddle for an adult sells for $100. "It feels like sitting in a chair," Sparks said. Climbing is done in an "inchworm" fashion by stepping vertically in a pair of stirrups while sliding a metal device up the rope. "If you get to a place where you like the view, you can just sit there and enjoy it," said Sparks, 52. Descending is easily controlled by a friction system. "Nobody else is making recreational saddles for tree climbers," Sparks said. "The gear used by rock climbers is not comfortable and that used by arborists is too heavy. Pleasure climbers want something in between." The firm, which has two full-time employees, builds some 250 recreational saddles each year. They are sold to recreational climbers, arborists and canopy researchers from Denmark to Japan. Recreational interest in scaling trees is climbing, Sparks said. One tree climber in Atlanta, Ga., is even helping to organize "groves" of fellow buffs in a nonprofit group called Tree Climbers International, Sparks said. More information on the group is available at www.treeclimbing.com on the Web. Today�s techniques allow a tree to be climbed without harming it, explained Altenhoff, who has been climbing about 10 years. He began as a cone collector and tree surgeon before branching out into recreational climbing. He also did some rappelling in the Army. "In contrast to the old-style climbing where people strapped on spurs and kicked into the cambium of the bark, the techniques we advocate today don�t impact the tree," he said. To gain access to a tree, a small, weighted pouch attached to a thin line is thrown over a suitable limb. The small line, attached to a larger rope, is pulled down when the pouch drops to the ground. If the limb can�t be reached by throwing the pouch by hand, a slingshot can be used. "With something like a large redwood tree, we use a compound bow with spinning reel mounted on the front," he said. "We use a rubber-tipped arrow to get the line over the limb." If a tree has plenty of low branches, Brumbaugh doesn�t bother with equipment. "Every now and then I�ll see an urban tree that�s just begging to be climbed in a bank parking lot or a city park," she said. "Do I climb them? Absolutely. "It�s great to be able to get above it all and have the bird�s-eye perspective," she added. "People rarely notice you up there because their focus is so ground level." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.