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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 6, 1994)
Forest Service employee offers lessons in tree climbing to public By Meg Dedolph i i ty Thu secret to youth lies not in anti-aging cream* or herbal sup plements, but rather in climbing to the tops of old-growth trees, according to Ben Buchner. "To me. tree climbing is just n way of staying a kid." said Hex.liner, who not only climbs trees to trim branches, but is now teaching others how to climb ns well. "It's just like that song (from Peter Pan.) ' If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree Hochner, who i ame from the Midwest and its dei iduous forests with spreading low limbed trees, thought Oregon's forests were nic e when he first came here, but the trees were boring be< ause they couldn't Im climbed. But once he found himself climbing trees to trim brant hes or to work for tin- Forest Service, he i hanged his mint! "I found myself iieing up trees with a t bain saw a lot. and asked myself what I really liked about this it was being up in the canopy." ho said He began advertising for tree (.limbing students around Christmas, and has taught more than 40 students situ e then "I thought that it was gong to be mostly young people, roc k i limbers wanting to expenem e something new ' tie said, "but there were ipnte a few women, people over 50, students they all love the woods, though One of the people who look i limbing lessons from him, Zoe August, a researi h te< hnictuu called Buchner after she heard about him from a friend and then saw ins advertisement hi hugrntt Wtt’kly. "It was really great," she said "I love to climb trees, and I have not I wen able to climb to the top of n lot of trees because it’s not really safe She said she liked i limbing trees Im>< mi.se it reminded her of skydiving "You're up in the air." August said. "but you're also connect ed with the earth You're way. way up tn the sky. it's really qui et, it's windy, it's peaceful and you get a view of the earth you don't get otherwise ” She said the hardest [tart was rappelling down the trunk, whir h required her to unhook herself from the tree "I was thinking that probably it wouldn't work, and 1 would die. but I had to do it anyway The rappelling down was great — it was just like flying." August said Bodmer said climbing old growth trees that often are more than 200 feet tall is a disorient ing experiem e "It's kind of an ocean-like feeling bee ause your tree is swaying and all the trees around you art' swaying." he said "You get pin h on you and the pitch smells great I'o me it smells like the bubble gum you get in par ks of baseball tartls I'd come down all i overud with that smell Still, tree c limbing lessons make up only a small portion of Bochner's work Mostly he trims branches or collects < ones for the I oresl Service, yvhir h har vests the seeds for reforestation "You go all the way to the top of the tree, yvatk out to the ends and pit k the cones.." he said "Sugar pines have foot-long < ones, and you have to go all the way to the end of the branch But even tree trimming has its unusual moments, he said "I was trimming a vs Blow tn*e, which was HO to ‘Ml feet tall, and about (ill feet ai ross As I vs as climbing up the tree, in all the croti lies of the branches. I'd find turds, but I thought they were hairballs "I got up to the top of the Ins*, and there was a 20-pound rat t oon looking at me, not scary, not vie inns, |ust looking at me as if to say. ' What kind of animal is this? In my mind's eye. I imag ined him with his t bm resting in ins paw, looking at me, although he wasn't really like Things are different here. During finals: We make it quick and easy • Fresh bread made daily from scratch • Soup, salads, baked goods • Wide variety of vegetarian sandwiches Expires 6^30-94 —— Hours Mon-Sat 10 30am-9pm • Sun 11am-9prn 880 E 13th. Across from the U of 0 Bookstore • 344-1949 .750 Any 8” sub Expires &/3(V94 Hours Mon-Sat 10 30am-9pm • Sun 11am-9pm , 880 E. 13th, Across from the U of 0 Bookstore^* 344-1949 j JL that, he Mid. "1 sc! a rappel and go! oul of the trw. thinking 1! might (>»• his tree and he didn't want me up there." When he climbs !»*cs. he and his students use one of two methods, Boc.hner said. One involves the umi of spurs on the feet, which are metal hooks that fit around the bottom of a boot and strap onto the calves "These are technological extensions that allow us to tie like monkeyIn* said Although the spurs leave small holes in the tree bark. Bochner said thev don't damage most tri*es "I try not to < limb the same tree twice because I don't want to mark it up," tie said In combination with the spurs, he uses a specially designed harness for working in trees, and a thick mnnila rope, called a lanyard, that attm lies to the harness on either side and cm irr.les the tree A white mesh bag filled vsith toils of tree-climbing rope, who h is different from other climbing ropes in that it doesn't streti It. res!-, mi the ground One end of the rope is attached to the harness B<« liner leans Ixu.k in his har ness. so the lanyard is taut, and starts walking up the trunk, the spurs on his feet holding him in place Once he has climbed a few feet, he leans into the trunk, standing straight against the tree, takes the lanyard, and moves it a few feet higher. When he reaches the first brant h, he leans into the tree, unhooks the lanyard, and hold ing on with his arm. rehooks the lanyard above the branch. This maneuver, called a "limb over.” is the firs! time a climlier is i oinpletely unhooked from the tree "When I hrst started," he said, "and I got to a liinb over, I had to psych myself up for 15 or 20 minutes before I could do it I had to tell myself. If 1 get stung by a hoe. if 1 have a heart attack. Ben Bochner bounces his way back to the ground after climbing up ■the 80 ft tree it the Masonic Cemetery early Saturday Morning. if 1 hove in epileptic fit or what ever. I'm not letting go of this branch." When he reaches the top of tin1 tree, where the brain lies are closer together he unhooks com pletely ami starts "free climb ing" through the tree In i oses w hen he cannot climb using spurs, he uses a s\ s tern of ( lamps and ropes where instead of ( limbing tin- trunk, he ( limbs ropes hanging over the tree's branches using asi coders, or haiul-like clamps, and stir rups After reaching the top brain li es by climbing alongside the trunk, he climbs freely through the tree's upper branches To dew end, Boehner rappels down the tree, much like a rock climber rappels down n cliff. ”l feel safer m a tree than l do in a Dir. There's a fueling of rap port with trees because they’re olive and 1 can feel their strength. l ie never been into rock-climbing, and it s not the height. 1 think it's bet ause trees are alive." Ultimately, Bochner hopes not to make money from teach ing tree climbing, but to encour age people to preserve the trees. "1 do it because 1 like turning people on to it. 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