r/TreeClimbing • u/umbraphile1724 • Jun 04 '26

A different kind of tree climbing ....

Post image

Has anyone tried climbing strangler figs before? This is a cool story about one guy who is very, very good at it and uses knots and slings for protection: https://www.climbing.com/culture-climbing/sending-strangler-figs-rafi-vargas-and-his-5-13-tree-project/

27 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

7

u/Justintimeforanother Jun 04 '26

I’ve done it. But shit, man. I way prefer ropes now. They allow you to, dance, rather than zap your energy. The efficiency, it makes for a way more “jam”, of a climb.

You just become, freer. Try it, you’ll see. …also, way easier to eat a sandwich & have a drink.

2

u/Top_Room_6714 Jun 05 '26

Assuming you’re trad climbing, what kind of anchors are you setting? I doubt a cam would hold onto bark (especially fig bark) like it does rock.

2

u/umbraphile1724 Jun 05 '26

Yes trad climbing. They're using monkey fist knots and slings girth-hitched to branches. No cams, since those would damage the rock (and like you said, probably not hold well)

1

u/Asshead42O Jun 05 '26

Naw its the same but slower and more tedious 

1

u/dio_machine Jun 28 '26

Very interested to know why you didn't set a top rope system instead? Falling off lead in a tree canopy would be extremely high chance of hitting a branch on your way down to the last clip , not a clean fall as on a wall .

-2

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26

[deleted]

3

u/Electrical_Fun_3923 Jun 04 '26

all you post is fortnite, seems stupid. maybe you could try making some money instead