Had a wicked session in the gym today (well, yesterday as it's late at night now), and a decent one Wed. Plus I did some solid logging recently, very nice dry wood from standing trees with Keith, and scored a whack of wood from Alpine Precision Tree Removal (Thanks Jeff and Chad!). The picture is of me being a tree hugger, all proud of the very dead tree that went down cleanly. Oh, cutting that thing up and then splitting it was a bad-ass workout too--knotty-ass tree, I had to resort to the new chainsaw a couple of time to win. Kinda weak but that's how it goes sometimes, all of it is very nice firewood now. New saw required a new chain too, knowing how to sharpen ice tools does not translate directly to sharpening chain saws. It is possible to remove too much of that little tooth that sets the depth of the cut. Bought a guide thing.
Training Wed: Good warmup, then bouldering, then kinda got psyched to work with the Vsion Junior Team for a bit on some skills, then blasted myself on the system board for body tension and power moves. Wicked.
Training Friday: Solid warmup, sent some problems that had been beating me down, wore my soft skin out then got on the dry tool campus board. Big offset pulls, new season record (I'll take any victory I can get), half levers, worked. Full Spoga set in there too, never stopped moving except when I had to gasp like a new-born for breath. Love that.
Plus wrestling a couple of tons of wood, some walks with live weight on my back. A good week, beat some long-standing office stuff into at least a stand-off, the kind of work that just keeps piling up and piling up then it's really late so it's even worse to deal with so I didn't until this week. Lame, but fixed now.
Good to see you're broadening your skill set in a fairly manly direction! BTW, the safest direction to run away from a falling tree is quartering (45 degrees) back/away from the direction its falling. Falling trees sometimes do strange things like kicking back over top of the stump or the butt twitching sideways if they happen to hit other trees on the way down. One is like getting clooned by a 2 ton drop kick with splinters, and the other is like a whipping 2 ton baseball bat. Both could be followed by an ugly squish.
ReplyDeleteKeep smilin!
Thanks Jim--definitely on the 45 program, now clear my exit paths first thing. Probably the stupidest thing I've done in the logging department of late was working with a saw that had the idle set way too high. I had nightmares about that after watching a bunch of youtube videos and reading up on chainsaw accidents, jesus but these things do damage when it goes wrong. We've got chaps, cut-resistant boots and hearing protection, but a good helmet (my BD helmet may not be the best for this action) and face mask are next.
ReplyDeleteChainsaws are not cars--they take a near-constant tinkering to keep running properly. Simple adjustments really, but as I don't have a chainsaw mentor I've had to learn how to file, adjust, maintain and so on in relative isolation. Youtube rocks. Anyone in the Canmore/Calgary area who wants to trade some chainsaw pointers for some ice pointers please let me know, I'd be stoked. I do have the ex-rental 340 AV I bought running really well know, a well-filed chain, a good cleaning and some time spent adjusting things has really paid off in a tool that I like.
I hope to avoid the "squish," thanks!
the faller's #1 adage is "it's what you don't see that hurts you" (could apply to alpine climbing, too, I guess)
ReplyDeleteWhich is why exit paths, helmets and other safety gear, radio, and working the face (not cutting where the crown is totally surrounded by other trees) are essential.