How to Climb Trees Using the Petzl Rope While Ascending

Petzl mechanical rope ascenders were invented by pioneering French cave explorer Fernand Petzl in the 1970s. The devices revolutionized caving, rock climbing and mountain climbing by providing a safe, relatively effortless way up a single fixed rope. Petzl equipment and many similar spin-off designs were quickly adopted by arborists for climbing trees, as well. Petzl mechanical ascenders are used in various configurations, but a basic system employs a Croll chest ascender and an Ascension handled ascender, along with a single foot loop. Both devices slide smoothly in an upward direction on the rope, but contain cams that jam on the rope when downward pressure is applied.

Instructions

    • 1

      Attach the Croll chest ascender to the chest harness by inserting a quick link through the chest harness and the top hole on the Croll. The Croll should rest in a vertical position against your chest.

    • 2

      Pull the safety catch on the Croll into the down position to open the gripping cam. Insert the climbing rope into the rope channel in the Croll. Close the safety catch so the cam is in contact with the rope. Pull sharply downward on the Croll to verify that the cam jams against the rope.

    • 3

      Pull the safety catch on the Ascension handled ascender into the down position to open the gripping cam. Insert the climbing rope into the rope channel in the Ascension. Close the safety catch so the cam is in contact with the rope. Secure the Ascension's rope channel by clipping a carabiner through the two locking holes. Pull sharply downward on the Ascension to verify that the cam jams against the rope.

    • 4

      Clip the carabiner on one end of a backup rope to the smaller of the Ascension's two bottom holes and the carabiner on the other end to the climbing harness.

    • 5

      Clip the foot loop to the larger of the Ascension's bottom holes.

    • 6

      Pull the trigger on the Ascension to open the cam and slide it up the rope over your head. Release the trigger to close the cam and lock it on the rope.

    • 7

      Step up into the foot loop and stand up. As you stand up, the Croll chest ascender will slide up the rope and lock.

    • 8

      Hang your weight on the chest ascender and pull the trigger on the Ascension handle to open the cam. Bend the knee of the leg in the foot loop to create slack and slide the Ascension handle further up the rope to the the end of the slack. Release the trigger to lock it on the rope.

    • 9

      Stand up in the foot loop again as the Croll chest ascender slides up the rope and locks.

    • 10

      Continue sliding the Ascension handle up the rope and locking, standing up in the foot loop, transferring weight to the Croll and sliding the Ascension further up the rope until you have reached the desired height on the rope.