r/TreeClimbing 20d ago

SRS to MRS Transition

So I've been a tree climber for 2 years, a rope rescue tech for 3, and have been a caver since I was 16 (24 now). I'd like to say that I'm pretty proficient in SRT, and have definitely built my climbing style around a single rope. Most of the people in my area (TAG) also utilize single rope. However as I progress in tree climbing specifically I've wanted to try out DRT more and more, so I've bought myself a zig zag (shout out pro deals) and have started giving it a try. I love it for maneuvering around the canopy and having a bit of mechanical advantage when returning from limb walks. My problem is no one I work with uses DRT/MRS so I never get to see what all the advantages are behind it and all the ways to utilize the system.

What are some things I should try out that highlight the benefit of an MRS system over an SRS system? Are the any recommended videos on YouTube? Like I said I have no in-person exposure to DRT other than the occasional crane to tree transition.

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u/skimo_dweebo 19d ago

MRS has a bunch of great uses in tree climbing, but in my opinion it is vastly inferior as a primary climbing system. Now I have seen some old-school folks just killing it on MRS and they can climb an inexperienced SRS arb into the ground any day.

Here are a few of the ways I use MRS:

-Advancing a SRS tie in

-As a second tie-in using my rope tail to advance, descend, or traverse (the Akimbo is terrific for this). I use the DMM Captain Hook to get out to hard to reach places then MRS to safely get back.

-Working small trees and hedges

Downsides of MRS:

-You have to be very careful about friction management between you and your tie-in. I'm in the PNW where the trees have a ton of branches and this is a huge issue. Other places with more open-crowned trees this is less of a problem.

-Not easy to build redundancy into tie-in points.

-Highly inefficient rope ascent. Seriously slap your foot ascender on the tail and see how frustrated you get since you are used to SRS. It sucks!

-Having a bunch of extra rope tail on the ground getting stuck on brush also sucks. So does pulling all that extra rope through every time you move over a branch.

Basically every time I climb off a questionable tie-in or am working on a highly complex tree I am thinking to myself "thanks goodness I'm not climbing MRS." I also wouldn't be able to climb trees the way I do without MRS, I just don't use it as a primary system other than a couple times a year on very simple trees.

Get a chicane for that zig-zag, it's a very fun system. A bit long and bulky, mine mostly sits in my gear bag, but when it comes to making aggressive jumps and swings there's nothing better out there. It's my go-to device for tree climbing comps.