The old idiom “getting there is half the fun” definitely is true for mountain as well as tree climbing. Had Sir Edmund Hilary ridden a chopper to the top of Mr. Everest, we probably would never have heard of him. And if you ride a motorized ascender to scale a tree, purists might scoff at you. And yet these may have a role to play in tree climbing. There may be times when you need to climb a tree quickly, as when you are trying to rescue a trapped or injured climber. In a professional setting, these gadgets would surely be very useful.
The RopeTek Wraptor Ascending Device is a gasoline-fed ascender that can take you up a tree at 100 feet per minute. It has a two-stroke engine equipped with a gear reduction system, and is powerful enough to carry a load of 300 pounds. It weighs 20 pounds and has a tank that can hold enough fuel to run over a thousand feet of rope.
A bite of rope is taken from Wraptor line previously set and wrapped around the ascender’s pulley, with the standing end at the back and the slack end in front. After setting up the CMI Ropewalker that comes with the Wraptor, you are ready to start the motor. Attach your climbing line to the ascender and the Ropewalker lanyard to your harness. Hold the handle and depress the trigger and you are on your way up. Just be sure to look up because you don’t want to run into twigs and branches. At the speed the RopeTex Wraptor can run, you are liable to get hurt if you do not look out for them.
The Wraptor works with most double-braided dynamic ropes with sizes from 7/16 to 5/8 inches. It is intended an ascending and not as a work positioning device.