Forces and motion associated with arboricultural climbing

Arboricultural climbing is inherently hazardous and although previous studies have investigated forces associated with ascents, abrupt stops during descents, and simulated falls, no studies have measured forces for typical climbing actions. Neither have studies measured motion of a tie-in point (TIP) and branch as a climber walked on the branch. We measured forces at the TIP and accelerations at the TIP and on a branch as a climber performed arboricultural climbing actions using two climbing lines and three climbing systems. Neither forces nor accelerations differed between climbing lines or systems, but covariates related to branch and TIP morphology were significant predictors of forces and accelerations in mechanically intuitive ways. As expected, forces measured for typical arboricultural climbing actions were less than those measured for ascents, abrupt stops during descents, and simulated falls. Results provide an important baseline for future work and can inform arboricultural safety standards to reduce the likelihood of injury while climbing.