On May 30, 2022 Charles Chick and I drove to Lowman to meet up with Todd Brown (BCHI, region 1, train the trainers sawyer) and Savanah Steele and some other USFS summer crew. The purpose of the day was for Chick and I to renew our C certifications and to enhance our skill set. Savanah team wanted to renew their B-Feller certification before starting the seasons work. The day started with Todd picking a “C” bucker problem for Chick and I to work on. While there were lots of down logs to cut, he needed to find one with a high level of complexity. The one he found met that requirement not because of a complex bind but because it was located on a steep hillside and just getting there almost took climbing gear. We made the climb, cut the log and completed that requirement, we then spent the rest of the day on mostly level ground, but the challenges just kept increasing.
One of the demonstrations was how to approach a hung up tree, so Todd ask that I intentionally hit a tree with one I was falling. I succeeded almost to well with a direct hit. Todd then explained a number of different ways to safely finish bringing the hung tree to the ground, the safest being to winch it out with a come-a-long. I did my best to following his advice but the tree had other ideas and I succeeded it pinching my bar and the tree was still stuck.
While the rest of the team watch we tried to wedge it over without success. As I was starting a second saw to try and finish the job, the tree made a large cracking sound and dropped to the ground taking my saw with it. A new safety brake handle will be required to put that saw back in service.
When not cutting ourselves, Chick and I worked as instructors with the rest of the group, working on different skills and by the end of the day everyone had completed their requirements for recertification and were ready for the coming season. Thanks to Todd for making the drive down from Grangeville and working with the group.