This is where ropes courses were first built and few would dispute the aesthetic appeal of being in and around trees.
In the early days all RCD ropes courses were built in trees but as the requirement for self belay ropes courses (cow’s tail) diminished and demand for assisted belay (bottom belay) courses increased so the advantages of construction in trees diminished.
Additionally, RCD focused on developing high team elements where the loads were higher and the need for sound engineering became increasingly more important. A ropes course built in trees invariably requires more maintenance. Trees, being living organisms, are prone to disease and decay (link to tree report) and require an annual inspection which is an additional cost to consider.
Nevertheless, where a client may only require a small number of elements or a course that requires the complete isolation / separation of elements this can be a very good option provided structurally sound trees are available. For example, RCD make a combined Leap of Faith, High All aboard, Peg Pole Climb and even a Crate Challenge that can be placed between just two trees that fulfil the right arboricultural criteria.
If there is a requirement for a self belay ropes course (traditional cow’s tail course) to be used for developmental purposes, then trees can be perfect and considerably more cost effective.
Finally, for a continuous low challenge ropes course and for some low team challenge elements they can be perfect in almost every respect.
