Northern Badger,

SOTP has two clips at the mid section of the harness. What you do is, wrap a second strap around the tree and slip it to these clips. I think you need to apply a little pressure to the strap to keep it taught but now you can just go up the tree with this strap and not worry about the steps getting in the way. Ever seen those lumberjack contests where they race up the pole? It's that same concept. When you reach the top and before stepping onto your stand, you can attach the regular tether section to the tree. All of this is described in the SOTP manual that comes with the harness. The only drawback is, the harness doesn't come with that second strap. You gotta buy it seperately. At least that was the case when I got mine. Kinda stupid!

A better idea is to have a seperate rope hanging down and use one of those "doo-hickeys" that rock climbers use. You slide it along the rope as you go. Several people on this forum suggested that one and it sounds like a great idea.

-Mike