Make sure your feet are strapped to the bottom real well, that will help. I also found that if you take smaller chucks as you climb makes it a lot easier and you actually end up going faster in the long run. If you can, I sit on the shooting rail of the upper part as I bring the lower platform up ( a lot easier then when I first started and was taking bigger chucks and balencing my elbows on the shooting rail. I never had much problem going up, except the one time I was climbing a tree that had a big bulge in it. Usually coming down is the more difficult part for me. Pointing your toes downward (thus the reason for a tight strap on the base is important) does seem to break the platform away from the tree well.