Not to be rude but it sounds like you need to read the instruction manual/dvd provided with your climbing stand. You can climb up and climb down with a climber and stay attached to the tree. Most safety harnesses have a tree strap that wraps around the tree and you then hook your harness tether to the tree strap. You simply move the tree strap up or down the tree as you move and you stay attached from the time you start your climb, till the time you climb back down. This method has been described in every instruction manual of every climber I've ever owned from Summit, Lone Wolf, and API.
Thank you for the reminder. I probably saw this on the instructional video when I first bought my harness and thought that would slow me down and hence never made it into my routine. The youtube video was excellent and I am now going to include this in my ascending and descending routine with climber.