I've will only used Summit stands.Starting with their first Viper, that was all steel,then the first all aluminun Viper,and now the Viper X4.All of the Summit stands have been comfortable,easy to use,and rock solid.At 20 pounds,you can't beat it,neither can any other stand company.Buy one,you won't be sorry.
As far as climbing,I like getting to the point that my eyes get big or my nose starts to bleed,just kidding.I average between 22-26 feet up.I use a 30 foot bow pull-up rope as a guide for height.Also,a lot of the property I hunt is very hilly,so I have to get "up there"to compensate for that...Bob