You find yourself taking a pleasant walk in the local park on a warm and sunny weekend morning. You breathe in deeply and relish in knowing that Spring is here and the trees are beginning to push out new leaves for the year. A calm, warm breeze blows in behind you and suddenly you see an unusually large gathering of people up ahead. You wonder if you missed that there was some sort of art or music festival in the park today, or perhaps some sort of outdoor service… but today is Saturday and that would be a bit rare.

You continue to come closer and you’re met with some bizarre noises. The ringing of what sounds like bells, intermittent clapping… oh it must be an outdoor wedding… but it is oddly accompanied by members yelling “Watch your tail, watch your tail!” and “Stay light, stay light!” and finally a “Watch your slack, climber!”

*Ohio Tree Climbing Competition spectators*

Intrigued and curious to see what all the commotion is, you pick up the pace and begin to observe that it is not just a single group of people, but multiple groups of people milling about and seemingly gathered around these large trees with caution tape surrounding them, fluttering in the breeze.

You come upon the largest of these groups and only then do you suddenly realize that they aren’t just admiring the large trees, but they are observing and cheering on the individuals that are climbing around and in them! Is this some kind of new sport? How did these people manage to get themselves into these trees? What on earth is going on? You implore the couple closest to you for some answers and they delightfully tell you that this is a tree climbing competition.

Now, I would imagine that this just about sums up most folks' first-time interactions with a tree climbing competition. You won’t find them being aired on ESPN or at the Olympics (one can only dream!) but most will find themselves stumbling upon them just by being in a park at the right place and the right time, or perhaps by catching a short story about them on the evening local news. If you have never observed a tree climbing competition, allow me to indulge you.

International Tree Climbing Championship (ITCC) logo

Tree climbing competitions have been around since the 1970’s and are currently orchestrated by the International Society of Arboriculture. This is the same professional group who many in the industry receive their Certified Arborist credential from each chapter within the ISA, both state-side and international, in turn have their own chapter-wide tree climbing competitions each year. These chapter competitions usually range from about 30-50 male and female climbers, in which each male and female winner would then represent that chapter at a regional climbing competition like the North American Tree Climbing Championship (NATCC), European Tree Climbing Championship (ETCC) or the Asian Pacific Tree Climbing Championship (APTCC). Those chapter winners would also get a chance to represent their chapter at the International Tree Climbing Championship (ITCC), the pinnacle competition!

Columbus had the fortune of hosting the ITCC in 2018 at Franklin Park. I remember walking around the competition as a spectator, only having a handful of climbing competitions under my belt at the time, and being overjoyed while watching some of the best tree climbers from all over the world gather in what felt like my backyard! It was a treat to be sure, and fueled my passion for tree climbing competitions even further.

So how does a tree climbing competition function? If you want the complete answer you would need to get ahold of the 70+ page rulebook that is freely available on the ISA’s website, but I will spare you the search and give you a shortened breakdown of ISA-sanctioned tree climbing competitions below.

ISA tree climbing competitions currently function on a point-total basis. They consist of five preliminary events, the Work Climb event, Aerial Rescue event, Throwline event, Ascent event, and the Belayed Speed Climb event.

Work Climb Event

The Work Climb event puts the climber’s ability to gracefully move around the tree on display. It is generally the most popular event to spectate and is the most valuable in terms of points, of the five preliminary events. This event requires a climber to start at a predetermined position at the top of the tree’s crown and then make their way to five individual bells spread out amongst the crown. Each bell presents its own challenge that a climber must complete for points (and bonus points), all while showing climbing tact and efficiency. The event is timed and the climber finishes the event by swinging to the ground to land on a target. The quicker the event is completed (among other rulings) the more points the climber scores!

Aerial Rescue Event

The Aerial Rescue event imitates the need for a climber to rescue another climber that has been involved in an incident in the crown of the tree. This event is frequently the most technical and mentally taxing of the preliminaries (only five minutes for a rescue!). A sand-filled dummy is commonly used as the stand-in climbing victim and, depending on what scenario the judges have come up with, the climber can be subject to a whole host of differing scenarios ranging from a chainsaw wound to an allergic reaction and so on!

Throwline Event

The Throwline event asks for precision with a very common tool for tree climbers. Each climber will step into the event and be presented with two trees that have four different branch unions, of which the climber chooses one from each tree to throw their throwballs through and hoist up their climbing ropes for time. The higher the branch union chosen the more points the climber will receive, but you only receive five minutes for the event and there are plenty of ways to receive point penalties in this one!

Ascent Event

The Ascent event displays the climber’s ability to ascend a pre-installed rope up to a determined height, for speed. Think of drag racing from point A to point B but in the vertical! There are a number of methods to complete this task and it seems that each year, climbers will manage to squeeze out another tenth of a second with a new piece of gear or technique. Climbers will certainly need to catch their breath for this one as the height of the bell may be as tall as 82 feet, higher than a seven-story building!

Belayed Speed Climb Event

Lastly, the Belayed Speed Climb event requires the climber to physically climb a predetermined route up a tree to a 60 ft. bell without the aid of a climbing rope, for time. I often refer to this event as the closest to rock climbing we will get in a tree climbing competition. This can be quite challenging when the tree is still wet from the previous day's rain or the morning dew, but is nonetheless what some childhood dreams are made of!

Once every competitor has completed each of the five preliminary events, a short break for lunch and point tallying occurs, and competitors and spectators shuffle their seats and belongings to gather around and find the best seat for the final event of the competition, the Masters Challenge.

Masters Challenge Event

The Masters Challenge event is a culmination of several preliminary events. The top male and female climbers, as determined by the sum point totals from the preliminary events, will be given a clean slate in points and a beautiful, mature tree to display their climbing abilities in, while they compete for the top places in the competition in front of the whole crowd and other competitors!

This is normally a 20-30 minute event, per climber, and asks much of them! A climber must give a verbal visual tree assessment to the judges prior to installing their ropes and climbing systems in the tree from the ground, navigate their way through the crown of the tree to four bells on the outer edges of the crown (think of a more advanced Work climb event) with their own bell-specific challenges, and then finally descend out of the tree and remove all of their equipment from the tree, for time.

Once the Masters Challenge is complete, the award ceremony begins in the early evening and the top competitors from each event and the overall winners of the competition are announced!

Tree climbing competitions have certainly changed in their format from the 1970s, but the purpose of the competitions has largely remained the same: “promote safe working practices, demonstrate improvements and innovations in equipment and techniques, and provide industry recognition to the public” as quoted from the ISA’s ITCC Rule Book.

*Jacob Nau, Hunter Pinyerd, and others at TCC in 2019*

One of the great joys in my life is tree climbing, and it is an amazing gift and opportunity to share this passion with other tree climbers and peers from around the chapter. While I certainly enjoy the competitive aspect of the climbing competitions, the camaraderie among the competitors and the people in any of these competitions is almost second to none and I find it wonderfully unique to think that the arboricultural industry is able to offer these experiences. Whether you are a lover of all things trees, a veteran climbing arborist, or someone who is just getting started in this field, tree climbing competitions will always offer new techniques, ideas and establish fantastic relationships with industry professionals and peers alike.

So, if you happen to have made it this far in my tree climbing competition revelry, I would happily like to invite you one! If you are in the central Ohio area, the 2023 Ohio ISA Chapter Tree Climbing Championship is going to be held at American Legion Park in Marysville, Ohio on Saturday May 6th at 8:00am. Every competition is free to the public and you can stay or go as you please. A kids climb, Arbor Fair and food vendors will also be available! Myself, Mac McGuire and Hunter Pinyerd will be representing Russell Tree Experts in what I believe will be our 8th, 3rd and 2nd competition’s, respectively. I hope you can come join us for a great day in the trees!

Bells in the Park

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