Tree Climbers International

January 27, 2005 2:23 PM

This week's Time for Kids magazine, [fifth-grade reading level req.] includes an interesting feature on Tree Climbers International an organization that teaches people how to climb nearly any tree... Not just a sport for kids anymore. These days, large trees that were once considered too big to climb can now be scaled with ease and safety. Even by grown-ups.
posted by RockyChrysler (5 comments total)

apparently tree climbing has its own category over at DMOZ. I especially like this "how to turn a dead tree into a climbing wall" page.
posted by jessamyn at 4:50 PM on January 27, 2005

Thanks for the link ... I'll definitely show this to my kid, as she's beginning to climb trees. I used to climb trees all the time way back when, but didn't follow the climbing rules, which probably explains why I fell out of one. Still, I have fond memories of scrambling up trees, and enjoying the views.
posted by hoppytoad at 8:26 PM on January 27, 2005

This is a whole lot of reading for someone who likes to go out and climb trees...

I have a friend who is a professional forrester (tree trimmer) but he would be bored instantly with this website, since it doesn't start out with pictures.

That said, Thanks for the link!!
I hang out with a few semi-pro (rock, ice) climbers, and they are very interesting if not insane people. Insanity in a good way.

If it get's you out into the sunshine and fresh air, it's gotta be good...
posted by Balisong at 9:16 PM on January 27, 2005

A longtime friend of ours is an arborist active in the state association and instrumental in bringing their annual tree-climbing competition to a local park last year. We watched several true professionals, from various forestry outfits (public and private) around the state, attempt the same tree. I say attempt because some of them failed. Without an opportunity to examine the tree beforehand, they had a time limit (30 mins?) to assess its structure, get up into it (usually by throwing a nylon line up to a branch they selected, then using that to get a stronger line), using approved safety protocols, and once in the tree they had three or four bells dispersed throughout the upper branches that they had to reach and ring. Any dropped equipment, broken branches above a certain size, or safety mistakes, and they were immediately disqualified. It was harsh -- some of these guys were pretty good and still fucked up. What was especially impressive was the strategizing and thought that went into it. I wouldn't mind it as an Olympic sport, mixed in with the biathlon and such ...
posted by dhartung at 9:32 PM on January 27, 2005

More power to these folks, and dhartung's competition sounds very entertaining - but I can't be the only one whose personal vision of recreational tree-climbing is somehow antithetical to ropes, harnesses and helmets. To me, it's you (preferably barefoot) and the tree. If you can't reach the lowest branch, that's a tree you don't climb.

Full disclosure: I haven't climbed a tree for at least a year and a half, so I realize I'm behind the times.
posted by soyjoy at 7:41 AM on January 28, 2005