Welcome to TreeXP

TreeXP offers tree climbing consulting services. We provide climbing demonstrations and offer hands-on opportunities for beginning climbers to acquire direct “on-rope” experience using stationary and doubled rope climbing methods, while using the same kinds of industry specific equipment used by tree care professionals and production climbers. We teach and encourage others to reinforce safe and non-invasive (tree-friendly) climbing techniques.

TreeXP’s main focus is tree climbing for recreation, sport and research. We are here to instruct, serve, unite and inform tree climbers who prefer to climb in a safe, responsible, non-invasive manner, without the use of climbing spurs. Tree climbing is great exercise, creating harmony and focus between body and mind. It requires problem solving logic, tactical awareness and it provides for an intimate connection with nature. It’s as much spiritual as it is physical and technical. Just being in the presence of trees and nature’s abundance, while exercising your body and mind is immensely gratifying.

We hope you’ll become as passionate and excited about tree climbing as we are. If you’re already an experienced rock-climber, than perhaps you are familiar with many of the tree-climbing components. Tree climbing offers us an objective reality that allows us to challenge ourselves, while connecting directly with nature.

Tree Climbing 101

  • Obtain appropriate tree-climbing instruction.
  • Practice Low and Slow.
  • Follow the equipment manufacturer’s guidelines, especially for life supporting (PPE) personal protective equipment.
  • Learn to tie and become proficient tying some basic knots, like a Figure 8 on a bite, an Alpine Butterfly, a Blake’s and similar hitch knots and stopper knots.
  • Learn to identify hazards both on and around the tree.
  • Be reverent of your surroundings by practicing non-invasive climbing techniques.

Getting the climbing line into the tree is the first objective. Hand-throwing a weighted throw-bag, tied to a string, or by using an oversized sling shot, known as a Big Shot, to shoot a weighted throw-bag tied to a light weight throw line over a secure branch and then by feeding the rope into the tree, is how it’s usually done. Trees like Redwoods, may require a more powerful launching device, like a crossbow, an airgun, or even with the use of a drone.

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My Ideal 2-in-1 Climbing Lanyard, with the DMM Captain Throwing Hook

Climbing lanyards are a highly personal thing and there’s no perfect solution for all climbers in every environment. It’s more about personal preference, using new or old school gear. I’ve come up with a number of various lanyard systems based on what I want to do, how I am going to do it, and how secure I’ll feel in the process.

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Our services help our clientèle intelligently and mindfully acclimate into the tree climbing world, through personalized instruction.

All are welcome here, so please come join us for a taste of the TreeXP’erience.

About

TreeXP acknowledges tree climbing for recreation, sport, scientific research and of course for tree care. Using non-invasive climbing techniques and appropriate climbing gear, a climber is able to ascend and descend to and from the tree canopy, as well as, traverse from tree to tree, with minimal impact to the tree. Like coral reefs, tree canopies are full of life and incredible beauty. Tree climbing is similar to rock climbing, but instead of depending on a rock wall for support, tree climbers are connected to living beings, by way of a climbing line.

John is the founder of TreeXP. Since 2015, he’s received professional tree climbing instruction from both The Cornell Tree Climbing Institute and Tree Climbing Planet. He is now retired and manages TreeXP.com, while occasionally climbing and instructing others about the benefits of tree climbing on an informal and part time basis.

Tree people, aka: treepls, are true inspirations for everyone.  Scientific research shows the positive physiological changes that occur in our bodies when we climb trees and these effects can last long after the climb itself.

John Greer: A Passionate Tree Climber and Advocate

John Greer is now a retired tree climbing consultant and the founder of TreeXP, a website that offers tree climbing consulting services and information. He is also the author of A Week in the Trees: Climbing Redwoods, a book that chronicles his adventure of climbing some of the tallest and oldest trees in the world. John Greer’s background, achievements, and contributions to the tree climbing community and the conservation of forests are as noted below.

BACKGROUND

John Greer was born and raised in Southern California, before relocating to the Seattle Washington area with his family in the mid nineties. John’s love for nature and outdoor activities began during childhood. He graduated from the University of Washington with a Certificate in Multimedia Design and began a web development company after pursuing a productive career in the financial community. He also pursues his passion for hiking, fishing, skiing, golf and tennis.

In 2014, John Greer discovered tree climbing after attending a tree sitting protest over a area being clear cut for the development of a strip mall. His goal is to raise awareness about the importance of trees and the impact they have on our lives. He was intrigued by the idea of exploring the canopy of forests and experiencing a different perspective of nature. He decided to learn how to climb trees safely and responsibly, using the same kinds of industry-specific equipment used by tree care professionals and production climbers. He also joined the Global Organization of Tree Climbers (GOTC), an international network of recreational tree climbers who share their knowledge and skills.

ACHIEVEMENTS

John Greer has climbed many trees around the world, including some of the most iconic and majestic ones. He has climbed both the Sierra and Coastal Redwoods in California, Giant Spruce and Douglas Fir trees in the Pacific Northwest and in the jungles of Costa Rica. He has also climbed and trained with some of the most renowned tree climbers in the world, such as Tim Kovar, Eric (Treewolf) Folmer, James (TreeMonkey) Reed and Normer (Cat-Man-Do) Adams.

One of John Greer’s most remarkable achievements is his book A Week in the Trees: Climbing Redwoods, published in 2017. The book is a memoir of his seven-day journey of climbing some of the tallest and oldest redwood trees on the western facing slopes of the Sierras, near Fresno, California. The book describes his challenges, discoveries, emotions, and insights as he ascends to heights well over 250 feet. The book also showcases his stunning photographs of the redwood forest and its wildlife.

Another notable achievement of John Greer is his website TreeXP, which he launched in 2017. The website offers tree climbing consulting services and information for beginners and experienced climbers alike. The website provides climbing demonstrations, hands-on opportunities, safety tips, equipment reviews, blog posts, videos, and more. The website’s main focus is tree climbing for recreation, sport, and research. The website also promotes safe and non-invasive (tree-friendly) climbing techniques that respect the trees and their habitats.

CONTRIBUTIONS

John Greer has made significant contributions to the tree climbing community and the conservation of forests. He has inspired and educated many people about the benefits and joys of tree climbing through his book, website, and social media. He has also supported and participated in various tree climbing events, workshops, and expeditions around the world. John strongly advocates for the protection and restoration of forests and their biodiversity.

CONCLUSION

John Greer is a passionate tree climber and advocate who has achieved and contributed a lot to the tree climbing community and the conservation of forests. He has climbed some of the most amazing trees in the world, written a book about his experience, created a website that offers tree climbing consulting services and information, and supported various forest conservation efforts. He is a role model and a leader for anyone who loves trees and nature.

Thanks for being a part of nature and one with all, including our most precious resources, our trees.

Services

We transform beginners into proficient, self-equipped, tree climbers.

TreeXP understands what it takes to be an autonomous tree climber.  When starting out in any new sport, the numerous options can be rather intimidating and costly. TreeXP helps work through all that and through personalized instruction, we enable our clientele to intelligently and mindfully acclimate into the world of tree climbing.

We currently offer our services to everyone, including trend setters, adventure seekers, canopy researchers, explorers, wildlife or nature photographers, nature enthusiasts and environmental activists. Our guidance focuses on all the necessary essentials needed to safely climb trees in places ranging from one’s own backyard to exotic locations around the world.

Our clients are interested in climbing trees, trying new and old-school techniques with high quality, safety rated and industry certified gear. What sets us apart from others is how our goal is to move quickly beyond basic, less energy efficient systems and into more mechanically augmented climbing systems that provide maximum efficiency, with the least amount of resistance. We use equipment that’s favored among both climbing arborists and competitive tree climbers. The gear we use is both specialized and field tested, meeting the demands of professional production climbers throughout the world.

What sets tree climbers apart from others is how easy it is to adapt to a variety of on-rope related climbing challenges. Imagine all the opportunities that may include limb-walking in the canopies, rappelling off a bridge or down the side of a waterfall.  Being technically proficient when on-rope as a skilled tree climber, also opens up a variety of residual opportunities, including activities like rock climbing, mountaineering, caving and more.

We appreciate the value of minimalism and learning old-school tree climbing methods, and also the major improvements achieved when incorporating modern climbing technologies into our systems. We constantly strive to promote efficient, safe, responsible practices using non-invasive techniques to achieve our climbing objectives.

Tree climbers enjoy the beauty, challenge, exercise, and the joyful exhilaration of being immersed in nature. Compared to what production climbers go through when doing professional tree work with cutting tools, chainsaws and climbing-spurs,  rec tree climbing without these impediments makes things a lot less risky.

Our climbing systems enable one to ascend and descend into a tree’s canopy, as well as, limb-walk, navigate, maneuver and re-position oneself. Ideally, a climber ascends up one tree, traverses from tree to tree and returns to the ground. When two or more recreational tree climbers join together, the recreational tree climbing options become vastly enhanced by way of inventive and cooperative rigging, traverses, zip lines and counter balances.

Our services provide a hand’s on way for interested climbers to try different types of gear and get on-rope to experience the various kinds of tree climbing methods. After enough practice, our clientele will develop an ability to personalize their own climbing setup for optimal results.

Beginning climbers will be well served by obtaining tree climbing training. DIY’ers and beginning climbers may have trouble figuring out or finding the right combinations of gear, or spend seemingly endless amounts of money on unnecessary equipment. Beyond just learning basic tree climbing skills, our services are for sports minded individuals who ultimately want to become proficient, self-equipped recreational tree climbers, in a time efficient and cost effective way.

More about Climbing Trees

Eco-Restoration

This Redwood tree seed was released by a seed-cone.
This Redwood tree seed was released by a seed-cone.

Our lives depend on our ability to harmonize with nature and become one with our greater collective.

Lélia and Sebastião Salgado, recently featured in the 2014 blockbuster documentary, Salt of the Earth,  have worked since the 1990s on the restoration of a small part of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. In 1998, they succeeded in turning this land into a nature reserve and created the Instituto Terra. The Instituto is dedicated to a mission of reforestation, conservation and environmental education. The achievements of the Instituto have established a proven case-model, showing how over farmed and over ranched land can be restored, thereby promoting the return of waterfalls, ponds, streams and wildlife.

The team at Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, recently completed a project with a handful of experienced tree-climbers from Bartlett Arborist Supply, who climbed Coastal Redwood Trees and Sequoias, in an effort to collect and clone trees, to be planted in Oregon and Washington. They’re building living libraries of old-growth tree genetics by cloning these old growth trees through traditional and advanced horticultural propagation for the purpose of future research and functional reforestation.