My heartfelt passion for trees and desire to climb them has opened me up to an incredible group of like minded tree-climbing enthusiasts, comprised mostly of climbing Arborist and tree care professionals. I recently had the honor of attending the 2017 BIOMAS (Bainbridge Island Open Masters and Arboricultural Spectacular).
I signed up for the climbing competition without fully appreciating my predicament. Although I did manage to compete in one of the three climbing events, I was more honored just to be among the Pacific Northwest Tree Tribe.
We had several corporate sponsors and the area’s most prominent Arborist equipment supplier, WesSpur Tree Equipment, Inc., was on hand with all the latest shiny new equipment. Many families, and individuals came from all around BC, Bellingham, Portland and Seattle.
One tree was rigged with maybe a dozen different climbing lines so we could demo ropes with various textures and feels. Other climbing trees were also set with climbing lines for non-competitive recreational climbers, in addition to those that were used for competition.
The competition included four events and the climbers with the best individual and combined scores were honored with gifts and prizes. In fact, no one left empty handed. I tried what was known as the speed climb. While the goal was to ascend about 50 feet high and ring a cowbell, in both my two attempts I only made it about half way up. Feeling humble, inexperienced, exhausted and inadequate, I came away with a far better understanding, respect and appreciation for tree climbing.
The second of four events was the cat-rescue. This involved trying to capture and bag a stuffed-toy cat, complete with audible cat sounds, being raised higher and higher up the tree if not captured and bagged within a set time. The climb combined various skills, requiring strength, climbing and positioning skill.
The third event was a rigging competition. The goal was to tie a rig with a 5-to-1 advantage, using pulleys. The cleanness and timeliness of the final set-up was judged accordingly.
The forth event was a limb-walking event, with cowbells placed on far reaching branches. A climber had to complete several maneuvers by clanking a cowbell with a hand saw and toss a log through a canopy at a ground target consisting of cheesy lawn decorations. Points were awarded for form and accuracy.
Being witness to these activities was incredible and I am forever grateful to everyone who took part. I’m more motivated now than ever and have already seen vast improvement in my skill and climbing ability. More importantly, I realized how my body and my physical condition greatly impacts my overall performance in both tree climbing and in life.