The Tree Climbing Competition
Last week, I accompanied my husband to a tree-climbing competition in Cedar Rapids. The Iowa Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) annually holds these timed events. My husband, a career arborist, was helping that day. Finalists get to compete in the international competition.
You may not have known that there is such a thing as tree-climbing competitions, but they are held to showcase skill, and to reinforce safety measures when tending trees. All contestants must have their gear inspected as part of the contest, and they’re judged on safety, speed, and expertise, in various events. Each event has 2-3 judges and 3-4 timers.
The judges and timers for one event
For example, one competition is “ascending” the fastest. Competitors are timed as to how fast they can ascend the tree on a rope. To attach their harness to the rope, they use pieces of equipment called “ascenders” (basically one-way pulleys), which, in operation, make it look like the climber is stepping up a flight of stairs.
Ascending a tree
A safety training competition called “Aerial Rescue” involves rescuing a “dummy” from a tree. The climber is timed as he climbs toward and “talks” to the dummy using EMT protocol, as he would to someone who is traumatized and injured.
Another event is climbing while being “belayed.” Like belaying in mountain climbing, this is using a rope that is held by someone on the ground who takes the slack out.
Belayed Speed Climb
Then there’s the “Throwline” event. When someone plans to climb a tree, they first need to place their rope in the tree strategically. So, one competition is throwing a weight (attached to the end of a nylon string) between markers on a high limb. The other end of the string is attached to the climber’s rope, which he or she can then pull up and around the desired limb.
Twigs and other limbs often block both the thrower’s view and the path of the string. I’ve watched even my husband’s assistant (a baseball outfielder with a strong, very accurate arm) take 10 to 15 minutes to get the weighted string around the right branch.
My favorite event was the “Work Climb.” Marker bells are placed in five different spots in the tree. The climber has to walk (or shinny) out on the different branches and ring the red bell with his hand saw and throw 2 sticks from the white bucket into a tire on the ground. This event, like the others, is timed, and many contestants didn’t get to all of the stations before the time was up.
Work Climb
At the end of the day, three contestants who won the most points (women competing equally against the men) get to enter the “Masters’ Climb” where they each have to take turns doing a difficult routine in the same tree. Whoever does it in the least amount of time wins the grand prize— a paid trip to the international competition.
At the competition this year there were 45 contestants and over 100 spectators.
Some spectators
The “Master’s Climb” event, with the 5 or 6 different tasks they have to do,reminded me of how akin it is to being an entrepreneur with our many different “must do” daily tasks — sales calls, scheduling posts, writing emails, handling customer service, planning launches, finding partners to do various collaborations with…and the list goes on. At least we aren’t timed on it, but we do have deadlines. And we aren’t under direct pressure of competing, but we do have competition.
So how do you cope? Well, how do the tree climber/arborists cope? They practice self-care. Tree care is one of the most dangerous professions in the world. A climber has to stay in good shape, eat healthy meals, and practice good mindset attitudes, so they can be alert and in top performance mode—all necessary because the number one factor for them is safety.
As entrepreneurs, we want to be alert and in top performance too, and we can do it in the same way— stay in good shape, eat healthy meals, and practice good mindset attitudes. As life coaches, we just need to “practice what we preach.” Remember this when you’re stressed out over your business. Stop and take some time for self-care. Your body, your mind–and your clients–will thank you!
One method of self-care is journalling. I created a “tree journal” for my husband a few years ago and it has tree graphics. You can purchase a copy on Amazon HERE.
