This weekend, the City of Trees will host high-flying arborists in a tree climbing competition in William Land Park, where the canopy becomes their playing field.
The arborists will show off the climbing techniques they use as tree-care professionals to impress spectators and judges. The event is free to the public and takes place outside of Fairytale Town on Saturday and Sunday.
The Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture includes arborists from California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii. It holds the annual Tree Climbing Competition in different locations in the western US each year and sends winners to international finals.
The winners of the Masters’ event this Sunday will advance to the competition in Christchurch, New Zealand later this year.
“It's a great time to bring out the family and friends, have a great time at the park, be entertained watching climbers fly through the trees, safe of course, but showing off their abilities and skills of what they do to take care of the trees,” said Chad Brey, the Co-chair for the Western Chapter ISA’s tree climbing competition.
Brey, an outdoors enthusiast from a young age, says that after he started competing as a tree climber in 1998, his mentor went on to the international competition and brought back new techniques to share.
According to Brey, the finals are a melting pot of tree climbing innovations, where contestants learn from each other and showcase their unique regional skills with climbing gear.
He says California is a special place for arborists because the state is home to trees that are among the tallest and oldest in the world, and William Land Park is an ideal place for the competition because of the diversity of mature trees in the park.
“It's a great resource to have in an urban area and it's a great place to have people come together and basically celebrate trees and climbers' abilities in the trees,” Brey said about the park.
Participants must be certified arborists with at least three years of field experience, and are judged based on scores of timing and efficiency.
Brey says the reigning women’s champion, Kate Miller, will compete this year. Brey was Miller’s mentor when she started out. With a pause in competitions during the pandemic, she won competitions consecutively in 2018, 2022, 2023 and 2024 and has participated at the ISA’s international finals.
“She's a phenomenal climber. I actually initially hired her for a company I was working for and was able to have the opportunity to sort of show her the ropes, and she's done a phenomenal job and is very competitive,” Brey said.
Jessica Sanders is the Executive Director of the Sacramento Tree Foundation, a local nonprofit organization made up of the skilled arborists who care for Sacramento’s great diversity of trees. She says Sacramento’s urban canopy makes it an excellent place for tree enthusiasts.
“The climate, although it gets hot, we get those fluctuations daily of hot to cold, so we get really unique species that are growing here,” Sanders said.
Sanders has attended many tree climbing competitions, including in Croatia and Malaysia.
“[This weekend’s competition] really gives people, the climbers, an opportunity to not only compete and showcase their skills, but also learn from other people from all over the world, because trees in California aren't necessarily the same trees that you're seeing in New Zealand, or Malaysia or Croatia,” Sanders said.
Sanders added that the event has five preliminary events before the best of the best face off in the master’s competition on Sunday.
A competitor in last year’s Tree Climbing Competition participates in the Aerial Rescue event, performing a simulated rescue operation.Courtesy of Walter Warriner
“My favorite event is always the Aerial Rescue because it's so different to see how different people based on their height or body type climb trees,” Sanders said. “ You'll see some people with just raw strength, some people with more grace.”
Aerial Rescue is a time-based preliminary event where participants perform a simulated rescue operation. Other events will include the Work Climb and the Ascent Event.
In the Work Climb, competitors use the very same skills they would in their profession in a timed event where they complete multiple objectives within five minutes. And in the Ascent Event, they are timed as they set up their gear and as they use the equipment to reach the treetop.
Rose Epperson, Executive Director of the Western Chapter ISA says there are 7,500 arborists in the chapter. She says there will be a total of 40 competitors in the competition in Land Park.
“Their ropes are inspected every day, their gear is inspected every day, and they're well-trained,” Epperson said. “But they're also trained in first aid and CPR. And you know, they’re incredibly talented.”
Epperson says the competition is a great opportunity for spectators to be introduced to professional arboriculture.
She says ISA’s international competition is nearing its 75th anniversary.
“It's a super neat day,” Epperson said. “The competitors, they cheer each other on, they help each other with their gear. It's just really the camaraderie and it's refreshing and unique.”
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