Turning What You Love into What You Do
By Patrick J. O’Connor
One of my favorite activities as a kid was to climb the numerous huge trees we had on our farm in North Ridgeville. I loved sitting in them and listening to the breeze cut between the branches and leaves. It was like a symphony. The clouds and sky were a background bonus. Think about it… Where would we be without trees?
I climbed trees for fun. Almost 70 years later, I’m writing about a group of people who climb trees for a living… as professionals. They have turned what they love (climbing trees) into what they do.
North American Tree Climbing Championship
The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) hosts the North American Tree Climbing Championship (NATCC) each year. The event celebrates Arboriculture (tree surgery), which involves planting, care and maintenance of individual trees in woodlands, rural and urban areas. The event brings together all players in the industry to study and celebrate arboriculture work and the people who do it.
Climbers from companies around the continent, including the Davey Tree Expert Company, compete in the activities. It features five tree climbing activities completed by 100 tree climbers from Canada. Mexico and the United States. This year marks the 25th anniversary of women participating in the event, including the highest number of female competitors. The top performers of preliminary rounds compete in the Masters Challenge on the last day of the event. These top performers will compete in the International competition this fall.
The Science, Employee Education and Development (SEED) center at Davey Tree Expert headquarters in Kent.
The Davey Tree Expert Company based in Kent (“The Tree City”) hosted the Climbing Championship for the first time in Ohio. The event was held May 15-17 at their new “Science, Employee Education and Development” (SEED) Campus. This facility is the perfect host for such an event as it is a state-of-the-art training center with indoor and outdoor climbing facilities. The climbing championship is set on the SEED property ( a former golf course) where trees are “converted” into training exercise areas. The event emphasizes research, education and training to improve aboriculture.
Climbers
Climbers must be very athletic as their work is physically demanding. As such, many climbers have a background in sports or previous careers in firefighting, exercise science or landscaping. Also, tree work is a very hazardous occupation, with risks including falls, electrocution, equipment injuries, and being struck by falling branches. As such, all climbers are OSHA certified along with CPR and First Aid. Their skill set resembles a mixture of athleticism, skill and safety.
The athletic dimension is emphasized by the climbers’ role as an Industrial Athlete. Davey Tree Expert established the Industrial Athlete program to reduce the number of soft-tissue injuries on the job. The program includes nutritional advice, injury prevention and intervention, ergonomic corrections, an exercise program to promote flexibility, and biometric suits to gather intelligence on what muscle groups are being used while working. The result is improved employee performance, safety and efficiency.
Competitive Events
Specific events focus on timed activities climbers do in their work. One event is often the first task a climber performs. The climber must toss a small weight attached to the end of a rope. The task is to heave the weight into a tree and hook one of the branches. This enables a climber to retrieve the rope, tie it off and climb to access large tree limbs. The precision of the climber at this task is uncanny.
Other activities include climbing a tree with or without a rope and navigating the tree trunk and branches. Pruning tree branches and limbs ensures a healthy tree. All skills are important and risky but one in particular is serious business: the aerial rescue.
The Aerial rescue tests a climber’s ability to safely lower an injured co-worker. In this event, an “injured” mannequin is placed in a tree, and a climber must provide rescue support. Climbers are assessed by a team of coworkers who evaluate the climber’s ability to talk with the “injured” co-worker as they scale the tree. Climbers are, in effect, performing a triage to determine the condition of their co-worker. The climber almost acts like a “lifeguard in a tree” to perform this important task, which is much more common than most would think.
Considering the dangerous work they perform, climbers share a special kinship. In all these events, they support, encourage and applaud each other and their work. They resemble an athletic team cheering on their teammates. This results in a true team spirit.
The End of the Day
Climbers love being healthy, tending to trees, helping the environment, being cheered on and cheering on others. They help keep our environment and their coworkers safe. At the end of the workday, we all go home wondering if our day made any difference. Climbers go home knowing they have made a difference since they have done what they love.
The author appreciates the assistance of Renee Bissett of the Davey Tree Expert Company for her assistance with this segment. Photos courtesy of the Davey Tree Expert Company (SEED) and the International Society of Arboriculture (aerial rescue).
