Climbing comps

[BigJohn]

I spent 3 years of my life just out of high school as a line clearance trimmer. Did alot of work out buckets, got my lift truck inspeciton certification.

The throw ball usually has 3 marked targets, low, medium and high shot. The highest will be around 75 to 90 feet high. You have 5 minutes to set two ropes for a total of 90 points. Points are awarded for the hight of the shot and bonus for installing a rope.

It can be some pretty intense climbing. Most the guys take it pretty serious. Just last year I ruptured a tendon and loss use of my middle finger carry all my gear to gear inspection. I continued on that day to finish. It wasn't a horrible day but never placed in any events. I was 2 seconds behind third place guy in the footlock.

I dont these guys are missing anything. I think they would be humbled real quick if they decided to enter. Ever heard the term crotch climber? They wont make it in this competition.

 

[rich_h]

I guess I don't understand what the argument is about. Are you saying that climbing comps are stupid and that the climbers involved are not real tree men? Are you saying that the comps do not reflect what we do every day? Are you saying that anyone competing in these is just a sport climber and probably couldnt handle the every day grind of the industry? Or is it,yet again, an issue of utility line clearance vs. commercial arboriculture?

Again I don't see what the fuss is about. If you are not interested in the climbing comps then DON'T ENTER THEM. If watching incredibly talented climbers move around a tree makes you sick then DON'T WATCH THEM. If you must make fun of every aspect of the climbing comp you may want to take a closer look at what utility line clearance would have to offer in its place. Maybe a comp to see how perfectly you can leave a stub? Maybe a comp to top dead trees and leave them instead of removing the whole thing? Possibly a comp to see how much damage you can do with spikes without killing the tree within the next growing season.

I respect the fact that utility line clearance workers constantly work around power lines. It is definitely not something that I would like to do myself, but, this attitude that commercial arboriculture is somehow inferior to line clearance is just crap.

Just do me a favor, if you ever decide to enter a comp and meet a ton of dedicated tree men and women and learn a ton from their experiences and climbing techniques and actually ummmm have fun doing it.........ahh never mind, I think I would rather not see you there.

 

[Nickrosis]

...If they don't cut, what the hell do they do, treework usually involves cutting part of the tree, ....C'mon Tom tell me.

Knock it off! I'm trying to read a thread, and you're ruining it for me! I'd mark you down for your reputation, but I've done that too recently! For once, please let a thread about arboriculture be about arboriculture.

 

[rebelman]

Good post nick.

 

[clearance]

OK, guys, out of respest for your sensitivy I'll stop.

 

[BigJohn]

Here is link to a video. It takes a while to load. This is my work climb last year. Dont laugh after the competition I went to the hospital and had surgery on my hand to repair the tendons that I ruptured that morning before the competition.

It should give you some idea of what it is like.
http://www.veeky.com/showcase_play.php?vid=4414bd15710574.14739950

 

[userdude]

outstanding work climb John. opcorn:

 

[okietreedude1]

BigJohn,

Nice climb man. Thanks for the video link. Must be nice to have such a low final descent. MW makes you burn from a bout 15'.

And Ill agree w/ Rich above. Dont knock it until you try it. The guys that win these events are truly TALENTED! Things are a lot harder than they look. Throwline may seem easy until you try it under time and pressure. footlocking is diffiicult enough, try going 50' under pressure and time. Can you do it in 40 seconds???? If not, you generally wont score many (if any) points. The work climb used to be set pretty easy. Now its a 5 min time limit and time goes faster than it seems. Last yrs MW event I bet close to 1/2 timed out and there were many good climbers.

As for seeing it on TV, Id asked Tom a couple yrs ago on TB what it would take to get it there and I believe he said $. Someone would have to come up with the $ to pay for espn (or the like) to carry it. So far, no one has. Because there are so many manufacturers' gear being used, its hard for any one company to promote it, unlike the STIHL timbersports events. Stihl saws are all that are allowed. I personally think the ISA should promote the event to the networks and it could happen, but I dont think they ever will.

So, if you want to see an event, contact your local ISA chapter. Many events are coming up soon. Even if you dont climb, go watch...volunteer....sponsor...whatever. Most chapters will take all the help they can get. MW chp is June 9,10 in Manhattan Ks. If you want more info on it, pmail me and ill give the contact info.

 

[jmack]

scary

I think they climb and get into positions as if they were gonna cut a tree clearance. It's like kung-fu training, dont wanna break your fist when you do finally do punch. To bad it seems to be veterans and not totally noob folks, cause the vets already know how pretty much.
It will be nice to compare myself to my peers.
Anytime folks have fallen and gotten killed or paralized like my friend JC no rope was involved in the accident. I think this will be good training for me about ropes.

folks......? yeah probally would be good training.