Hey guys!!!!
This has been a pretty good week for me, because I have finally decided what I want to do for a living!!!!
I want to be an arborist/ climber.
I'm 24 years old and have spent the last 4 years stressing over finding a career that would actually excite me, keep me outside and even fulfill my adventurous spirit.
Since I graduated highschool I worked a year as an electricians apprentice, 2 years as a glassblower, another 2 years as a machinist, spent a year hitch hiking around the US, and then spent the last year working as a carpenter/ handyman.
I even managed to earn my Associates in Liberal Arts!!
I guess my curiosity of arboriculture started when I moved to my current location in Cortland, NY. Now I'm an avid rock climber and all around adventurer and Cortland is just plain hilly and full of farmland. To get to the nearest state forest I need to drive half an hour!!! SO what did I do to have some fun? I climbed the maple in our back yard with my ropes and had a blast doing it. I actually suggested that she get the thing cut down since the crotch of it was all rotted out and there was definately some issues in the weight of the branches. .so she hired some tree guys, not sure if they were arborists but this was the first time I actually saw someone climb a tree for work.....too damn cool!
So I want to be a climber, and my question for you guys is....... Are there any schools that focus and specialize in climbing, alongside the science of arboriculture? I may have considered working my way up, starting as a gopher when I was 18, but I'm really not willing to deal with paying my dues as the unskilled new guy, doing the stuff no one else wants to deal with, I mean hell, I'm 24 now!
Do you guys have any suggestions?