Region’s arborists have sights set high

Region’s arborists have sights set high

Wintec graduate, tutor and arboriculture practitioner Andrew Harrison has represented New Zealand at four international tree climbing championships. This year he has his eye on a current Wintec student and a graduate of the institute as place contenders.

They will have their chance at the regional championships held in Hamilton this Saturday – September 19th , an event Andrew is on this occasion organising.

He said the five events run over the day, combine speed, skill and safety. Run by the New Zealand Arboricultural Association, in conjunction with STIHL, the four Regional Tree Climbing Competitions held across New Zealand The competitions are open to anyone involved in arboriculture. The top five female and five male climbers from each of region will compete for national titles in Blenheim during November.

The overall winner of the national title will go on to represent New Zealand at the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) International Tree Climbing Championship (ITCC) held in the Chicago, Illinois, in July next year.

The Regional event in Hamilton begins at 9:00a.m. Saturday September 19, Ferrybank Park Hamilton.

History of the event:

Tree Climbing competitions began in the mid 1970s, in the USA, and simulated actual work scenarios for arborists. Initially, contestants competed as a team in four events;- the Work Climb, Aerial Rescue, Rope Throw, and the 40 foot (13 metre) Footlock or Body Thrust Speed Climb. The scores for each event were tallied and highest score produced a winner.After concerns for safety and insurance issues temporarily discontinued the Footlock event from competitions, the event was redeveloped in 1989 and reintroduced. Eventually, as the variety of rope techniques used grew, the competition was ‘internationalised’ during the 1990’s, which allowed climbers from all corners of the world to compete together.The Masters Challenge was also introduced and the competition, as we are familiar with today, was under way in full force.Climbers now compete in five events - the Work Climb, the Aerial Rescue, the Throwline, the Belayed Speed Climb, and the Secured Footlock. The details of these events can be found by in the Climbing Competition Rules.At National and International events, the Masters Challenge is the Championship round of the competition, where the top finishers from the preliminary rounds battle out for ultimate victory. It is designed to judge a contestant’s overall productivity and skill in the tree - demonstrating mastery of techniques, equipment use, poise, and safety - and it is not necessarily a speed event.New Zealand climbers, naturally, are highly competitive and regularly place highly at international events - recently New Zealand has won the Women’s event three times.

ENDS

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