Branching out in new direction

Tree climbing is continuing to see growth in numbers

Brian Metzler, Special To The Rocky

Published July 3, 2007 at midnight

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Like many, Harv Teitelbaum climbed a few neighborhood trees as a youngster growing up on Long Island. Unlike most, the 56-year-old Evergreen resident has been doing it well into his adult life. In fact, he even gets paid to do it.

Teitelbaum has been teaching the recreational, conservational and therapeutic values of tree climbing for six years. He looks at trees the way rock climbers look at the mountains.

Where some see a shady spot to relax in a hammock, he sees the opportunity for a vertical adventure that offers a different kind of tranquility.

"We all know trees from the ground level to a couple of feet up, but to get to know a tree from the top down is totally different," says Teitelbaum, a college instructor of environmental science. "To feel a living tree move and breathe underneath you, to be a part of that, it's a whole new world that's been opened up. Even the same tree is different from day to day and season to season."

If you're picturing someone scrambling up a tree trunk wearing spiked boots that send chips of shredded bark flying in all directions, you're way off base.

Recreational tree climbers use ropes and safety equipment similar to that used in rock climbing. The climber always is attached to a rope and a secure harness with special self-belaying knots.

Tree climbers say the sport is similar to rock climbing, only safer. And, like rock climbing, tree climbing builds self-confidence and promotes respect for the environment.

"The kind of trees that people are climbing now aren't what we were climbing as kids," said Mark Boozer, dealer development manager for Sherrill Tree, a North Carolina company that makes equipment for recreational tree climbing. "The trees that people are climbing recreationally nowadays might be 60, 80 or 100 feet up.

"And unlike what we did when we were kids, we're doing it safely now. If you were to slip and fall, if you're following the right techniques and procedures, there are backups so you won't get injured or fall to the ground."

Although it has been touted as a new trend for several years, tree climbing hardly is new.

Military, Scout and adventure programs have incorporated tree climbing since the late 19th century. It became an organized activity in 1983, when professional arborist Peter Jenkins founded Tree Climbers International (TCI), bought a piece of property in the Atlanta area with two large 100-year-old white oak trees and opened the first climbing school.

The group has introduced more than 10,000 people to tree climbing and has a dozen member chapters in the U.S., Japan, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden and Denmark.

Like most niche sports and activities that are off the mainstream radar, tree climbing has some unusual aspects. For example, talking to a tree, hugging a tree and thanking a tree are common practices. Plus, nicknames are common among climbing's ardent devotees.

And just as in rock climbing, bouldering and mountaineering, the first person to ascend a tree gets to name it. Teitelbaum's personal list is long and growing.

Among his favorites in Colorado are Gramps, a giant ponderosa in Evergreen; Nameless, a 500-year-old pine near Franktown; and Old Scratchy, a towering cottonwood in Arvada.

Some conservation purists have suggested the canopy habitat of old-growth trees represents one of the last frontiers safe from human interaction, and climbing trees can be disruptive.

But Jenkins, whose nickname is "Treeman," says recreational tree climbing is noninvasive and helps build "a heightened tree awareness."

Having respect for nature and for trees is an essential aspect of climbing, he said, adding he thinks the nascent sport will eclipse rock climbing and caving in mass participation within 10 years.

Teitelbaum took a TCI certification class from Jenkins in 2001 and has been hooked on the sport ever since. He started Tree Climbing Colorado and offers about 25 individual and group instruction courses and demonstrations every year. He trains people to become self-sufficient tree climbers over two-day weekend courses that end with a written test and a climbing test.

Avid tree climbers are known to spend several hours in trees 50 to 200 feet tall, occasionally camping a few hundred feet above the ground.

"A lot of people talk about tree time, when you're up and above everything," Boozer said. "In the canopy of the tree, there is a lot of peace and quiet. You have to be careful on windy days, and there are things to be concerned about when you're up there, but it's very relaxing and peaceful."

Teitelbaum, nicknamed "Ponderosa," said he has felt a connection with the natural world all of his life, and tree climbing helps accentuate that feeling. He has a master's degree in environmental leadership and ecopyschology and has worked for the education department of the Colorado Division of Wildlife and served as the executive director of the Douglas County Soil and Natural Resources Conservation District.

TCI promotes a climbing ethic that minimizes unnecessary contact with trees and uses bark-protecting devices and techniques to reduce potential harm. Certified instructors such as Teitelbaum don't allow the use of cleats, spurs or any equipment that damages trees.

He thinks sharing his passion for trees is the best way to preserve them.

"The nature-as-museum philosophy only serves to perpetuate the separation of humans from nature," he said. "We are neither solely its saviors nor its destroyers. Depriving ourselves and the natural world of our presence and touch, ever mindful of impacts, hurts us both and is ultimately self-defeating."

Required gear

Required gear for recreational tree climbing includes a helmet, harness (saddle), gloves, safety glasses, tree climbing rope, carabiners and a throw bag and line. Additional gear, such as mechanical ascenders, special ropes and hammocks, are necessary for more advanced climbs.

• Ropes: Tree climbing rope, or arborist rope, is made with a heat-tolerant polyester-Dacron exterior sheath instead of the nylon sheathes found in rock climbing ropes. Tree climbing ropes are made with a soft, braided construction and typically are a half-inch in diameter. Rock climbing ropes are not suitable for tree climbing unless they are static ropes used with mechanical ascenders. Required rope length is determined by doubling the height of the tree.

• Helmet: A good rock climbing helmet with a chinstrap should be worn at all times by every climber and all people near the tree.

• Harness: A tree climbing leg-strap harness, or saddle, features wider straps than a rock climbing saddle. A butt-strap saddle uses a strap that goes across the climber's bottom, similar to the seat of a swing.

• Gloves: Inexpensive latex-coated gloves with a tacky surface that enhances rope grip are best for tree climbing, protecting hands from blistering or rope burns during descents.

• Safety glasses: Climbers should wear safety glasses to protect the eyes from falling bark, twigs, seeds and other debris.

• Carabiners: Tree Climbers International recommends triple-action, auto-locking carabiners for main tie-ins to a saddle, where a climber's weight is being supported.

• Throw weight: Similar to a bean bag, a throw weight is a small, 12- to 16-ounce bag attached to a 150-foot polypropylene line that a tree climber uses to lob over a high branch to set ropes. Some climbers use a slingshot or crossbow to set initial ropes.

You can do it

Tree Climbers International strongly recommends learning the basics of the sport from a certified instructor. Tree Climbing Colorado offers several types of instruction at venues throughout the Front Range for reasonably fit adults and children (age 7 and older accompanied by an adult), regardless of climbing experience or rope skills.

Several introductory open climbing sessions ($25 to $50) are planned, including July 14 at South Platte Park in Littleton and Sept. 15 at the Buchanan Park Recreation Center in Evergreen.

The organization's Basic Tree Climbing Course ($450) is a two-day session that covers all the basics necessary to start climbing trees independently, including rope skills and techniques, knot making, safety equipment, hazards, tree selection and tree climbing ethics.

The next course is scheduled for July 16-17 in Evergreen.

Visit TreeClimbingColorado.com or call 303-526-2904 for more details.

Tree love

• What: Sixth Recreational Tree Climbing Rendezvous.

• When: Aug. 29 to Sept. 3.

• Where: Cal-Wood Education Center in Jamestown.

• What is it? A gathering of recreational tree climbers, professional arborists and tree lovers from around the world.

• Topics: Lessons and tips from master instructors and workshops about tree health, rogue climbing, rope splicing and plenty of opportunities to climb trees.

• Cost: The $320 registration fee covers meals and lodging in local cabins on a first-come, first-served basis.

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