On September 15th the 2012 Michigan Tree Climbing Championship was hosted at Potter Park in Lansing, MI . As soon as I heard about it I was incredulous that I was not aware of it earlier. I had to see it but I wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of me envisioned people climbing trees like kids but that seemed dangerous, even for professionals. Instead I saw what was a much more challenging and strenuous endeavour.
What is the highest you’ve ever climbed a rope? 20 feet? 50? How about 100? That was the first event I saw out of 5 total. The most interesting event was something called the aerial rescue. The climber had to climb a tree to a dummy, assess its injuries and safely lower it to the ground. The winners went on to be invited to the International Tree Climbing Championship being held in Toronto in 2013.
Competing in a sport like this is something that had never occurred to me. After seeing it in person I’m certainly considering it.
Official site: http://www.asm-isa.org/MTCC.html
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