photo credit: arbyreed/flickr

Arborists from across the west are descending...and ascending...on Sacramento this weekend for an annual tree climbing competition.

Lawrence Schultz, the lone North Bay competitor, will be swingin' from the trees as he faces off against dozens of other professional arborists during the annual Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture's tree climbing competition.

One of the event's organizers is Rose Epperson.

"The International Society of Arboriculture [ISA] is a professional organization of certified arborists, urban foresters, researchers, students, really a variety of people from all around the world," Epperson said. "There's over 47,000 [members]."

Epperson is executive director of the ISA western chapter.

Epperson said her role is to help arborists and tree aficionados across California, Hawaii, Arizona, and Nevada further their passion and professional careers.

For arborists like Schultz, the day job consists of, "care for trees in all aspects, whether that be just pruning for hazard reduction or sometimes essentially trimming for some sort of client desire or some sort of insurance reason," Schultz said.

"There's a whole other world where there's tree removal, removing dead, dying, disease, structurally unstable trees," Schultz said.

San Rafael's Schultz, the 2023 western champion, is competing for a spot at the international championships being held in New Zealand in October.

So what does the weekend competition actually look like?

Epperson said, "there's five events that these professional arborists will be competing in that kind of simulate their everyday work."

"It's a fantastic opportunity to see what arborists do on a day-to-day basis when they're out there trimming your trees in the community," Epperson said.

Schultz said those events include a speed climb, a simulated rescue climb, and what he called the crowd pleaser.

"The work climb," Schultz said. "They will set you up in the top of the tree and this is all on ropes, [with] safety first, and helmets. You're going to repel down to the tree and hit these four different stations and complete a task at the station. The objective is to do this smoothly and fluidly and safely and quickly and be able to also complete that task to get as many points as you can at each station."

The important part, Schultz said is, "you have to kind of land in a bull's-eye style target that they have on the ground too, to get those points."

Epperson said camaraderie between the 40 competing arborists - both men and women - even while they face off for the tree climbing title, is one of her favorites parts of the event.

"They rise and help each other out, lift each other up," Epperson said. "Help each other with their equipment. It's really a wonderful opportunity to see cooperation and collaboration in progress."

When the arborists aren't trying to out-pace one another, Epperson said they, and scores of other ISA members, are working hard to, "look at fire safety health of trees, and how trees can create a better environment for your home and a healthier environment for your city."

When asked about her favorite tree, Epperson said, "if I was going to climb a tree tomorrow, it would be an oak tree."

"They're deep rooted, far branching, and just incredibly beautiful," Epperson said. "There's always a better view from the top.

As for Schultz's favorite, "I really like American Elm, it's a beautiful tree," Schultz said.

"You don't get as many out here in California, but there are some nice ones back on the East Coast," Schultz said. "Out here, there's a lot of beautiful valley oaks. Redwood and Sequoia are also iconic classics out here."

The Western Chapter ISA tree climbing competition takes place June 7th and 8th, at Sacramento's William Land Park.