Tree Climbing Championship Report
The Tree Climbing Championship Report
by Kevin Bassett
2008 was a great year for the tree climbing Arborists on our staff. The Texas Tree Climbing Championship was held in May at Trinity Park in Fort Worth. Known for its massive Bur Oaks, the trees in Trinity Park provided an incredible challenge for the best climbers in Texas. The five preliminary events were scored with the top four contestants moving on to the final. A trip to the International Competition was at stake. Last year’s Texas Champion, Vicente Navarro, made the finals and was joined by Miguel Pastenes, the 2004 and 2006 Texas Champion both are on the Arborilogical staff. In a very close competition, Miguel came out on top with Vicente close behind in Second Place. In addition to winning four of the five preliminary events, Miguel won his third Texas Championship and earned the right to match his climbing skills against the world’s best climbers.
The International Tree Climbing Championship was held the last week of July in St. Louis, Missouri. Miguel Pastenes represented Texas very well indeed, winning Second Place in the Foot Lock Event (lowering the Texas record to 14.86 seconds, just 1 second shy of the standing World Record of 13.8 seconds) and Third Place in the Belayed Speed Climb Event. Miguel narrowly missed out on making the final by a mere 16 points and finished sixth in the overall International championship!! Once again, Bernd Strasser of Germany won his eighth International Tree Climbing Championship, in spite of narrowly making it into the final four. The young guns, like Miguel Pastenes of Texas, John Turnbull of Great Britain, Scott Forest of New Zealand, and Jared Abrojna of California, showed they have the ability to make the finals and served notice that the dominance of eight-time champion Bernd Strasser and two-time champion Mark Chisholm of New Jersey will come to an end sooner rather than later.
Next year’s Texas Tree Climbing Championship will be in Austin, with the International Competition to be held in Providence, Rhode Island. With a little luck and a lot of skill, I believe Vicente Navarro or Miguel Pastenes will represent Texas and Arborilogical Services in the next International Tree Climbing Championship. Way to go Miguel and Vicente. Keep up the great work.
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