Pros take to the top in fifth Open Masters Tree Climbing Contest | SLIDESHOW
Published 3:27 pm Friday, April 29, 2016
Cool costumes, breathtaking beards and Bernie Sanders bumper stickers abounded at the recent fifth annual Bainbridge Island Open Masters Tree Climbing Competition.
The contest, which saw both recreational and expert climbers – as well as professional arborists and excited onlookers – gather at a private residence on NE Tolo Road Saturday, April 23 take to the trees for a series of team challenges on some very lofty battlegrounds.
With whimsical and cartoonish tights, a Spiderman jumpsuit, and one climber sporting a fluffy pink tail, it was all part of the carnivalesque competition as teams of four climbers competed in a series of challenges in the tops of several different trees. The tests included a speed climb and a series of obstacles such as searching out and removing dead wood, ringing a precariously placed bell, snapping a treetop selife and even rescuing a stuck “kitten” — actually just a small weighted bag – at varying heights.
Most of the climbers who show up to the event, which has continued to grow in attendance since its inception, are working arborists from Portland, Seattle, Kitsap County and British Columbia.
Conservation is a major focus point of the event and, in addition to the ban on spurs and spikes, climbers in the competition go so far as to use protective sleeves so as to keep their ropes from rubbing hard against tree bark and causing damage.
To bring the competition to a more public location is the goal for the future, said Katy Bigelow, the event’s organizer. Such a move would allow the public to attend, she added.
Bigelow said she has reached out to the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District to inquire about the possibility of hosting a larger version of the event next year in a public location.
