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Tree Climbing Championships are events held by Chapters of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) as well as local organizations within Chapters.
The rules for TCCs are governed by the International Tree Climbing Championship (ITCC). Scoring and event setups are standardized worldwide in order to bring the world's best tree climbers together to compete at the ISA's Annual Conference and ITCC.
TCCs are broken up into preliminary events (5), and the Masters Challenge event.
The five preliminary events are:
1. Aerial Rescue - This event is perhaps the most important in the competition. It tests the climbers ability to climb to and safely remove an injured climber in a tree. This is a timed event.
2. Work Climb - This event closely simulates the work that is done in a tree while performing a pruning job. There are five stations that a climber must reach and complete within a set time limit. This event is a crowd favorite.
3. Secured Footlock - A speed event where a climber advances up a double line to 50 feet using a prussik cord and the footlock rope-climbing technique. A good time is around 20 seconds. The world record is under 13 seconds. That is insane.
4. Throwline - The throwline is a tool used by arborists to set their climbing lines in trees. It consists of a weighted throwbag and a small diameter line. There are targets set up in the tree ranging from 30 - 65 feet. This is also a timed event.
 This is Simon trying to get his rope into a crotch.
5. Belayed Speed Climb - As the name suggests, this is a speed climb. The contestant must follow a predetermined route up a tree to about 60 feet. The fastest time wins.
Here are some of our memories which were captured on film, well, digitally so I don't think there was any film involved, but defintely our memories were there:
Michael "House" Tain demonstrating the ringing of the bells.
This is Stephan, all "bowed" up.
Jeff showing his "Southern" pride at the 2005 ITCC.
This is the crowd at the 2007 Southern Chapter TCC in Little Rock, AR. Little tip about going to Little Rock - Don't go.
The idea is to stick the Double Axel, kind of like that girl back in the Olympics with the hurt ankle, what was her name?
We had to blur this out due to the gore. Surprisingly, Jeff didn't lose points in this event.
Simon uses a different approach to the Aerial Rescue, and leaves the leg on the dummy. To each his own.
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Seven Secret Stress Reducing Steps to Superior Success at TCCs
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1. Get yourself a man servant - Someone to haul all your gear for you during the day. This leaves you free to wander around the TCC without the hassle of carrying all your gear and make the other competitors wonder why they are so stupid and don't have a man servant.
2. Pass your gear inspection - Don't try to bring your old manilla three strand rope. It's not gonna pass, and if it doesn't pass, you won't have success in the TCC cause you won't be climbing in the TCC.
3. Git-R-Done - This is an important tactic for TCCs. If you fail to Git-R-Done, you better hope you used Safety First (step #4)
4. Safety First - We put this after Git-R-Done because we want to win that bad. Ideally, a climber would use 50% Git-R-Done, and 50% Safety First, but during crunch time, the Git-R-Done creeps up to around 52%, leaving Safety First hovering near 48%, give or take.
5. Surround Yourself with Success - Visualize success, then put yourself in the picture. Keep those around you positive and upbeat. Stay away from people who don't bathe regularly (it's a sign of laziness). Nobody crashes a TCC like the Heartwood Crew.
6. Find Your Inner Animal - Whether it be a falcon, a turtle, or a three toed sloth, we all have inner animals just waiting to be let loose. Simon's inner animal is Animal, from the Muppets, you know, the weird chained up drummer thingee.
7. Again, the Man Servant - Hear me now, and listen to me later, you will need a man servant due to the amount of walking around. All the other competitors don't know anything about man servants, so it's like a huge advantage. It's the difference bewteen having a great TCC and having a so-so TCC.
*Bonus Secret Step*
Wear The Hotel Robe - Wear it everywhere. Terry cloth goes well with Camo, but then, everything goes with Camo.
Git-R-Done, Safely.
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