THE LEAFLET

The National Arboretum is typically not the busiest green space on Saturday’s in the summer in D.C., but with the arrival of the 2017 International Tree Climbing Championships, that changed. People flocked from all over the DMV and the world to check out this year’s participants compete for the winning title. Saturday was the qualifying day, and on Sunday the best of the best duked it out to find the ultimate winner.

You may think a tree climbing championship means one event – climbing a tree. And while the Ascent Event drew a crowd, there were other events! The Throwline is a timed event that tests the competitors’ ability to accurately toss a climbing line through two of eight targets in a tree at heights of up to 60 feet. The Work Climb has competitor’s mimic a day’s worth of work including handsaw, limb toss, pole pruning, limb walk, and landing. In the Aerial Rescue event a climber must safely lower an injured climber who is unable to descend without assistance. The Masters’ Challenge, what determines the best of the best, is designed to judge the contestant’s overall productivity and skill with a rope and saddle in the tree. The stations are similar to the Work Climb Event stations.

Check out some of our highlights below and check out the #ITCC and #ISAdc action on Twitter!