View from the Treetops

It started seemingly randomly as a personal challenge, “I’m going to climb one tree every day for a year”, and after 2 weeks of this eccentric discipline, I started inviting co-climbers to join me. I have a tick in my brain called a conscience, or perhaps it’s naivety that we can turn this Titanic off course and sail it beyond the frozen arctic past the ice breaking up. So with a sinking Earth ship our conversations in the trees would turn to politics, the environment, childhood memories. Science, mathematics, art, the pace of life, death, waste, romance, fresh ground coffee, ...

This might be Trevor! POV video of the World Record for the most distance free climbed (unassisted) up a tree 200+ feet.

Michael Barnard from Rakestraw Books (Danville, CA) and climbing instructor Tim Kovar of Tree Climbing Planet joined Garth for his 200-foot-plus climb up an ancient redwood.

The history of the Northwest and California is all about trees. Gold ore was what they chased in 1849, but trees were the real gold. Entire cities were built from swaths of the forests. And some of the greatest giants the world has ever known were felled to build our country.

Tim Kovar is the founder of Tree Climbing Planet and a Master Tree Climbing Instructor with 20 years of teaching experience. His love and respect of nature, coupled with his wanderlust spirit, led him to metaphorically and literally take the vertical path less traveled. As Tim says, “Climbing a tree isn’t about getting somewhere; it’s about being somewhere.”

Tree Trek Exploration trains adventurers, researchers and educators to move through the forest canopy at will, using the latest and safest tree climbing techniques and equipment. They also offer two inexpensive public “try it” tree climbs each month for those who aren’t sure if this adventure is right for them.

Tree Climbing USA is an organization devoted to increasing awareness and knowledge of tree climbing. They offer training and conduct climbs for climbers of all levels of skill and experience.

A to Z of tree climbing terminology.

In 2007 a group of some of the most experienced tree climbing instructors and facilitators came together with the goal of creating an inclusive, non-profit, and democratic organization to serve the tree climbing community.