By now I’m sure you will have heard that Australia is hosting the Red Bull Branched Out Tree Climbing Competition. It’s a really exciting time for the Arb industry, so we wanted to talk a little more about it.
WHERE IT’S HAPPENING?
Taking place in Balranald New South Wales, close to the border of Victoria, in their iconic Red Gums. Picture a big spread out Eucalyptus, 25m tall and probably the same wide, with the potential for climbers to take HUGE swings through the canopy.
WHAT IS DIFFERENT?
The format for the comp is different to the traditional climbing comp. The trees will still have multiple targets set all around the canopy, but the need to lanyard in before hitting targets, and using hand saws to hit them has been removed.
The aim now, is to get from the start point in the canopy, to the finish point on the ground in the quickest possible time, hitting all the canopy targets along the way with your hand.
Think speed climb meets work climb. Down a couple of Red Bulls and you’re good to go.
50 of Australias best climbers will go head to head through a three stage knockout, with the stages getting progressively harder, all climbing for one of 10 places in the finals. With the final tree having a total of 7 canopy targets to hit in the fastest time. Oh and there’s over $20K in cash and prizes to keep climbers extra motivated and pushing through that muscle fatigue.
With Red Bull supporting sports and athletes, from Soap Box Racing to Stand Up Paddleboarding and from Ice Hockey to ESports. We can’t help but wonder what’s in store for competitive tree climbing. Whether in the future it’ll just be Arborists competing, or if the style and spectacle of this competition, will draw crowds and competitors from outside the industry.
WHEN IT’S HAPPENING?
The competition is happening Friday 13th and Saturday 14th October and will coinciding with the Balranald Five Rivers Outback Festival. So if you can make the 5hr drive from Melbourne or the tougher 9hr drive from Sydney, we’ll be doing it.
See you there!
Photos courtesy of Redbull.com and Redbull.com.br