Denny Ortega of Buddha Tree Service "rescues" a dummy from a tree in Foster Garden at the Aloha Arborist Jamboree last weekend. The jamboree is an annual event of the professional tree care industry of Oahu. Photo By Victor Magaoay, Trees of Hawaii
The annual event of the professional tree care industry of Oahu featured tree climbing and chain saw events, blue ribbon competitions rarely seen at flower shows. John O'Shea, arborist at Foster Garden, was in charge of the Jamboree and the nonplaying coach.
To the casual observer, the events seemed to combine the most hair-raising features of rock climbing and high-wire walking. It appeared to be an insurance actuary's nightmare.
But no, said O'Shea. Safety is the first concern, and the judges will stop a climb if the climber put himself at risk. The contestants were all men - this seems to be one of the few professions that women have not entered.
The main event was the tree climb. The trees were all over 100 feet tall, and spikes are outlawed. That would be like using training wheels in the Grand Prix bike race.
"Arborists used to climb with spikes because it's easier," O'Shea said, "but we learned that spikes injured the cambium (the cells between the wood and the bark that contribute to the growth of the tree)." On smaller trees, he said that he uses a cherry picker, a platform raised electrically from a truck bed. "But when the tree is tall, you have to climb."
Arborists climb trees to prune for shape, strength and safety. Trees should be shaped for a pleasing appearance and to grow well in the area they occupy. The strength of the tree is improved by the removal of watersprouts and unnecessary branches. Injured or diseased limbs should be removed to prevent them from falling on someone or damaging other planting.
The contest began with the throw ball toss. A throw ball is a beanbag about the size of an orange, and weighs a pound. This is the way a professional begins his ascent of a tall tree. He throws the ball, which is attached to 300 feet of light line, through a crotch 40 to 60 feet up in the tree.
In the contest, he is given three chances to do this and if he fails, he is disqualified. As he threw the ball, a hush fell over the spectators, like the one that comes when Arnie Palmer is making a long putt. When he succeeded, a polite ripple of applause could be heard, just as at the U.S. Open. This is a very mannerly sport.
If the ball clears the crotch between two limbs, it will then drop to the the ground on the other side, carrying the light line with it. The climber now attaches a heavier rope to the end of the lighter one, and pulls it back through the tree.
This heavier rope is the one on which he will climb. He gathers the two ends of the rope together and clamps a short safety rope from his belt to the doubled climbing rope. The climber ascends the tree by making a loop in the rope through which he puts his foot and then pulls himself up several feet. This takes tremendous upper body strength and hands like leather. None of the climbers wore gloves, and their hands are covered with healed rope burns.
The safety rope is secured to the climbing rope by a carabiner, an oval metal ring with a snap link developed for mountain climbing. It is now made of a lightweight metal used for space travel, and the climber's life may depend on this bracelet-sized $35 tool.
The competition consists of ringing three cowbells that are hung in the upper branches, within a time limit set by the judges. One of the bells was suspended near the end of a long thin branch that would not support the full weight of the climber. This required throwing a second rope around a higher branch which would both balance the climber and take some of his weight off the lower branch.
O'Shea explained that climbing on narrow limbs is sometimes required when pruning over power lines or above a green house or tiled roof.
"None of the contest is show-off stuff, he said.
"These are all techniques needed on the job. It takes a lot of thinking - every step has to be planned before the climber gets up into the tree."
The judges decided that once again Dan Kraus of The Tree People was the winning climber. He also won last year's Oahu competition, and four regional competitions on the mainland, where these jamborees attract much bigger audiences. The Aloha Arborists Association, which sponsored the Jubilee, will send him to the regional meet in California this summer.
If tree climbing was the intellectual event of the Jamboree, the chain saw race was the free-for-all. The contestants were lined up in front of a coconut log and the idea was to slice through it in the least amount of time. The hog chain saw was a 75 pounder with a motorcycle engine, and it went through that log like a knife through butter.
It was handled by Terry Davis, who won the event.
It's a wonderful spectator sport, but was attended by fewer than 50 people, most of whom were related to the climbers. Look for it again next summer - it's free, it's in the shade and it's exciting.
