At 6 feet 2 inches tall, Jack Richardson Won Ann Arbor Michigan Tree Climbing Championship on August 29 at Oakland University. Because of this, the 30-year-old resident of Ann Arbor is qualified to represent the state for the next summer’s International Tree Climbing Championship in Chicago.

This is Richardson’s third state championship in the last five years. He is a professional arborist and co-owner of Guardian Tree Experts. He said that he used to do specialized training for the competition but then he got busy when his business opened on 2008.

“I just decided to show up this year and see how it went,” he said.

He won over the 30 other competitors who were also professional arborist. “The skill they demonstrate can be deceptive,” Richardson said.

“When you’re at the competition and look at a lot of these guys running around the tree, it looks easier than it really is.”

There are five events in this contest. Most of the points are in the work climb. The competitor starts at high in the tree and a climbing rope must be used in order to go from station to station. Tasks performed are the use of pole pruner to ring  a bell and tossign pre-cut limbs down to a target on the ground.

There are other events are the aerial rescue, speed climbing to a height of about 60 feet and a throwing drill that needs accurate placement of a climbing line in the treetop. Another specialized type of climbing, the secured footlock, completes the program.

Richardson says that the work climb is what he enjoys the most and the aerial challenge to rescue an injured climber is the least of his favorites.

Competitors wear specialized helmets and footwear, and they use a variety of mechanical means of securing themselves against a fall.

White oaks and Norway maples on the grounds of the John Dodge House on Oakland University’s East Campus in Rochester are climbed by the competitors. There is also a beech tree and a horse chestnut.

ASM spokeswoman Nancy Carpenter said the 16-year-championship keeps attracting more and more entries and is now the top event.

Arborists share several characteristics, Carpenter said. “They have a passion to work outdoors, a passion for the environment and a passion for the care of trees,” she said.

Richardson said that there are two body types that tend to predominate among climbers. “What you tend to find is shorter, stockier, stronger or lanky and sinewy.”

Richardson weighs 185 pounds, the former Trinity College baseball player counts himself among the latter.

He was awarded $650 in prize money from the ASM for next July’s travel costs to Chicago for the international competition.

Find an Ann Arbor Event in the Directory of Ann Arbor, MI.