East Lake Park in Chattanooga is the site for this year’s ISA Southern Tree Climbing Championship, which will take place on March 25-26 when more than 30 professional tree climbers from the Eastern United States compete for the title of Southern Chapter Champion while demonstrating their skills as professional arborists.
This event, organized and hosted by the International Society of Arboriculture’s Southern Chapter, showcases arborists in action and helps educate consumers about proper tree work and safety. The SOTCC is free and open to the public.
The competition begins on Saturday with five preliminary events during which competitors demonstrate the skills required to safely work in trees. The competitors with the highest scores during the preliminary events will move on to the Masters’ Challenge championship round on Sunday. Both days of competition begin at 8 a.m.
Tree climbing competitions like the SOTCC demonstrate the working conditions of arborists in the field. The competition helps provide the public with a better understanding of the skills it takes to properly climb and care for trees.
The male and female champions earn the opportunity to compete in the International Tree Climbing Championship or the North American Tree Climbing Championship, organized by the International Society of Arboriculture, where they will compete with arborists from around the world. For more information on the SOTCC, visit https://www.isasouthern.org/tree-climbing-championship.