Why do we climb

S

Scheffa

Participating member
Location
Australia
Hey all, just a question that has had me thinking me of late, why do we climb trees??

For me it started as an interest that lead to a full time job.
For me climbing is more than just a job, it is a passion and a release.
I find that when I'm high in the canopy of a large eucalypt, all of life's problems disappear, whether it be money problems, family, wife or life in general, when I step into my harness all of that no longer matters.
Friends and family constantly tell me that I'm crazy for doing what we do, letting our life rest on a piece of 12mm rope 150' in the air for average pay, and from their perspective I understand.
It's only when I push myself both physically and mentally to achieve the task at hand does it all make sense, few things in life give you the complete control of your fate than climbing a tree.

Hopefully I don't across as crazy, just curious to see if others feel the same.
 
I totally feel the same. The only way to put it is a little cliché' I feel in the zone. Totally absorbed and one with the task at hand. Life's distractions disappear. Subconscious thought and muscle memory take over. I find peace, something I rarely find in my life. I actually get grumpy when I haven't worked in a little while. Probably my biggest worry with moving to a treemek is the loss of the climbing therapy. That part of my new journey makes me sad.
 
Positive psychologists call it "Flow". It's when we do something meaningful and lose sense of space and time - the ego just disappears.

When we love doing what we do - the world disappears- it's an out of body experience.

Surfers, marathon runners, mountaineers, musicians, craftsman, artists, hunters, anglers, and all other kinds of people describe this experience.

The sweet spot is doing it as a trade or profession and getting the benefits of being "in the zone".

https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199707/finding-flow

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)


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Steve Connally said:
I totally feel the same. The only way to put it is a little cliché' I feel in the zone. Totally absorbed and one with the task at hand. Life's distractions disappear. Subconscious thought and muscle memory take over. I find peace, something I rarely find in my life. I actually get grumpy when I haven't worked in a little while. Probably my biggest worry with moving to a treemek is the loss of the climbing therapy. That part of my new journey makes me sad.
Click to expand...
Just remember Steve, you can't rescue friggin bald eagles with a treemek! :rock: so you still got that going for you
 
Those articles were really interesting. As I was reading them, I could Identify with many of the traits of flow. Not to give TMI but I've always wondered why my bodily functions are so tuned in when I'm working. I never have the sensation of needing the bathroom in any manner when I'm climbing. Even if I'm pounding water all day I never have the urge I have to pee. If my stomach is active, it's never noticeable while I'm climbing. In fact it usually doesn't become noticeable until I've wound down from the climb. I just thought I had a well tuned machine.
 
@Steve Connally said:

"Probably my biggest worry with moving to a treemek is the loss of the climbing therapy. That part of my new journey makes me sad."

Perhaps I'm dreaming, just because of the size of the nut you'll have to turn, but maybe you could include climbing days in the schedule, since you'll be your own boss, after all. Pruning might be better accomplished by climbing, maybe?

Just wondering. Thanks in advance for any response you choose to give, Steve.

Tim
 
Tim the plan is to sub out as crane rental. It's not likely i'll have a significant amount of pruning jobs but there will be a few here and there. The problem with scheduling climbing days is if I can bill out $XXX per day with the crane I could never get that amount to climb for a day. It would be foolish to loose that money just to climb and do pruning. If the job was rite I could climb and use the truck as a traditional crane but that may not be the best use of the resources and the customers time. They're basically going to pay me to take down a tree without a climber. Doesn't make sense to climb instead of using the Mek if that's what they are paying for. I'm certainly not gonna get crane money to crown clean a nice old oak!
 
Remember steve cheap work anit good and good work anit cheap. I have customers pay top dollar for me to prune and care for there trees. Nice climbing all day chasing dead branches, and leaving not even with a quator truck of chips as apposed to bringing excavator grinder trailers trucks running balls to wall for less money cuz " take downs aren't valued as what they should be"
 
Totally agree with you. Hard to park a 350k machine that needs to bring in $1500 or so a day to go climb for less. It won't be my customers either. My customers will be other tree services. I don't know any who would pay me $1500 a day to do pruning.
 
1st Pruning for bigger stronger healthier trees
2 gathering seeds, fruits and nuts
lastly removal what ever reason justifies it for u.
the flow is cool but what it does for trees is cooler
 
I started climbing in this business because I couldn't stay on the ground while someone was slothing it in the tree. I've always loved climbing since I was old enough to. I now get paid for what my mom would scold me for.

It was also the black and white nature of the work. Nothing else matters but what you are doing in that moment. Lives are at risk and teamwork is a must. Communication is clear and immediate. Every day it's a new "office".
 
I bumbled into tree climbing after my employer went out of town to work for 3 months. I had to turf up work and incorporated with a business similar to my employer's. I was coincidentally able to certify as an arborist and once I told people, I automatically had climbing work, even with no tree climbing experience (I grew up rec rock climbing).

Now I climb because of the challenge and the relative solitude. Can't stop won't stop.
 
A very similiar question was posed in one of the talks at the ISA conference today, "Why are you an Arborist?"
 
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