2008 Tree Climbing Rendezvous!

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pantheraba

More biners!!!
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I went to the 2006 Rendezvous in Mississippi...I met Nick (our famous and friendly splicer) and Carl (our lovable Lumberjack) there for the first time. We had a GREAT time...we WERE the Three Musketeers. I missed the 2007 event in Colorado.

No excuses for 2008...it is in ATLANTA!!! Sept. 25 - 29. The info is in the link below...I copied it below, too, but the formatting stinks...check the website.

http://www.treeclimbing.com/component/option,com_attend_events/Itemid,/task,view/id,1/

A polite word of warning...Carl showed up thinking it was a gathering of treeSLAYERS....NOT. These are gentle folk that love trees and being in trees. Some of them have been "treemen" and done the tree cutting thing but many of them don't use sharp instruments in trees...feel the love, man.

OK, end of public service announcement.

It is a great way to do some excellent rec climbing, meet some wonderful people and learn a lot...Nick teaches a wonderful splicing class, Peter Jenkins taught us a very good "Hazards Assessment" for trees and there are a lot of good sessions set up.

*******************************

Come to the 2008 Tree Climbing Rendezvous!
Hosted by Tree Climbers International

Join climbers from around the world as we come together at the Annual Tree Climbing Rendezvous! This year's gathering is being hosted by Tree Climbers International in honor of our 25th Anniversary. We are already very excited about this fabulous event-in-the-making!

DATES: Starts Thursday, September 25 and ends after breakfast on Monday, September 29th.

LOCATION: Simpsonwood Conference Center in Norcross, Georgia, about 45 minutes northwest of the Atlanta Airport.

PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE DOCUMENT BEFORE YOU REGISTER.

All climbers are welcome to attend as long as you can climb a tree using rope and saddle and can bring your own basic gear. If you're new, you'll find many others who will be able to give you great pointers, and you'll probably get to see and share a wide variety of equipment. If you're a seasoned climber, you'll get to introduce lots of new folks to the wonderful camaraderie of the tree climbing community. This promises to be a really fun gathering.

Accommodations are perfect for our needs. Simpsonwood (www.simpsonwood.org) is situated on 225 beautiful wooded acres on the Chattahoochee River, with countless big trees to climb and adventure in. We'll be housed in several buildings with hotel-quality rooms for one, two, and three people. There are campsites for those who want to pitch tents as well as several RV hookups on-site. (Shower and restroom facilities for campers are available but limited.) The large Rollins Conference Center has a huge dining area and enough small and large conference rooms for all our workshops and evening sessions. Depending upon drought conditions, we may even have access to a full-size swimming pool.

Many great workshops are already planned, including:

* Beginning Splicing Skills (Nick Araya)
* Bird-Watchers Morning Walk (Stephen Sorenson, local wildlife biologist)
* Gear for Sleeping in the Trees (Viola Brumbaugh, New Tribe)
* The Profession of Arboriculture (Sharon Lilly, Director of Education, International Society of Arboriculture)
* Single Rope Technique (SRT) Climbing (Tom Dunlap)
* Tree Gear (Tobe Sherrill, SherrillTree)
* Tree Risk Assessment (Peter Jenkins, TCI)
* Tree Time (Tim Kovar, Tree Climbing Northwest)
* Treetop Camping (Forrest Kelly)

We’re also arranging some fabulous evening events. We’ve confirmed or invited several well-known personalities to give talks, including:

* Robert Fulghum, narrator of “Tickle the Sky,” the first film about recreational tree-climbing; author of It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It (with a chapter on tree climbing), Everything I Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten, and many others;
* John Gathright, Founder of Tree Climbing Japan and the first PhD in “Treehab;” author of the first published research articles in scientific journals about the human benefits of recreational tree climbing;
* Peter Jenkins, TCI Founder and ISA-Certified Arborist;
* Tim Kovar, tree-climbing master instructor with Treeclimbing Northwest and experienced tree climber in some very exotic locations;
* Margaret (Meg) Lowman, Director of Environmental Initiatives and Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at New College of Florida; well-respected canopy researcher and author of Life in the Treetops, It’s a Jungle Up There, and other books and publications;
* Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone, The Wild Trees and other books, as well as several articles in The New Yorker about trees and tree climbing.

TCI 25th Anniversary festivities will also be held on Sunday night.

In addition, we’re developing new tree climbing events, such as a “Tree Golf" competition. For this, contestants will pay $20 and compete for half the jackpot with their throw weight skills; the other half of the jackpot will be donated to a tree-related research or charity fund. TCI founder “Treeman” has been dreaming up other unusual activities sure to intrigue imaginative climbers. If you have ideas of your own, please be sure to contact us.

Atlanta weather at the end of September is usually ideal for tree climbing. Average temperatures are in the ‘70’s during the day and in the ‘60’s at night for those who want to camp out in the treetops. The trees on this property are of many of the south's typical species, so you'll have your pick of beautiful and challenging trees to climb. Late September is also the height of bird migration in the southeast of the United States, so lots of interesting birds will be seen in the varied habitat at Simpsonwood. We’re sure that all participants will go home happy, refreshed, and with wonderful lifelong memories!

RENDEZVOUS FEES:

The flat fee for the Gathering includes lodging for four nights (Thursday through Sunday) and all meals (lunch on Thursday through breakfast on Monday). Vegetarian choices will be offered at every meal. There are no fees associated with workshops. The following rates apply:

Single room: $550 per person

Double room: $450 per person (there will be opportunity at a later date to specify room partner)

RV hook-up site: $300 per person

Campers: $250 per person

Children over the age of 13 who are experienced climbers are welcome to attend. Non-climbing spouses or significant others are also welcome to come relax, enjoy Simpsonwood's walking trails, and spend time with your partner's old and new friends. The same fees apply.

At this time we are taking participant information and deposits of half or all of the Rendezvous fee. An “early-bird” registration discount of $50 has been figured into the prices on our registration form, and is given to all who register prior to June 30. Registration can be completed with a credit card via our website or by printing out and mailing in your pdf registration form with a check made out to Tree Climbers International.

In early August we will be sending out a liability waiver, Rendezvous schedule, and forms requesting your arrival and departure times, roommate preference (if you did not list one on your registration form), workshop pre-registration, and other required participant information. TCI members are encouraged to use our website "Climber Finder" to find travel and/or rooming buddies. Payment of the balance will be due with returned forms by August 29th. Final details will be sent out in the first couple of weeks of September.
Rendezvous Cancellation Policy: We will refund deposits minus a $50 administrative fee for cancellations received before August 29th. Thereafter, deposits will be non-refundable.

Basic Tree Climbing Course:

People who want to attend our Rendezvous but who are not yet tree climbers can register for a Basic Tree Climbing Course (BTCC) to be taught the two days prior to the gathering, September 23 and 24. You'll learn from TCI-trained tree climbing instructors--and then you can practice with other climbers during the Rendezvous! More information about this course can be found on the TCI website BTCC page.

BTCC fees include tuition ($450) plus room (assumes double occupancy) and meals for three extra nights, Monday-Wednesday ($275). Course tuition also includes membership in Tree Climbers International. There is no "early bird" discount for the BTCC.

BTCC Cancellation Policy: Registrants must cancel by August 15th in order to receive a refund (minus $50 administrative fees) in order to allow time for students who take their place to make travel arrangements.

Volunteers Needed!

We are looking forward to a very large Rendezvous this year. We’ll need help of all kinds! Please note the checkbox for volunteers on our registration form and offer to help if you can!
Talk About the Rendezvous...

TCI has opened a new thread on the TCI website Forums specifically for people to communicate with each other about any aspect of the Rendezvous. Please feel free to post your ideas, questions, suggestions, etc.; we will be watching this thread carefully. Please email us if you have special needs or with questions about your own participation.

We look forward to seeing you in September!

Pictures of the 2007 Rendezvous in Colorado courtesy of Don Stanford. Thanks!

Click pdf here for a printable version of this document.


Date & Time: Thursday, 25 September 2008, 10:00 AM — Monday, 29 September 2008, 11:00 AM
Registrations Available: Unlimited
Registration Deadline: Friday, 29 August 2008, 11:59 PM
 
Definately a buncha hippies. Nick fit right in and I sure as hell didn't. ;)


To clarify, I thought it was going to be arborists, however the average person was a rec climber. I believe there was only 5 arborist kinda folk there in 06.


It was a good time though :)

In 06 the number of people who thought turtles were fair fodder for target practice was a huge minority.
 
I've gone 3 years in a row now and I like it a lot. If you are into the recreational side of tree climbing, you'll not regret spending the dough to come to Atlanta this year.

love
nick
 

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The epic speed line!

I'm a killer and I enjoyed myself.

Somewhere I have a picture of Nick strutting around like a pee cock in those pj pants.
 
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HEY...credit where credit it due!!!

Nick doing the "toe-lock" on the rope (forget the foot lock, that's for sissies!)...

Nick setting up the anchor for the 500 foot zipline across the lake...

I took those pictures (also the scary picture of Nick and Carl in their pajamas...please DO NOT ask about that!!) :lol:
 
Please note the average person there is a liberal hippy, or is it a hippy liberal?

Just a shock for me it was.

Def NOT a buncha arborist walking around chatting it up.
 
I just sent in my registration last week!!!!

Carl is right- it's a bunch of tree huggers there. You won't find much in the way of good chainsaw conversation. You'll more likely find people talking about the damage our climbing does to ancient lichens or things like that. Still fun and a great chance to learn some things, too.

I guess I'll see some of you there!

love
nick
 
Carl is right- it's a bunch of tree huggers there. You won't find much in the way of good chainsaw conversation. You'll more likely find people talking about the damage our climbing does to ancient lichens or things like that. Still fun and a great chance to learn some things, too.

I guess I'll see some of you there!

love
nick

I forgot about the hurting the tree bit.

They wigged out when they saw that SCARY 13" handsaw I had on my saddle.


Gary, are you staying there or commuting from the house? Seems it'd be about an hour drive?
 
Ha I should go, I get on great with the leaflickers. Nah really I'm into all that peace, love and kicking ass stuff.:D
 
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