Fueled by the comments of entmount, I felt the need to start this thread to underscore the fact that we REC climber are indeed a small number nationwide.

Could we do a poll by state?
In New Jersey we have. . .
1. JerseyEd (REC guy)
2. Electrojake (a REC guy)
3. Climber020 (we’ll give him ½ a point since he’s an arborist)

In Massachusetts we have. . .
1. moss (a REC guy)
2. And who else?

Think about it. . .
If you limit the count to true recreational climbers, we are indeed a rare species.

Rec Climbers who are active online that is. there are more that I know of in Mass. and Rhode Island. There are also some New England rec climbers who post on other tree climbing boards. We still are rare birds though at this point.

We're organizing a pretty good-sized get rec together in May on the arboristsite.com board but it is primarily working climbers. More of a training climb I guess for some of the arborist climbers to get in shape for competition. Neverthless I'm anticipating quality tree time and will spread the word on the non-competitive side of tree climbing. Always inspiring to see great work climbers doing their thing
-moss

I know of 8 rec climbers in southern CA, but I know there are more. Some are just getting into it, some have been doing it for a couple years or more.

love
nick

In my last post I avoided a statement excluding scientists, working arborists, instructors, etc... I felt it would have been a tad inflammatory to those of you that both work & recreate in the trees.
However, since the point has been made. . .

If you were to list ONLY rec climbers (ya know, dedicated week-end purists such as you and I), our numbers would be cut drastically!

So, is a pro climber really a rec climber just cause he's off duty and in a tree?

Misplaced my meds? Nah!
<but you do see my point, dont you?>
-Ej-

I'm a rec climber in New York and a Scientific climber in Costa Rica... does that still make me a Rec?

mateo

I know plenty of tree workers that climb for fun here in Hawaii, but I don't know of any purist rec climbers. It would be cool if there were some.

Originally posted by Electrojake
So, is a pro climber really a rec climber just cause he's off duty and in a tree?

So you're getting at how a climber identifies themselves as in: I am a rec climber, or I'm an arborist climber etc.

As opposed to describing what a person is doing. An arborist or research climber going up a tree for the fun of it can be described as doing a rec climb but it does not confer the identity of a rec climber.

Is an arborist climber who's climbing to train for a competition a rec climber? Nope, they're a work climber training for a competition.

Do some arborists delve into pure rec climbing on a regular basis? Yep. But they won't stop thinking of themselves as an arborist climber.

Do some rec climbers like to perform work in a tree? Yep. But it doesn't change their identity to arborist climber. At least not right away

Then you have the rare climbers who easily drift between identities

-moss

I agree with entmount on this one. It should not matter what you do for a living, only why you are in the tree. I was an arborist for 12 years and when i wasn't working but still climbing I was a climber.
I worked with many people that did not understand why i would climb without getting paid and without spikes. Why does it matter what you call it , only thing that matters should be enjoying it.
Climb safe

Dan

entmount and dannyc; Good point!
Folks shouldn’t need to be “qualified” to be here.

I am only a casual climber hence my obvious absence from the higher level boards like TreeBuzz and Gypoclimber. (Although I do browse all the other message sites.).

As for what members do other than recreational climb?
I find the bio’ or profiles of most of the other members here fascinating! As my tag line states: Got Bio? It helps to know a little about who we’re talking to, no?

As you can tell from “my” bio and www, I’m a 51 year old railroad worker that spends most of my climb-time, close to home, climbing with my kids. It also states the year I started climbing, so my fellow message base users can gage where I fit into the picture here.

But, am I qualified?
I like to think that I do well here due to my obvious lack of climbing qualifications.

So what about the pros and facilitators that post here too?
Their input is critical to my survival. Their frequent discussions here have been the source of a tremendous amount of what I know and use on climbs every day.

In closing,
entmount and dannyc, thanks for filling in the bio section in you profile area, it is always appreciated.
moss, your above mentioned analysis of the situation is flawless as usual.
-Ej-

EJ

I think I'm one of Moss's "rare climbers who easily drift between identities". I started learning climbing for research, and I still do that, but easily 95% of my climbs in the last 2 years have been for fun.

And then there are days like today. I spent most of the day in a white pine with one of my grad students. We're going to be working on some high elevation tree physiology over the summer, so I was training him in on climbing technique some more. But why was I REALLY there? It was sunny, in the mid 70's, with a gusty breeze - in short, an absolutely gorgeous day for a climb, and I'd have been up there with or without John.

Work or play? The only real answer to that question today was: "yes".

Mark, you say that on-duty or off-duty, you still would have enjoyed the day’s climb just as much. Under the pleasant conditions you described, I can understand that.

What mystifies me is how you can enjoy the climb under harsh conditions. I have read about your cold-weather adventures. How can you possibly derive enjoyment from climbing in such a brutal environment?

It just doesn’t seem very “recreational” at 20 below zero.
I stand in awe of your ability to function under such extremes.

Just thinking out-loud here.
Regards,
Electrojake

PS: I exempt you from the profile/bio request since your www says it all rather nicely, plus the bonus of a photo!
-Ej-

EJ: Climbing when temps are in the +20s is no different from any other winter activity people do for fun, like skiing and snowshoeing and such. It's not that hard to dress comfortably and avoid hypothermia, since you don't worry about getting drenched. Climbing at more than 10 below is more along the lines of something you do to see if you can, not so much for "fun" in the usual sense of the word.

I don't know of any other Minnesota rec climber at the moment. Jeff Jepson lives about an hour south of here, and he's said he camps in a treeboat from time to time, but mostly he's a really busy arborist. I'm talking with the OPC (Outdoor Program Center) guy at BSU about starting a regular tree climbing group up here, so we may have a few more rec climbiers to report in a year or two.

Climbing at -10F? That's nuts! I've never even been anywhere that cold.

This thread topic has been tossed around a bit, from a state by state climbers list to what qualifies as a rec climber, to only a nut would climb at 10 degrees below zero.

It brings me back to this statement by Leon

Originally posted by Leon
I know plenty of tree workers that climb for fun here in Hawaii, but I don't know of any purist rec climbers. It would be cool if there were some.

I guess what I should have asked is:
How many climbers here are Purist recreational only climbers?
I will take a guess that it is approximately a 50-50 mix. I would be on the half that has no purpose being in a tree other than play. The other half of you are people that have reasons to climb other than recreation, (even though you enjoy your climb anyway).

Hmm, am I flogging this issue to death? Sorry.
Thank goodness Leon helped me grasp what the heck I was driving at here.

I think moss described me best in another thread, I have to go find that...but I am a rec climber and arborist/tree worker.

I prefer rec climbing, but there is something rewarding about walking away from a job well done.

love
nick