ABCs GOOD MORNING AMERICA & Pacific Tree Institute

You have to see this to believe it.

Extreme Camping? more like Extreme Melodrama.

Good Grief- a tree named Meltdown because so many people FREAK OUT? maybe a name like Vista would be fitting and less scary.

Tell the mom that I have the gear so she could climb with her leg in a cast.

I have seen challenged people climb with only one hand and some without any hands at all.

Anyway too much spoiler alert?

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/camping-200-feet-air-14238766

See you at the top!

PS tell us about your best canopy over-nighter?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Interesting. Yes a little bit too much hype on the" 200', don't look down" thing. But hype is what keeps the ground folk tuned in. My only real beef was the use of the word flimsy when he was talking about the hammock. I may be splitting hairs, but I think "light weight" or "thin" would've been better. Or better yet, just delete the word flimsy all together. Sorry for the rant.

Anyhow, this sort of thing is extreme to the non initiated. And may prove to actually be good press for tree climbing in general. At least they weren't trying to bad mouth us or drive people away.

Nice video!

Pacific Tree Institute and New Tribe couldn't ask for better publicity.

Never spent a night in a tree....never felt the need.

I always liked the idea of climbing then going home, taking a shower, enjoying a libation, and sleeping in my comfortable bed. But it sure looks like an adventure.

I climbed Meltdown with my wife and goddaughter 11 days ago. It was my third climb with Rob and the good people at PTCI.

We did the day climb with 7 others (various levels of skill and panic), and the three of us spent the night with Rob and Jason up in the tree.

The GMA story really played up the "extreme" angle, we all thought it was a little ridiculous. My non-athletic wife on her first climb went up Meltdown TWICE, and spent all night in the tree boat 180 feet up with no panic at all.

I'll try to attach a photo of Meltdown to this post, it's a beautiful tree. (I've also climbed Fuzzy and Aramis with PTCI).

Twitpic link to Meltdown: http://twitpic.com/67st4h

And a pic of my goddaughter and I hanging out in Meltdown's canopy before night hit: http://twitpic.com/67swhf

Nice pics. My wife & I are looking forward to doing some tree camping here in our neck of the woods. You just can't beat the clean air of the woods to begin with. I imagine the float effect of being in the tree boat can only add to the experience.

To those in the know....

Just how comfy are these treeboats/hammocks for a nights sleep? A treeboat with a memory foam layer sounds like nice upgrade.

They look like murder on the ol' back, but I don't have any experience with them. Small price to pay for the experience I assume....

Nice photos Holden!

I climbed with Rob and Jason a couple of weeks ago at Blue River. We talked about the ABC show. Rob was pretty disappointed at all the "Extreme" hype. He and Jason do an excellent job of putting everybody at ease, giving them plenty of time to acclimate, providing good, safe equipment, and in all ways assuring participants of a good, safe climb. They are anxious to demonstrate that tree climbing is a fun, safe sport for all ages. The "Hype" is not necessary. The sport sells itself to the right people, and Rob and Jason provide a high quality experience.

This was my second climb with them. This time I had asked them for a nice, high, long Traverse, and they did not disappoint.