Climber Apprentice Josh Hotai climbing with his daughter, young athlete in training.

An Industry of Athletes

Do you think Steph Curry can do what he does without extensive training, practice and coaching? Nope.

As much as talent is involved, so is determination, focus and coach-ability. The work ethic and practices of a professional athlete is not far from that of the industrial athlete.

I’m all about fitness training and have 11 years of active duty with the Coast Guard under my belt. I can testify that we have a unique caliber of industrial athletes here at A Plus.

There is no “off season” in urban forest management. We “compete” in the saw dust triathlon day in and day out, rain or shine, all year round and “warm up” before each job.

We inspect our gear every morning and the tools of our trade are ropes, harnesses, saws and heavy machinery. We love increasing our efficiency with latest equipment and technology, including Vermeer’s new Ax19 whole tree chipper which pulverizes entire trees (watch a video here).

We are coached by our crew leaders and foremen and train in a wide variety of disciplines ranging from soil science to tree felling.

Our “scores” are kept by our incredibly advanced mobile app, ArborPlus. Developed by us, with extensive field input, and for our industry.

Physical conditioning is what we do day in and day out, preparing us for the big plays that come our way.

We make fast-breaks to the chipper, dead lift heavy logs, and use ropes to pull ourselves up trees. We push our physical capacities every day, and we do it safety.

Urban forestry is also one of the few occupations with its own competitive sport.

Our Training & Safety Coordinator, Chad Brey, pushes the limits as a competitive tree climber, winning the Northern Hemisphere Climbing Championship title.

There are tree climbing competitions throughout the country and around the world. The International Tree Climbing Competition has a variety of events including:

  • Aerial rescue- climber “rescues” another climber out of a tree
  • Work climb- climber maneuvers around a tree to ring a series of bells
  • Secured footlock- climber goes up 15 meter/49.2 ft vertical rope for time
  • Throwline- climber throws a lightweight line with a weight at various targets
  • Belayed speed climb- climber goes up a tree for time

As industrial athletes, we use the latest techniques and equipment to perform in the urban forest every day.

If you are inspired to be on a team I’m so proud to be a part of, send you info here and JOIN THE REVOLUTION!

Blog written by Climbing Arborist Apprentice, Josh Hotai
 
 
References:

Occupational Health and Safety, “Training the Industrial Athlete.” https://ohsonline.com/Articles/2007/04/Training-the-Industrial-Athlete-Fitness-Training-at-UPS.aspx?Page=1

Vermeer Ax19 Brush Chipper, https://www.vermeer.com/EM/en/N/equipment/brush_chippers/ax19

Amanda Carpenter, “Caring for your Body as an Athlete”, ArborPod, www.ISA-arbor.com

ITCC Events, http://www.itccisa.com/about/eventdescriptions/events.aspx