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Fleming College students get ready for 24th annual Tree Climbing Competition

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Fleming College students get ready for 24th annual Tree Climbing Competition
We go out on a limb - literally - for this edition of Out & About. Caley Bedore gets a lesson from Fleming College Arboriculture students, as they prepare for the annual Tree Climbing Competition. – Apr 7, 2022

Arboriculture students at Fleming College’s Frost Campus in Lindsay Ont., are getting ready for more than just graduation. They are also training for the annual Fleming College Tree Climbing Competition.

Program Coordinator Brian Saxon said it is a way for students to put what they’ve learned throughout the year to the test.

“It is just something that we put on to highlight the student’s skills,” he said.

“We have a tree rescue, we’ve got a work climb, also we have a throw-ball event, we do a belayed speed climb and something called a stationary rope.”

The event is now in its 24th year. Co-op student Claire Keays said she is looking forward to seeing how she has grown in the program.

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“I’m excited to just see personally what I have learned throughout the program and see how I can do in comparison to everyone else,” said Keays.

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And while she is excited to compete, she said she is also eager for her future in the industry.

“I love working outside and really enjoy nature and really like working at heights and climbing so when I found out you can combine both of them, I decided it was a career I wanted to get into,” said Keays.

Saxon said a love of the outdoors is something that draws prospective students to the course.

“It’s fun, it’s outside, anybody who likes to the outdoors and loves trees is really attracted to the program so we get a really good draw every year for potential employees and future arborists,” he said.

The competition goes Tuesday, April 19. For more information on the college’s Arboriculture programming, visit the Fleming College website.

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