Jo Hedger (left) won the Women’s World title for a fifth time at the ISA International Tree Climbing Competition 2022, held in Copenhagen. (Photo: Megan James)

Jo Hedger – world leader!

Simon Richmond, Senior Technical Officer

The Association has always admired the extraordinary feats of those intrepid arborists who choose to compete in the national and international tree climbing competitions.

Jo in action at ITCC Masters (Photo courtesy of Jo Hedger).

We’ve been host to the 3ATC/UK Open competition held at the ARB Show for almost 20 years and supporters of the ISA International Tree Climbing Competition (ITCC) in the UK and at European and World competing events. As an ISA Associate Organisation, we are committed to supporting our climbing arborist competitors and we think it is about time we celebrated their amazing achievements.

For this article, we invited the current women’s World Tree Climbing Champion, Jo Hedger, to talk about her achievements, her love of the competitions, and why they are so important to her and to the industry generally. The 2022 ISA International Tree Climbing Championship was held in Copenhagen, in association with the ISA Annual Conference at Malmö, Sweden, and Jo achieved the title of Women’s World Champion there for the fifth time.

Jo says,

‘I went to my first ISA competition when it was held at the Highclere Arb Association tradeshow in 2005. Since 2008 I have represented the UK and Ireland chapter internationally every year to date. I have won the women’s European title six times and the women’s international title five times.

‘I have learnt a huge amount by attending these events. The skills and techniques have helped me in my daily tree work to make my work more efficient and productive. Much of the equipment and many of the techniques that most people use today have come from the innovation of tree climbers at the tree climbing competitions. The people you meet at the competitions are so interesting, you make great friendships and good connections, particularly if you wish to travel as an arborist.

‘These events don’t just happen by themselves, though: there is a huge amount of work involved in setting up and running them, so all of the hard work that the volunteers put in is greatly appreciated. Their energy and enthusiasm really give the events a fun and welcoming feel.

‘The events are an amazing way to learn from others and share techniques – you learn a lot from your mistakes, so winning is not the main outcome; attending and sharing knowledge is winning, in my opinion. The hardest thing you will have to do is sign up and take part. After you’ve done it, you’ll wonder why it took you so long to have a go. It’s great fun.’

Part of the purpose and positive outcomes from the competitions – whether our UK Open or the ITCC – is the motivation for innovation among our industry practitioners. As Jo says, many current techniques and developments of equipment have evolved, with the assistance of industry manufacturers, to improve efficiency, work position and safety for tree climbers. The spectacle of our finest operators showcasing their skills using these innovative techniques has helped to educate thousands of observers, participants and industry stakeholders, setting out best practice procedures, communication and, through improved climbing skills, better tree work outcomes.

We would like to encourage all arborists to support and engage with the tree climbing competition community, and of course, to congratulate Jo and all the competitors on their amazing achievements.

This article was taken from Issue 199 Winter 2022 of the ARB Magazine, which is available to view free to members by simply logging in to the website and viewing your profile area.