Mighty White Oak

I literally when out on a limb today for my job.



I had the opportunity to climb into a 250 year old, grandaddy of a White Oak tree today and Greensboro and it was thrilling.



Sure you've heard of Rock Climbing, but have you ever heard about Tree Climbing? I mean after you turned 10 and didn't climb the dogwood in grandma's backyard.



Recreational Tree Climbing is a relatively new hobby/sport started in 1985 when an arborist took a group of people on a tree climbing expedition at their request.



Much like rock climbing there are ropes, carabiners and harnesses, but unlike finding a bit of rock to grab onto and climb, using on the rope as a safety device, in tree climbing the rope is the climbing and safety device.



As I climbed 20 or so feet into the mighty Oak with Tobe Sherrill of Sherrill's Tree Climbing and Supply, I learned everything I could about Recreational Tree Climbing in 2 short hours, all while gathering all the footage onto my XDCam and my personal DVCam.



I was able to get pretty comfortable standing on the limb and even stepped off a time or two and swung around and then stepped back up onto my perch.

According to Tobe, trees like these are the best kind to climb because of the long spanning architecture of the oak's massive canopy.



Tobe Sherrill has climbed huge Redwoods in California and Spruce's in Washington, I've climbed this Oak, and the dogwood in my Grandma's backyard when I was 7,8 and 9.

Sherrill says despite the massive size of those supersized west coast trees, some of the best trees for climbing are right here in Greensboro, NC.

I feel priveledged.