get out of that tree

It’s been a while since I have been yelled at. Now that is a telling sign that I have not been climbing as much as I should. I would probably get that treatment (big iron and dogs) if I climbed in Joyce Kilmer. We are still banned there. We overstayed our welcome with groups that got too large.

My favorite topic: Outlaw Climbing...

Treeman, if we were sitting around a campfire telling stories and you got to telling us climbing stories... The good ones, back in your renegade days. I'll bet you could hear a pin drop. Our ears tuned-in on every word.

Perhaps a book titled:
"Ninja Climbs and Other Front Page News" by Treeman Jenkins.

It’s a good idea. A very good idea in fact. However, I know I need to establish tree climbing as a legitimate activity first. Maybe later I can tell of the days when the “sneak a climb” mentality appealed to my higher ADHD instincts. The reason I have all but culled the ninja attitude from my vocabulary is because I do not want to set up this kind of mentality just when tree climbing is about to enter a new period of acceptance. I know it appeals to the younger spirited individuals, but I have been advised from many in the recreational tree climbing arena that this could hinder progress more than help it. Great for campfire stories, however.

Treeman, I can appreciate your maturity and level headedness on the issue of responsible climbing. However, if what's said at the campfire, stays at the campfire...
Well, you get the picture.

I was in a tree recently and was asked (by a bystander) if I had a permit to climb it. I replied, "My permit is the one called life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." People chuckled.

The blatant ignorance of reality by each of us, tends to allow us to simplify our world view against facts that don't fit. That's why it's so easy to see tree climbers as "counter culture", just like gays, pot smokers, blacks, women or others that the main stream mantra has no words to speak for.

You can see from history that blacks, women and gays had to stand up for themselves and say, "We are not going to take it anymore". We need to do the same. We also need a language of pride to describe ourselves.

In our society, it is the responsibility of each member to assert their needs. I was recently rewarded in my efforts of writing Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation by getting a response from the City Arborist to work with legal and try to come to an acceptable risk response to my wanting to climb. There's more work to do.

The point is, you have to stand up for yourself. Is Ninja climbing valid? Sure it is. But, we should also work to open up the sport for others and try to help open the eyes of the mainstream to the value of tree climbing.

I am a fairy footed, tree huggin, sap stinkin' exhibitionist.

Robert

3CLIMBER
That's quite an eye catching post! At least for this neighborhood.
Your frustration is evident and understandable.

Anyway, it prompted me to re-read the entire thread from the beginning.
You Sir, have a tough nut to crack if your trying to get recreational tree climbing to be understood and thereby accepted by ground dwellers.
Your efforts on this matter are not wasted. Santos Escobar has been made aware. Its a start.

Your reference to minorities applies. Unlike the skateboard or mountain bike craze that overwhelmed public recreational areas in the past, tree climbing is microscopic. We are indeed a minority and therefore not a pressing issue to people like Santos.

Back in the early 90's I was directly involved in the fight to get responsible mountain biking legalized. Today there are many large organizations dedicated to that fight. Mountain biking advocacy is very well established. It also has its hooks in Big Business and the media, yet I can see we are slowly and continuously being squeezed off the property in key territories. <sigh>

Congrats. Let us know what they finally decide.