Climbing
Clambering up a tree in your garden or local park is a breeze compared to hauling yourself up these giants of forest and jungle.
In the world of tree climbing (yes, there is one), no trees are created equal. Each different type offers a different challenge. "If you're a climber, you can climb on granite, sandstone, ice or snow, and each gives a different experience," says expert climber Dave Katz. "It's the same with trees."
Equipped with his crossbow and some rope, Katz has travelled to more than 85 countries across six continents to take on towering forest giants, from the Giant Sequoias of California to the bulging tropical Cebias of Central America. If you fancy a climb with a difference, here's a rundown of his top trees to scale.
1. American Beech
- Location: Canada and Eastern USA
- Maximum Height: 35m
- Challenge: 5/10
This is almost like climbing a pillar in an old Greek building. It has really smooth bark and a really nice texture to it, and the canopy has really nice branch architecture. One of the cool things about climbing them is that in the autumn everything turns yellow, and that's an amazing experience.
2. Giant Sequoia
- Location: California, USA
- Maximum Height: 95m
- Challenge: 9/10
These are epic. They're the biggest trees in the world by mass and they can be up to 3,000-years-old, but they're incredibly difficult to climb.
The first branches can be 70–80m above the ground and there are also a lot of dead branches that can come crashing down at random. However they're extremely beautiful and you can usually get right to the top of them and peer out over the forest below.
3. Ceiba
- Location: Tropical areas, including Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, West Africa, and Southeast Asia.
- Maximum Height: 70m
- Challenge: 8/10
Ceiba's have a trunk that bulges as it goes up. The interesting thing about climbing them, though, is that the branches don't go up, but instead go straight out 20–30m, like someone squashed the tree.
You can get up to that first branch, but there's not often a second or third tier to anchor yourself to. Sometimes you're just hanging below the branch and can't go anywhere. They also often grow a lot of epiphytes (plants that grow on the surface of other plants and trees), which can tangle your ropes, and also house ants or wasps, so it can be really tricky.
4. Cloud Forest Oak
- Location: Talamanca Range, Costa Rica
- Maximum Height: 70m
- Challenge: 8/10
These trees are great fun to climb, because often the branches grow out for quite a distance so you can walk out on them. We call it limb walking, and it's a bit like tight rope walking.
They're found in lush forests on mountain slopes, though, so they can be a bit treacherous because the misty environment is really moist, and there are lots of epiphytes that suck up the water and drip it on you as go up.
5. Black Cherry
- Location: North America
- Maximum Height: 30m
- Challenge: 4/10
Black Cherry trees are a rare specimen, as many were logged due to their high value timber, so they're a real treat to climb.
The wood on these trees is very hard, the bark is like potato chips and they have very strong branches, and fine-tooth deciduous leaves. You can often get right up into the top of the canopy, above the surrounding trees.
6. Tulip Poplar
- Location: Eastern USA
- Maximum Height: 58m
- Challenge: 6/10
This tree has really brittle wood, and the branches can just shear off, so you have to be really careful when you're tying off on them.
They have prominent pillar-like trunks and the bark is like an overhead view of the Utah Canyonlands, with narrow little crevasses. They sometimes help the climb, but mostly you're just climbing up the rope so they're rarely used.
7. White Pine
- Location: Eastern USA
- Maximum Height: 70m
- Challenge: 7/10
These are probably the most annoying of all trees to climb. They're gnarly, the wood is really crappy and brittle, and everything is covered in sap that gets all over your equipment
However they're also amazing, because they're really tall and often poke out the top of the canopy. They have a lot of horizontal branches you can walk out on so you can look out over the edge of the tree pretty easily.
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