Do kids still climb trees?
There's no excuse not to this weekend.
National champion tree climber Maja Blasch, an arborist with City Services, will be helping kids climb a tree and sharing some special tips at a Tree Week event in Haig Park on Saturday.
From 1pm to 4pm at the park in Braddon, kids will be able to climb a tree with Maja, Australia's No.1 climber.
Kids big and small can also test their balance slacklining between trees.
There will also be the chance to make tree art, write tree letters and listen to music under the canopy.
Maja, who was born in Denmark and grew up between there and Canberra, has been caring for trees as an arborist for the past 10 years. She truly appreciates the wonderful treescape Canberrans enjoy in the ACT.
"Canberra has such a huge variety of exotic and native trees," she said.
Maja says a big part of her job is explaining to lay people the importance of trees in the overall streetscape, when many may just be worried about too many leaves falling or roots disturbing footpaths.
"I think people here have a special appreciation of trees. In other places, trees are the enemy," she said.
Not only does Maja climb trees for work, she also climbs trees for fun and is the reigning 2019 Australian Tree Climbing Champion.
The competition was held in Alice Springs and simulated working conditions of arborists in the field. Each event tests a competitor's ability to professionally and safely manoeuvre in a tree while performing work-related tree-care tasks in a timely manner.
Maja finished fourth overall in the international competition, and first among the Australian competitors.
"The thrill of tree-climbing? There's definitely a bit of adrenaline, being able to move about something and getting a view that most people don't tend to get is second to none," she said.
"But it's also about having an immense amount of respect for the tree I'm going to climb and understanding how it works."
