Tree rescue competition returns to Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A tree rescue competition took over Roosevelt Park in Albuquerque after a decades-long hiatus.

"These folks work for private companies, small companies, big companies, they work for cities, municipalities, like the city of Albuquerque. We’ve got folks from the city of Denver, city of Fort Collins in Colorado, but they are all professional tree care workers,” said Dana Coelho, former president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture.

40 competitors from New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana took part in the championship.

"These are the best professional athletes in the tree care industry in our chapter, and they come here to compete in five different events in the course of two days, see who’s the fastest, who’s the safest, who’s the slickest up in the tree," said Coelho.

Yesterday’s events was a speed competition. The goal – to see how fast you can make it to the top of the 72-foot tall tree

"It’s really exciting. My favorite part is the comradery, and you get to see all of these people that you love to climb with and hang out with," said Aneesa Winn, competitive tree climber.

Winn said it’s a great way to hone her skills while competing against her fellow tree climbers in the tree care industry.

"So it’s really for learning for us and just sharing knowledge and information as well too, and then it’s cool too because we have the public they come out they get to see what we do every day and that’s neat for them as well,” said Winn.