The Arizona Tree Climbing Championship 2025 took place on Saturday May 3rd. 24 competitors from all over Arizona came together for a day of climbing, competition and community. TCC is now in its 21st year and this great event is a cornerstone of ACTC’s yearly calendar.
The event is made possible by the wonderful work of the TCC committee led by Pete Thomas and the 40 volunteers who showed up and showed out to make this a fun, safe and awesome event. Volunteers are key to ACTC’s success as an organization both at this event and all other programs throughout the year. These TCC volunteers step up every year, they worked tirelessly over the two days of setup and competition to deliver an event we can all be proud of.
ACTC must thank its many great sponsors and donors whose support allows us to continue to run this event each year, the financial support and the donation of prizes are contributions that prove essential.
This year’s competition took place at Bonsall Park, Glendale, it consisted of 5 core events, Work Climb, Belayed Speed climb, Aerial rescue, Throwline and Ascent. With a sense of excitement and anticipation the competitors gave it their all, battling the heat, unfamiliar trees, testing skills against one another. At the conclusion of these events the leading 3 athletes moved into the championship Master Climb.
The Master Climb was contested by Daniel Capps of Agave Environmental Landscaping, Joe Kershner of Joe’s Tree Service and Ricky Jones of APS. After a thrilling competition and as the sun was setting over the horizon, Joe Kershner was crowned Arizona Tree Climbing Champion 2025.
