The Smooth Saw

Extra extra read all about it!!!!

New rules for the 2024-25 Competition season inside the ISA! This episode goes through the changes, with some punk drunk humor after a long day of dad duty and squeaking in some training where I could! Not a crazy amount of changes to the rule book, most notably in throwline and potentially something with the harnesses required for the ascent event, but it'll lead to a follow up episode to change up what the episodes are sharing about the rulebook and how it's ever changing. 

Sponsor shout out!

Atmos Tree with their 2:1 TreeCycle Program planing two trees for every episode of The Smooth Saw.

Courant Vertical Living for the cool vibes and the even cooler ropes and bags!

Big thanks to:

Followship for the opening tunes and Zack Darling for closing us out. 
      Find Followship wherever you download your music and Zack has some killer mashups on                      SoundCloud

Shout out to the ISA and all the volunteers that give so much for this awesome thing we do. Thank you so so so so much!

Final shout out to mi familia as they are awesome and I wouldn't be able to do any of this without you.

This episode we discuss the prelim event which seems to be most people's least favorite, but probably because they're not that good at it hahahaha. 

This is one of the two speed based events in our tree climbing world, but this is a bit easier for folks to understand as it's arguably the most fundamental way to climb. A way for us to tap back into how we climbed trees when in our youth. Anyway, if you've been doing this for a while, you have an opinion on the event and aren't afraid to share it! 

Enjoy the shortest of the episodes thus far. Guess it's a speed event so might as well go fast in the episode! Also, sorry about how the audio dropped as it sounds like I'm burping throughout the episode and that's not actually the case. 

Thanks for the listen and don't forget to subscribe and share!

Thanks to our sponsors!

Atmos Tree @atmostreeorg
Courant Vertical Living @couranttreecare

Music by Followship in the opening and Anthony Catacoli at the end. 

Cheers y'all!

Jeff virtually pulls a chair up to have a nice long chat about the North American Open Masters or otherwise known as NAOM with the founder and visionary 'Professor Throwline' Chris Coates. Joining in on the call are Shawn 'The Wire' Welch and Bryan aka 'BJ' aka 'Brockoli' aka 'Captain Triangle' aka 'Swivel Me Timber' Brock. 

The four of us dive into the origin of the comp, why it's unique as well as general philosophy around climbing. Of course we have some fun and joke around in the process, but the point being, it was a blast despite the technology issues and the audio not being world class. Thanks fellas for your time not only for this episode, but for everything you pour into our industry, the event and continuing to progress this whole thing forward. 


As stated, here are some links to the places you can find NAOM, the events, rulebook and of course the most important part...the people:

On Facebook:

NAOM


On Instagram:

@naomtcc
@binesworth
@shawn_welch1


NAOM Website:

North American Open Masters (NAOM) (naomtcc.com)



Tree Climbing Training Workshop:



Tree Climbing Workshop Tickets, Sat, Jul 6, 2024 at 8:00 AM | Eventbrite



Sponsorship Shout Out:

Big thanks to Truetimber Arborists (@truetimber.arborists) for the love, support and paycheck.

Thanks to Courant Vertical Living (@couranttreecare) for the sponsorship and the AMAZING rope!

Thanks to Atmos Tree (@atmostreeorg) for planting some trees from my no so sultry voice.

Of course, final shout out goes to the fam. Love you and am honored to share life with you.


Cheers y'all!

Wow. That was fun. Today's episode I have the unique pleasure and honor to sit down for a bit and have a chat with one of our currnent World Champions...Jo Hedger. Buckle up and hold on tight as Jo drops a lot of wisdom, knowledge and insight in the hour and a half we chatted. I had a ton of fun and am greatly apprciative of our time hanging out.

Enjoy the episode and be sure to like, subscribe, follow and share to get this content out to as many folks who want to hear it!

Big thanks to...


Truetimber Arborists in Richmond, VA
@truetimber.arborists

Courant Vertical Living
@couranttreecare

Atmos Tree
@atmostreeorg

The Inman Family!
@climbinjeff

Aaaaaaannnnnnndddddd here we go!

A readthrough of Section 3 in the ISA Rulebook covering the much loved Work Climb Event!

We dive into each sentence and Jeff explains some of the nuance that goes along with the event as well as sharing some tips and tricks learned over the years on how to improve your scoring in this event.

Order is everything, remember your audibles, go fast and be smooth, but most importantly...have fun as this prelim event is amazing and so so so much fun!

Big thanks to our sponsors:

Truetimber Arborists in Richmond, VA

Courant Vertical Living

Atmos Tree

The Inman Family!

This week we have a chat witht the Female Mid-Atlantic Champion Steph Littenberg. Steph is an awesome person with a super fun personality and we're stoked that she shared a bit of her story with us. She works for TreeLife based out of Northern Virginia, but has won the MAC 2021 to present. Her progression has been super cool to witness and were honored she hopped on the mics to be a part of the pod. Go giver her a follow and if you see her around, go have a chat as she's so nice and a blast to chat with.

Big thanks to Truetimber Arborists for sponsoring so much more than just the audio, but in general, the stoke.

Thanks to Followship for the music and firing me up when I don't want to go train.

Thanks to atmostree.org for their 2:1 tREeCYCLE program planting two trees for every episode that The Smooth Saw releases to your eardrums! Cruis on over to atmostree.org to check it out and enroll fo free!

Thanks as always to Courant Vertical Living for the sweet products and the groovy vibes.

Until next episode, have a good and safe week, ring some bells, climb some trees and smile big. Let the Smooth Saw Sing!

If you haven't heard of Krista Strating before, I encourage you to look her up and give her a proper follow. She is one of a kind. Full of smiles, knowledge and a truly awesome human being. She's been in the game for a minute or two and traveled the world for our craft. She was gracious enough to sit down with me for a bit to chat through life, bells rung and give some perspective on how the game has changed and hope for how it will continue to change.

She's on the H Team, a Notch Ambassador, former World and Continental Champion, but to me...she will always be The Champ. I have always loved her attitude and is forever in a great mood. I hope you enjoy this episode, but I guarantee I had more fun than you!

I also dive into a bit of my experience at Legends of the Geezers this year. What it is, why it's improtant and cool, but also why YOU should be there next year and all the years to follow!

Big shout out as always to Truetimber Arborists and Courant Vertical Living for the love and support as always.

Stoked to share the new sponsor, Atmos Tree, promoting their 2:1 tREeCYCLE Program. For every episode I record and publish they are planting two trees. You can pair your tree company up with them and get in on the same program, but for every tree you remove they'll plant two to offset the canopy loss for future generations! I'm happy to be a part of the organization and amped to know future generations will enjoy the shade of trees your listens generate.

Cheers y'all and thanks again to Followship to the sweet tunes. Rock on, climb high, swing big and bust that Smooth Saw out!

Here ye here ye! We doth want to dive into the complexities and rule book of the more complicated of the ISA Prelimenary events known to many as none other than....The Ascent Event.

Do you smell the familiar smell of rope set on fire? The clanking and sparks flying from ascenders? Well, in this episode we dive into the rule book, how to score well, and some pro tips on how to do well in the event as well as how to improve your times.

Sit back and enjoy...but then go get on rope and do some laps.

Big than as always to Truetimber Arborists for that great audio.

Shout out to Courant for the cordage and the groovy vibes that can only be born in France.

Thanks Followship for the tuneage and stoked for how your future is looking. Love your music.

Finally, but most importantly, thanks to the fam for the support in this crazy endeavor and allowing even more time to talk about this deep rooted passion.

After a bit of a hiatus, Jeff is back to discuss moving forward into the New Year. He mainly talks through the difference he sees between resolutions vs goals and why it's an important distinction. Chasing after goals is great, but give yourself little wins along the way to stay motivated and keep driving forward. Resolutions tend to fail becuase it's too much change too quickly.

Big goal for the year ahead is helping others by sharing the knowledge and experience you have been blessed to receive. Keep your head up, pop that swing and ring that bell!

Big thanks to Truetimber Arborists for sponsoring the audio equipment.

Thank you to Courant Vertical Living for sponsoring Jeff in his competitive endeavors as well as providing sweet rope.

Thanks to the Inman and Walters Families for the support and love over the years.

The first interview of the pod!

Big thanks to Barton for being willing to have a chat for a while. If you don't know who he is...please remove yourself from the rock in which you currently live under. Barton has been crushing for many a year and is the 2022 & 2023 ISA International Men's Tree Climbing Champion.

More than that though, he's an amazing human, husband and father. I had the pleasure to meet and get to know Barton a bit over the years at the Inernational, but this was a pure treat to hear some of his history, what his days tend to look like, hopes for the future, and just in general, get stoked on hearing about tree climbing through the voice of an Aussie! Thanks again for sharing and I sincerely hope everyone enjoys this episode as much as I did! Also, be sure to check out YouTube as I'm uploading our video from it, but also it's another spot to listen along.

Cheers!


Big thanks to:

Truetimber Arborists

Courant

Followship for the tunes

ArborShots for the picture!