Join recreational, professional, and canopy research climbers from around the world as we come together at the Annual Tree Climbing Rendezvous! This year's gathering is being hosted by Tree Climbers International in honor of our 25^th Anniversary. We are already very excited about this fabulous event-in-the-making!

DATES: Starts Thursday, September 25 and ends after breakfast on Monday, September 29^th.

LOCATION: Simpsonwood Conference Center in Norcross, Georgia, about 45 minutes northwest of the Atlanta Airport.

All climbers are welcome to attend, as long as you can climb a tree using rope and saddle and can bring your own basic gear. If you're new, you'll find many others who will be able to give you great pointers, and you'll probably get to see and share a wide variety of equipment. If you're a seasoned climber, you'll get to introduce lots of new folks to the wonderful camaraderie of the tree climbing community. This promises to be a really fun gathering.

Accommodations are perfect for our needs. Simpsonwood (www.simpsonwood.org) is situated on 225 beautiful wooded acres on the Chattahoochee River, with countless big trees to climb and adventure in. We'll be housed in several buildings with hotel-quality rooms for one, two, and three people. There are campsites for those who want to pitch tents as well as several RV hookups on-site. (Shower and restroom facilities for campers are available but limited.) The large Rollins Conference Center has a huge dining area and enough small and large conference rooms for all our workshops and evening sessions. Depending upon drought conditions, we may even have access to a full-size swimming pool.

Many great workshops are already planned, including:

• "Beginning Splicing Skills" (Nick Araya)
• Bird-Watchers Morning Walk (Stephen Sorenson, local wildlife biologist)
• "Dynamics of the Forest" (Mark Fulton, Professor of Biology, Bemidji State University, Minnesota)
• "Gear for Sleeping in the Trees" (Viola Brumbaugh, New Tribe)
• "The Profession of Arboriculture" (Sharon Lilly, Director of Education, International Society of Arboriculture)
• "Single Rope Technique (SRT) Climbing" (Tom Dunlap)
• "Tree Gear" (Tobe Sherrill, SherrillTree)
• "Tree Risk Assessment" (Peter Jenkins, TCI)
• "Enter Tree Time" (Tim Kovar, Tree Climbing Northwest)
• "Treetop Camping" (Forrest Kelly)

We’ve also arranged some fabulous evening events. Three well-known personalities have been confirmed to give talks, including:

• Our keynote speaker, Margaret Lowman ("Canopymeg"), Director of Environmental Initiatives and Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at New College of Florida; well-respected canopy researcher and author of Life in the Treetops, It’s a Jungle Up There, and other books and publications (book signing following lecture);
• John Gathright ("Johnsan"), Founder of Tree Climbing Japan and the first PhD in “Treehab;” author of the first published research articles in scientific journals about the human benefits of recreational tree climbing;
• Robert Fulghum, narrator of “Tickle the Sky,” the first film about recreational tree-climbing; author of It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It (with a chapter on tree climbing), All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten, and many others.

In addition, we’re developing new tree climbing events, such as a “Tree Golf" competition. For this, contestants will pay $20 and compete for half the jackpot with their throw weight skills; the other half of the jackpot will be donated to a tree-related research or charity fund. TCI founder “Treeman” and others have been dreaming up other unusual activities sure to intrigue imaginative climbers. If you have ideas of your own, please be sure to contact us.

Atlanta weather at the end of September is usually ideal for tree climbing. Average temperatures are in the 70’s during the day and in the 60’s at night, comfortable for those who want to camp out in the treetops. The trees on this property represent many of the south's typical species, so you'll have your pick of beautiful and challenging trees to climb. Late September is also the height of bird migration in the southeastern United States, so lots of interesting birds will be seen in the varied habitat at Simpsonwood. We’re sure that all participants will go home happy, refreshed, and with wonderful lifelong memories!

RENDEZVOUS FEES:

The flat fee for the Gathering includes lodging for four nights (Thursday through Sunday) and all meals (lunch on Thursday through breakfast on Monday). Vegetarian choices will be offered at every meal. There are no fees associated with workshops. The following rates apply:

Single room: $600 per person

Double room: $450 per person (there will be opportunity at a later date to specify room partner)

RV hook-up site: $300 per person

Campers: $250 per person

Daily Rate: $175 per person (local participants only). Includes lunch and dinner all four days. Sorry, no early bird fee applies.

Children over the age of 13 who are experienced climbers are welcome to attend. Non-climbing spouses or significant others are also welcome to come relax, enjoy Simpsonwood's walking trails, and spend time with your partner's old and new friends. The same fees apply.

Please do not bring pets!

At this time we are taking participant information and deposits of half or all of the Rendezvous fee. An “early-bird” registration discount of $50 has been figured into the prices on our registration form, and is given to all who register prior to June 30. Registration can be completed with a credit card via our website or by printing out and mailing in your rendezvous 2008 registration form with a check made out to Tree Climbers International.

In early August we will be sending out a liability waiver, Rendezvous schedule, and forms requesting your arrival and departure times, roommate preference (if you did not list one on your registration form), workshop pre-registration, and other required participant information. TCI members are encouraged to use our website "Climber Finder" to find travel and/or rooming buddies. Payment of the balance will be due with returned forms by August 29th. Final details will be sent out in the first couple of weeks of September.

Basic Tree Climbing Course:

People who want to attend our Rendezvous but who are not yet tree climbers can register for a Basic Tree Climbing Course (BTCC) to be taught the two days prior to the gathering, September 23 and 24. You'll learn from TCI-trained tree climbing instructors--and then you can practice with other climbers during the Rendezvous! More information about this course can be found on the TCI website BTCC page.

BTCC fees include tuition ($450) plus room (assumes double occupancy) and meals for three extra nights, Monday-Wednesday ($275). Course tuition also includes membership in Tree Climbers International. There is no "early bird" discount for the BTCC.

BTCC Cancellation Policy: Registrants must cancel by August 15th in order to receive a refund (minus $50 administrative fees) in order to allow time for students who take their place to make travel arrangements.

First Aid/CPR Course:

A four-hour course first aid/CPR (adult/child) course will be taught at the conference facility on Monday morning, September 29, by a regional faculty member of the American Heart Association. It provides a two-year certification. Cost will be $60, which includes classroom materials. Advance registration is being accepted, and sign-ups will also be taken when we begin registration for Rendezvous workshops in August.

TCI Facilitator Program:

Volunteers Needed!

We are looking forward to a very large Rendezvous this year. We cannot reimburse volunteers, but we sure will need and appreciate them. Please note the checkbox for volunteers on our registration form and offer to help if you can!

TCI has opened a new thread on the TCI website Forums specifically for people to communicate with each other about any aspect of the Rendezvous. Please feel free to post your ideas, questions, suggestions, etc.; we will be watching this thread carefully. Please email us if you have special needs or with questions about your own participation.

We look forward to seeing you in September!

Remember! Your registration is not complete unless you have made a payment!

Pictures of the 2007 Rendezvous in Colorado courtesy of Don Stanford. Thanks!

Click here for a printable version of this document.

Click here for a printable version of the registration form.

People Already Registered