Hello fellow Tree Climbing enthusiasts!! 

I am heading to Oregon in the middle of August to train with Tim Kovar of TreeClimbing Planet (www,treeclimbingplanet.com) to learn to instruct a Basic Tree Climbing Course.  
He will be coming here to Winnipeg in the middle of September
to teach the 2 day course with me.

Tim is a world renowned instructor.  He travels the world setting up tree climbing schools,
leading expeditions in the jungles and training researchers and facilitators.

THE COURSE
The courses will be limited to 4 participants which will ensure lots of quality 
instruction and attention.  
This course teaches the skills needed to climb large trees on your own
using Doubled Rope Technique (DRT).  
You will be taught how to select a good climbing tree and how to detect potential hazards.  
You will also learn to tie climbing knots through repetition
until they are in your muscle memory.
Safety rules will be shown, as well as how to respect and care for the trees you climb.  

There will be plenty of time for you to get in a tree and practice all your new skills.  
Upon class completion you will be tested with a solo climbing exam and a
written exam covering course content.

This course is taught to novice climbers all over the world and is an excellent foundation to use immediately and also to build on.

I am offering a free private 90 minute guided climb to all participants to use in the weeks following the course in order to review what you learnt.

COST
The cost of the course is $650 +gst
This includes:
-2 days of Instruction (6-8 hours/day)
-The use of all the gear and equipment needed during the course
-Free 90 minute guided climb post course to review
-Ongoing support from myself as you continue to learn to climb
-Access to future events and climbs

COURSE DATES
September 15 -16
September 17 - 18
September 19 - 20

This climbing course is very unique and nothing like it is currently offered in Western Canada.  
Be a part of Canada's newest nature based recreational activity.
Come climb with us!

Warmly 
Chris Barkman
www.thebarkman.ca
[email protected]
204-781-3199

Don’t hesitate to call or email if you have any questions.
 It is going to be a ton of fun and will open your world to the treetops!

“It is a divine thing that that we are looking at.  
The order and the beauty of the world around us is startling, 
and do not take it for granted.  
Do not take any of this for granted.  
We are living in some kind of paradise.  
We are living in something that we look over and take for granted 
day after day after day.  
We look at the trees, 
but I want to tell you something now, 
the trees are also looking at us.  
There is a reciprocity between what is in nature and what is us.  
We have not known about that until today.  
The genome of nature is looking at a mirror as the genome of the human being, 
the human family.  
And there is a recognition between the two of us.  
Back and forth.  
And that is called nature disorder when you don’t understand it.

And all of you who are studying.  
All of you who have got brains and want to get through this university system, 
go into nature and suck up the silence of nature.  
And meditate with that silence.  
You don’t have to go into a church.  
Nature holds that silence in a sacred form for you that is identifiable by you, 
by your brain, by who you are and the functioning of your body.  

And make no mistake about it, 
you will be expected to stand up for the world, 
because the last great frontier of greed is not just you as slaves; 
the great frontier of greed is nature.  
The great frontier is the trees, 
the forest, the species of the forest.  
All of the things that are in nature.  
All of the things that are getting rolled over by concrete.  
And you cannot allow that to happen.”

​-Dianna Beresford-Kroeger-
(from a talk given at the West End Cultural Center in Winnipeg Manitoba, March 15, 2017)

The weather is warm here in Winnipeg.  We just had our first thunderstorm and everything is green.  This time of year it is always a challenge to remember just how cold and how white and how barren the landscape was just a couple short months ago.  

The trees were bare… their lignified skeletons revealing their amazing arboreal forms.  

The only birds in my neighborhood were crows, chickadees, nuthatches and the odd woodpecker banging away on an old telephone pole.  Now I am woken to a symphony of again celebration.  

Then there were those crisp winter mornings where you try and remember what dirt smells like…

Amazing how quick those memory fades when spring arrives with all her glory!  Birds singing, flowers everywhere, trees putting their summer outfit on (green again) and insects munching. Life everywhere!  

Got my first wasp sting already. yikes.  I hope that's the only time this year.  Wasps are crazy.  I feel it's going to be a good year. though!  Lots happening already and I love when things are in full swing and I'm pruning trees all day.  It's exciting to wonder who the trees will bring my way next.