How High Do You Want To Go?

At Treetop Explorer, we love seeing the excitement people feel when they first learn to climb tall trees with rope and saddle. Maybe you saw that same excitement in your son or daughter when you came to one of our climbing events. Even if you did not climb with them, did you feel a sense of adventure and excitement just thinking about climbing into large trees?

There are many ways to experience tree climbing. Sometimes I am simply looking to have a little fun and play with my feet off the ground. Other times I work on developing my skills and technique. When I have the opportunity to head out with friends, I enjoy the freedom of heading off in search of a new adventure together. A new tree to explore.

Given the variety of possible experiences, our climb offerings provide different opportunities with the intent of making these experiences available to you.

Our Rec Climbs are perfect for people interested in trying out tree climbing, with plenty of opportunities through the year to climb as often as your schedule permits if you enjoy it as an exciting way to get outside. Our Climbing Club is geared towards those who are looking to dive a little deeper into climbing as a hobby, developing your climbing abilities and learning about trees. Our Learn-to-Climb classes prepare you head off on your own to enjoy this unique and rapidly growing recreational activity and corresponding career opportunities.

Climbing For Fun

Our Rec Climbs enable you to climb as often as you’d like, leaving the logistics, permits, equipment and technical aspects to us. It’s the way most people are introduced to tree climbing and, in fact, doing a rec climb is a pre-requisite for joining our climbing club..

In this setting, it’s all about having fun and getting that rush of excitement, without worrying about the details. Our rec climbs happen all over Southeastern Wisconsin, and many of them sell out through the local recreation program, so it requires some planning and coordination.

If you are interested in an opportunity to climb multiple times, our Rec Climb schedule affords numerous dates and a variety of trees and parks to choose from.

If you have climbed with us and felt a connection or desire to progress further, it makes sense to consider the next level of our climbing programs.

Our Climber Community

Some people exhibit a natural talent for or connection to climbing trees. Maybe you are driven to challenge yourself in new ways. Learn new techniques. Engage more fully, all the while immersed in nature.

Our Climbing Club provides the opportunity for those seeking to more fully engage in tree climbing. It gives people the chance to have multiple climbing experiences over a period of time. We will learn more about how and why the system works the way it does and about the trees themselves, exploring a new topic at each climb. We will try new techniques to develop your climbing skills, climb to higher branches, and stretch in ways that aren’t possible at a recreational climb.

Whether on your own, for your child, or as a family, the Climbing Club provides a unique opportunity to explore tree climbing beyond the sheer enjoyment of playing in trees.

Thankfully, playing in trees is so much fun that you won’t even realize you were tricked into learning applied concepts of geometry, physiology, physics, or biology!

License to Climb

I made that up. There isn’t a climber’s license per se. There is, however, endless joy for people who decide to take up tree climbing as a hobby or for use in a career.

Do you remember the freedom you gained when you got your driver’s license?

I got a taste of responsibility thanks to the ability to step on the gas and pull out from under my parents’ control. I enjoyed the sense of freedom and control from behind the wheel.

These days, freedom feels like a saddle over one shoulder and rope over the other. Hiking through the woods in search of a tree, walking up to a tree I have been given permission to climb, or simply walking out my back door, my worries fall off my shoulder with each step.

When I reach my destination, I scan the crown of the tree to see if a particular branch is calling out to me. During the ascent, I keep my mind and eyes open for whatever unknowns may present themselves.

Once I find a spot to sit back and relax, I find it quite easy to dive into my journal. My thoughts flow freely. I’d probably never be mistaken for an artist, but creativity feels almost within reach on the days I doodle and sketch at the top of a tree.

I can share a limb with a friend. String my hammock between branches 35’ above the ground. Let my mind wander. Read a book. I am on my own schedule. I am in another world.

It is an incredible feeling when you realize that you may very well be the only person who will ever climb a particular tree.

This is why I climb.

Enrollment in our climbing classes continues to grow, which tells me I am not the only nut out here!

Which Experience Will You Choose?

Climbing trees opens up a whole new frontier for your adventurous spirit to explore. We have a variety of offerings designed to help you explore them at the level you desire.

Rec Climbs make it very easy to get outside and play in the trees.

The Climbing Club dives a little deeper into some of the intricacies of technical tree climbing.

Our Learn To Climb courses provide the training that forms the proper foundation for all professional climbers, arborists and recreational climbers alike.
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See you in the trees!