ITCC veteran and ISA Certified Arborist Mark Chisholm of Freehold, New Jersey, returns for his 20th international competition. He has been climbing for 27 years, is an ISA Certified Tree Worker, and currently holds the ITCC world record for fastest 50’ footlock with a time of 13.8 seconds. Chisholm is co-owner and director of field operations for Aspen Tree Expert Company and volunteers as a NJAISA trustee. His hobbies include spending time with family, surfing Treebuzz.com, and playing hockey. Chisholm and his wife, Annie, have been married 14 years and have three children: Ricky, Lexi, and Libby.

Last year’s first time men’s champion, Jared Abrojena, returns from Antioch, California, to defend his title. Climbing for 21 years, this is Abrojena’s sixth ITCC. His fastest footlock is 13+ seconds. Abrojena is an ISA Certified Arborist, and he has worked for his family’s business, Evergreen Tree Care, for the past 11 years, where he is currently a supervisor and foreman. He also volunteers with the Western Chapter of ISA. Abrojena is married to Kati, and they have two children, Austin, 3, and Kiley, 1. When he’s not spending time with his family, he enjoys camping, boating, and tree climbing.

This year’s Asia Pacific Champion is a newcomer to the ITCC. James Kilpatrick has been climbing for 6 years, and his fastest unofficial 50’ footlock time is 13.94 seconds. Kilpatrick is from Tauranga, New Zealand, and he holds a Wintec Diploma in Arboriculture, is a Certified European Treeworker, and is an ISA Certified Arborist. Since 2007, he has been a self-employed international contract climber working in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Italy, and the USA. His other interests include 4x4 driving, motocross, snowboarding, wake boarding, and hunting.

Jonathan Turnbull of Reading, England is competing in his fourth ITCC. He has been climbing for 8 years, and his fastest 50’ footlock time is 13.98 seconds. After qualifying with his national diploma in arboriculture, he moved to Sweden for a year before returning to the UK and working for a local tree care business for another 2 years. Since 2006, he has been travelling around Europe contracting for different companies in such places as France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Ireland. His new bride, Katy, has also gotten involved with the tree climbing scene by volunteering as a score checker at the ETTC in Prague this year. Besides spending time with her, Turnbull enjoys skiing, mountaineering, ice-climbing, rock climbing, mixed climbing, and mountain biking.

Trevor Burton is returning to the ITCC for the fourth time this year. Burton has been climbing for 13 years, and his fastest 50’ footlock time is 18.5 seconds. Burton lives in Aylesford, Nova Scotia. He began his career in 1997 working for a utility/ residential tree care company before moving on to another locally owned company and eventually starting his own company in 2009, Burton’s Towering Tree Services. Burton also volunteers for the Atlantic Chapter of ISA. He has been married to Heather for 10 years and they have two daughters, Cara, 7, and Lily, 2. Burton loves doing anything that keeps him outside, including fishing, canoeing, gardening, landscaping, and playing with and teaching his children.

Grant Cody is from Kilmore, Victoria, and he returns to the ITCC for the third time this year. He has been climbing for 13 years, and his fastest footlock time is 17.1 seconds. He is a Level IV Arborist and holds a Diploma of Arboriculture from Melbourne University. Cody is the director of Treespec, his own tree care business. He is married to Belinda, and they have a 2 year old son, Charlie. His hobbies include fishing, motorbikes, camping, and other outdoor activities.

Sebastian Fluch of Mariazell, Austria returns this year for his fourth ITCC. He has been climbing for 7 years, and his fastest footlock time is 20.7 seconds. He has worked as an arborist since 2003. Fluch has been partnered with Verena for 3 years and names his interests as simply trees, trees, trees.

Competing in his third international competition, Jo Van Bouwel represents Belgium this year. Hailing from Hove, Van Bouwel is a climber with 10 years’ experience and a fastest footlock time of 22 seconds. He has a Bachelors of Green Management, is a Certified European Treeworker, and is a Certified European Tree Technician. Van Bouwel started out with a company in Holland, but after only 2 years he went on to start his own company, treexpert, and has been self-employed for the past 8 years. His favorite part of his work is pruning big and old trees, and he also specializes in fighting the oak processionary caterpillar by ‘picking’ their nests from trees. He and wife Liesbet have two children, Sam, 3, and Bernd, 1 ½. He enjoys spending time with his family, gardening, and other outdoor activities.

Kaare Meyer Nielsen returns from Roskilde, Denmark for his second ITCC. He has been climbing for 5 years, and he has a fastest 50’ footlock time of 23.5 seconds. He has been working as a climber for the past 5 years for Henrik Ravn Træpleje ApS and loving it all the time. Meyer Nielsen’s hobbies include hunting and climbing.

Doug LaFortune is making his ITCC debut this year. Graduating from the University of Massachusetts Stockbridge School of Agriculture concentrating in arboriculture and park management, LaFortune went on to become the Certified Arborist for the city of Winter Park, Florida. He has been climbing for 27 years, competing at the chapter level for 10, and his fastest footlock time is 22 seconds. He is an ISA Certified Arborist and Certified Tree Worker. LaFortune also volunteers with the Florida Chapter of ISA, helping set-up and judge their TCC and as a tree worker/climber specialist lead evaluator. He has a wife, Kara, and two children, Karissa, 18, and Jayson, 15. In his free time, LaFortune enjoys golf, kayaking, and other outdoor activities, as well as rooting on the Boston Red Sox.

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The climber with more world championship titles than any other contender in the ITCC, Bernd Strasser returns from Germany once more to the international competition. Strasser has been climbing for more than 20 years, and his fastest 50’ footlock time is 15.1 seconds. He has been a self-employed arborist for the past 20 years. Strasser is married to Sanne, and they have one child, Silas, 17. In his free time, he loves to be with his family and be outdoors.

A newcomer to the ITCC, John Meiszner hails from Countryside, Illinois. He has been climbing for the past 10 years and has a fastest footlock time of 16.1 seconds. He has a Bachelors of Science in Urban Forestry from Western Illinois University. Meiszner is an ISA Certified Arborist, Certified Tree Worker, and Utility Specialist. He enjoys spending time with his 1 year old daughter, Mia Bella.

Making a first appearance in the ITCC is Cameron Arnold from Knox, Indiana. Arnold has been climbing for 15 years. He has a Bachelors of Science in Urban Forestry from Purdue University. Arnold spent 6 years as a crew leader in Utah, 2 years as a crew leader in Indiana, 3 years as a crew leader in Cleveland, Ohio, and 2 years as a district foreman in Illinois. He has worked for city park maintenance in Plymouth, Indiana for the past 3 years. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Misty, as well as woodworking, gardening, grass farming, and animal husbandry.

Representing Italy for the fourth time at the ITCC is Giovanni Ugo. Ugo has been climbing for the past 15 years, and his fastest 50’ footlock time is 17.4 seconds. He is a Certified European Treeworker and a supervisor for EAC certification. He has worked as an arborist for 15 years, and is an ISA Certified Arborist. Ugo does tree climbing, consulting, and big tree transplants for Dendrotec srl. Since 2004, he has been a tree climbing instructor at Scuola Agraria del Parco di Monza (Mb)- Italy. Ugo and his wife, Carla, have three children, Greta, 4, Melissa, 2 ½, and Sante, 1. He enjoys spending time with his family, rock climbing, and skiing, and he has been a beekeeper for the past 8 years.

For only the second time in ITCC history, Japan is being represented. Again, it is by Terunobu Takahashi from Seto, Aichi. He has been climbing for four years, but this is only his second year climbing competitively. His fastest footlock time is 21 seconds. Takahashi was educated as a mechanical engineer, but became a forest worker because he wanted to work with trees. He is an ISA Certified Tree Worker and has worked as a forestry worker for the past 8 years with HANI Forest Owners Cooperative. He also works as a volunteer liaison assistant for his local ISA association. He enjoys skiing, motorcycles, and recreational tree climbing (he is a Tree Climbing Japan facilitator). He and his wife, Satoko, have a 1 year old daughter named Mimori, which means “Beautiful Forest.”

Appearing for the second time at the ITCC is Richard Denbeau from Louisville, Kentucky. He has been climbing for 6 years, and his fastest footlock time is 20 seconds. Denbeau earned a Bachelor of Arts in United States History from the University of Pittsburgh and went on to spend ten years in the arboriculture industry, working in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Louisville. He is an ISA Certified Arborist and Certified Tree Worker. Denbeau has worked as a production arborist for Limbwalker Tree Service for the past 2 years, and he volunteers as a judge and a tech with the Kentucky Chapter of ISA. In his free time, he enjoys bicycling.

Walter Hak of Noordeloos is here for his second ITCC. Hak has been climbing for 13 years, and his fastest footlock time is 16.7 seconds. He has been self-employed as a tree climber with his company, Dendro Cura, for the past 12 years. When he isn’t climbing, he enjoys fly fishing for pike.

Jack Richardson returns to the ITCC for the third time this year. He has been climbing for 8 years, and his fastest footlock time is 23 seconds. Having received a Bachelors in History from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, he went on to work for Bartlett Tree Experts in Springfield, Virginia, and become an ISA Certified Arborist. He then moved on to Urban Foresters in Ann Arbor, Michigan until he started his own company Guardian Tree Experts in 2008. Richardson also volunteers on the education committee for the Michigan Chapter of ISA. In his free time, he enjoys playing in a wooden bat baseball league and hanging out in downtown Ann Arbor with his wife, Emily.

This is the second international competition for James Earhart of Hustle, Virginia. Earhart has been climbing for 11 years, and his fastest footlock time is 15.56 seconds. He put on his first harness and rope at age 14 and made his first dollar at climbing half a year later. He was foreman at age 17 for Fredericksburg Tree Care and has also worked for AAA Tree and Bartlett Tree Experts. Earhart has climbed giant redwoods. He has owned his company, Arbor Care, for the past year, and has been married to wife Stephanie for 4 years. Earhart also enjoys hunting, fishing, playing bluegrass, woodworking, and playing softball.

Brandon Shields is competing in his second ITCC this year. Shileds is from Springfield, Missouri, and he has been climbing for 5 years. His fastest footlock time is 18.2 seconds. He started with an Associates in Networking and Security and an Associates in Digital Media, and while he still does web design, he has also become an ISA Certified Arborist after discovering an interest in tree climbing. Shields is currently the webmaster for AllAboutTrees.net as well as being an arborist, and he does freelance design work. He also volunteers with the Iowa TCC and ISA Midwest Advanced Training Courses. He is married to Megan, and his interests outside work include camping, the ocean, and doing custom modification work around the house.

Taylor Hamel of St. Paul, Minnesota is making his ITCC debut. He has been climbing for 8 years, and his fastest 50’ footlock time is 17.5 seconds. An ISA Certified Arborist, Hamel has climbed and worked in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Scotland, and he continues to work as a contract climber and arboricultural consultant. He is also on the Program and Education Committee of the Minnesota Chapter of ISA. Hamel has been with his partner, Margeaux, for 4 years, and he has a love of farming tools, the older the better.

Moris Duarte of Stratford, Connecticut is competing in the ITCC for the first time this year. He has been climbing for 5 years, and his fastest footlock time is 25 seconds. Duarte has worked his way up to being a crew leader at The Care of Trees in Norwalk, Connecticut, a position he’s held for the past 5 years. He is married to Caroline and has a daughter, Laura, 13, a son, Moris, Jr., 2, and another child on the way.

Jorge Obando is a first-timer to the ITCC. He has been climbing for 9 years, and his fastest footlock time is 18.05 seconds. Obando lives in Webster, New York, where he has worked as a crew leader, arborist, and climber at Birchcrest Tree and Landscape for the past 7 years. Having grown up in Peru, Obando moved to the States during college and received his urban forestry training through ACRT/Job Corps. He has been an ISA Certified Arborist for 3 years, and he most enjoys swinging around and trimming large residential trees. Obando has been with his partner, Dusty, for 7 years, and he enjoys rock climbing, mountain climbing, tree climbing, motorcycles, tree ledging, travel, film editing, and especially hang gliding and paragliding.

Scott Forrest is coming to the ITCC for the third time, representing New Zealand. He has been climbing for 11 years, and his fastest footlock time is 16.5 seconds. Forrest has 12 years’ experience in the arboricultural industry, 6 of which have been spent in New Zealand. Another 3 were on and off in Australia, and he has spent 3 seasons in Sweden, Europe, and the USA. He is presently working as a contract climber in Australia. His interests include climbing trees, climbing mountains, walking, hiking, fishing, golf, traveling, long walks on the beach, going to new places, and spending time with friends and family, especially his nephew, Jack.

This is the second ITCC for John Coles of Røyse, Norway. He has been climbing for 23 years and has competed at the chapter level for 16 years. Coles is an ISA Certified Arborist and has been employed as an arborist at The Royal Palace in Oslo by The Royal Court of Norway for the past 6 years. He has been married to Rujira for the past 10 years, and they have two daughters, Simoriah and Basha.

Justin McVey comes to the ITCC for the first time this year. He is an ISA Certified Arborist and has been climbing for the past 3 years. McVey hails from Columbus, Ohio, and has been working as a climbing arborist at Ahlum and Arbor Tree Preservation for 2 years. He has been with his partner, Eva, for 4 years, and in his free time, he enjoys motorcycles, tinkering with small engines, and dirt biking.

Ben Sauvé of Huntsville, Ontario is competing in his first ITCC. He has been climbing for 5 years and has a fastest footlock time of 18.9 seconds. Sauvé is a graduate of the arboriculture program at Sir Sandford Fleming College and an ISA Certified Tree Worker. He had a background of rock and ice climbing, which helped him transition into tree climbing. He started as an apprentice climber, then went to school, and started his competitive climbing after that. He has worked as a climbing arborist with Davey in Dwight for the past 4 years. He is married to Kathy Lee. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing, paintball, and reading.

Dan Kraus is a past ITCC champion from Everrett, Washington, who is coming back for his tenth international competition this year. He has been climbing for 26 years, and his fastest footlock time is 18 seconds. Kraus has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and he learned to climb working for his father’s tree care company in Hawaii. An ISA Certified Arborist, he works for Seattle Tree Preservation. And his degree in psychology might come in handy while he’s coaxing scared felines out of trees with his own company, Cat in a Tree Emergency Rescue. He also volunteers with climbing classes for the Pacific Northwest Chapter of ISA. Kraus is married to Justina, and they have two daughters, Jasmine, 2, and Violet, a newborn.

Patrick Gledhill of Cochranton, Pennsylvania is making his debut at the ITCC this year. He has been climbing for 10 years, and his fastest footlock time is 19 seconds. Gledhill has been a utility arborist for the past 4 years with Davey in Mantua, Ohio. He currently works as a crew leader on an aerial lift crew doing line clearance. Gledhill and his wife, Faith, have been married 5 years and they have a 2 year old son, Levi.

Coming to the ITCC for the first time is Leilak Anderson of La Pêche, Quebec. He has been climbing for 7 years, and his fastest footlock climb is 24 seconds. Anderson has a degree in business administration and is an ISA Certified Arborist involved in running a family business, Man with the Axe. He is partnered with Victoria, and he enjoys hockey.

Luke Glines is competing in his fourth ITCC. From Greeley, Colorado, this ISA Certified Arborist runs his own business, Glines, Inc. He has been climbing for 13 years and is an ISA Certified Tree Worker, and his fastest footlock time is 16 seconds. Starting off his career with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Masters in Theology, Glines began tree work in line clearance and quickly decided to start his own business. He enjoys spending time with his 16 year old daughter, Hannah, riding motorcycles, and sitting by the fire in the wintertime.

Cormac Nagan comes to the ITCC from Raleigh, North Carolina for the second time. He has been climbing for 8 years, and his fastest footlock time is 18 seconds. Having earned a Bachelor of Science in Urban Forest Management from Western Illinois University, he started his career as an assistant to the campus arborist there. Nagan spent two years with Bartlett Tree Experts and has gone on to be self-employed for the past three years as the owner of Aerial Innovation Tree Care and Preservation in Raleigh. He is an ISA Certified Arborist. He has been with partner, Erica, for 8 years, and in his free time, enjoys splicing rope, climbing, gardening, and travel.

Johan Gustavsson comes from Jörlanda, Sweden to compete in his fourth ITCC this year. Gustavsson has been climbing for 5 years, and his fastest footlock time is 14.2 seconds. He is an ISA Certified Arborist and Certified Tree Worker who got his start as a tree climber 5 years ago, and he is currently studying online for a degree in arboriculture from Myerscough College. He has been with partner Lisa for 7 years, and in his free time, he enjoys motocross, supermoto, windsurfing, and boating.

Abram Zies is a first-timer to the ITCC. Hailing from Weatherford, Texas, he has been climbing for 10 years. His fastest footlock time is 16 seconds. After various apprenticeships, Zies has been the owner and operator of Arbor Care for 10 years. He is married to Lindsey, and they have an 8 year old son, Ethan. Zies enjoys traveling, riding sport bike, and wakeboarding.

Appearing for the first time at the ITCC is Rhys Brace of Surrey. Brace has been climbing for 8 years, and his fastest footlock time is 16.84 seconds. He earned a National Certificate and Diploma in Arboriculture at Merrist Wood, and he is now running his own company, Charterhouse Tree Care, in southeast England. He has also volunteered as judge at events for the United Kingdom/Ireland chapter. Brace is partnered with Grace, and his hobbies include shooting and fishing.

Nick Bleckert of West Valley City, Utah, is making his ITCC debut. He has climbed for the past 10 years, and his fastest footlock time is 38 seconds. An ISA Certified Arborist, he worked as a trimmer for Trees, Inc. for 6 years and has owned his own company for the past 4 years. Bleckert has been married to wife Shayla for 7 years, and they have two children, Kason, 4, and Kylie, 1. In his free time, he enjoys climbing, gardening, and landscaping.

Daniel Stevens of Mesa, AZ is competing in his first ITCC this year. He has been climbing for 9 years and has a fastest footlock time of 15.86 seconds. Stevens became an ISA Certified Arborist in 2003 and is also a Certified Tree Worker. After working for 7 years with Tree Doctors North, Inc. in Arizona, Stevens and his wife, Heather, decided to start their own company, Living Tree Service, Inc. He continues to work daily in the field with his teams and to serve the community with Heather, promoting education on proper tree care, safety, and ISA standards. Stevens is also a board member of the Arizona Community Tree Council and volunteers teaching tree seminars. He also volunteers with the Western Chapter of ISA. He and Heather have three children, Ashlyn, 11, Tristan, 7, and Koraya, 5. Stevens also enjoys hiking and camping with his family, cycling, and teaching climbing to Boy Scouts and other youth and church groups.

Joe House has been climbing for 18 years, and this is his fourth ITCC. His fastest footlock time is 16 seconds. House is an ISA Certified Arborist living in Madison, Wisconsin, where he has worked for 9 years as supervising arborist/head trainer at Stephenson Tree Care. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has been a practicing arborist for 16 years, spending some time working in Denver and New York. House also volunteers as an Illinois Climbing Competition judge. He and wife Lori have been married for 12 years, and they have three children, Alice, 8, Jackie, 7, and Charlie, 5. House enjoys cycling, Nordic skiing, outdoor education, salsa dancing, and lake surfing.