Being relaxed and confident was the key to winning the National Tree Climbing Championship for Dunedin arborist Dom Ritter at the weekend.
"It’s pretty surreal, pretty unbelievable," he said yesterday.
Mr Ritter (30) is a Dunedin arborist employed by Delta Utility Services Ltd.
He spends much of his week climbing trees and trimming them, to keep their branches safely away from power lines.
His first try at the nationals came in 2011, but until this year he had never finished among the country’s top 10 climbers.
His best previous effort was 13th in 2018.
Mr Ritter has been climbing since he was 15 and his nationals win came on his seventh attempt at the big event.
This time, going into NZArb Association tournament final in the latest annual event, held at Queenstown last weekend, he was assured of finishing in at least third place.
"I had already reached my goal [of making the top 10]. I didn’t feel I had anything else to prove. This time I was a lot more relaxed and confident that I had been before," he said.
Considerably more practice training, up to 10 hours a week, with the strong support of his employer, had also played an important role, he said.
He also appreciated the support he had received from contest organisers, and fellow climbers.
Mr Ritter won the overall first place when the three males he had been up against were disqualified.
Under the intense pressures of strict time limits and technical demands, there was clearly an important mental element to the contest, which was not simply about physical skills.
"I didn’t overcomplicate it.
"It finally all fell into place."
