Training → Instructors
Five instructors and a training coordinator. All five instructors still take commercial climbing work. We list roles and seasons rather than names, because you are hiring the school, not booking a personality.
22 seasons in the canopy
ISA Certified Arborist, Certified Treecare Safety Professional
Came up through utility line clearance in the southern Appalachians, then spent nine years running removal crews before moving into full-time instruction in 2014.
17 seasons in the canopy
ISA Certified Arborist, Qualified Rigging Supervisor
Specializes in confined-space removals over structures. Maintains the school's rigging library and writes the load-estimation exercises used in the advanced block.
14 seasons in the canopy
ISA Certified Arborist, Wilderness First Responder
Volunteers with a county technical rescue team and brings the incident-command framework used in the school's rescue scenarios.
19 seasons in the canopy
ISA Board Certified Master Arborist
Consulting background in heritage tree management. Teaches the pruning specification block and assesses candidate cut placement.
12 seasons in the canopy
ISA Certified Arborist, Chainsaw Instructor
Former sawyer on a wildland fire module. Runs the ground saw progression before candidates take a saw off the deck.
9 seasons in the canopy
ISA Certified Arborist
Handles enrollment, candidate records and the assessment paperwork that goes to awarding bodies.
This one is for experienced climbers moving into a training role. Five days, capped at four candidates, and the hardest part is not the climbing — it is learning to keep your hands off a candidate's system while they work out why it is not running smoothly.
Candidates need five seasons of commercial climbing and pass a practical assessment on day one. Roughly a third of applicants are asked to come back the following year.
Block outline
Against published criteria, on evidence recorded at the time, by an instructor who did not deliver that candidate's coaching wherever staffing allows it.
Instructors log a minimum of forty commercial climbing days a year. It is written into their contracts, and it is the single policy that keeps the teaching current.
Never more than four candidates to an instructor on live stems, and two to one on rescue scenarios and instructor development.