ARB Show Open: organiser, categories, the two events and results pages
The Arboricultural Association's open climbing competition held with its trade show: which categories it offers, how the Ten Bell Challenge and the Work Climb are judged, and where the association posts results.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the Arboricultural Association says on its own competition pages. The other British event, run under ISA rules and used to pick climbers for the European and world finals, is in the table of championships and has a page of its own.
Who runs it and when it was last listed
The association says its climbing competitions are run by a team of its volunteers who want to advance climbing practice and safety, and that they are open to members and non-members. Its competitions index describes the ARB Show Open as the event that was formerly known as the UK Open Climbing Competition, and the Open page adds that it was formerly known as the 3ATC Open. The index says it tests climbers over three skill categories: Novice, Expert and Premier.
The Open page lists the 2025 edition, May 16 and 17, 2025, at Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire. It lists no later edition. Parts of that page still carry text from earlier years, including the 2022 and 2024 shows, so the date to read is the one at the top of the page. The association's ARB Show page invites expressions of interest for a 2027 show but gives the Open no date.
The two events
The page says a new format began in 2024 that lets every climber choose the Ten Bell Tree Climbing Challenge, the Work Climb, or both.
- Ten Bell Challenge. A test of ascending and moving through the canopy. Ten workstations, called bells, are set in the tree, each with a task that copies work an arborist does. Judges look at safety, being secure at each workstation, management of slack in the climbing lines and route planning between stations. For full points all ten bells are rung. At each one the climber must be lanyarded in, give an audible warning of "all clear", and use two hands on a handsaw to ring the bell. Judges may add points for good work positioning, a tight lanyard and good route planning.
- Work Climb. Based on the ISA international competition rules, with the same set-up for every competitor. The climber starts from a staging area and visits five workstations, each with a task and a bell or horn to sound before moving on. Points come from completing the tasks, some stations carry bonus points, and points can be lost for failing certain tasks. Judges also score safety, control, style, poise and creativity, and the head judge can penalise an unsafe or uncontrolled act. A second one may mean disqualification.
The page links an example Ten Bell scoresheet as a PDF. It says places for the three categories are limited, and that when the Open ran inside the APF Show a competitor could get a 25% discount on the standard day ticket.
Results
The association posts results page by page for the show years: the Open page carries a results section for 2025, and a separate page holds 2023, with Novice, Expert and Premier results for the Friday and the Saturday, with times in seconds. Those pages name competitors, and the association's footer reserves all rights, so this site links to them and does not copy a name: see the ARB Show Open page and the 2023 results page.
Sources
- Arboricultural Association, The ARB Show Open Climbing Competition, read October 9, 2026
- Arboricultural Association, climbing competitions, read October 9, 2026
- Arboricultural Association, ARB Show Open results 2023, read October 9, 2026
- Arboricultural Association, The ARB Show, read October 9, 2026