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Kentucky Tree Climbing Championship: organiser, place, schedule, climber tickets and events

The Kentucky state championship run by the Kentucky Arborists' Association: the October 2026 place and schedule, the climber ticket prices and sold-out status on the ticket page, the waiver step, and the events the association lists.

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 Kentucky Arborists' Association (KAA), the state chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), says on its championship page, its Humanitix event page and its Humanitix ticket page. The national and regional events are in the table of championships.

Where and when

The 2026 Kentucky Tree Climbing Championship (KYTCC) is listed for October 23 and 24, 2026, at Woodland Park, 601 E High St, Lexington. The association calls Woodland Parks a division of Environmental Services. The Humanitix page times the event from 7 AM on Friday to 6 PM on Saturday.

Schedule as listed

The Humanitix schedule says all times are approximate.

DayWhat the schedule lists
Thursday, October 22, 2026Event set-up and tree pruning from 9:00 AM. Lunch and a judges meeting at 1:00 PM.
Friday, October 23, 2026Volunteer roll call at 7:30 AM and site set-up until 2:00 PM. Mandatory climber check-in and mandatory gear check at 3:00 PM. A belayed speed climb at 3:30 PM. An events walk-through from 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM.
Saturday, October 24, 2026Climber roll call at 7:30 AM. Preliminary events from 7:45 AM to 1:00 PM. The Master's Challenge at 2:00 PM. An awards ceremony at 7:00 PM, with pizza.

The page also lists exhibitor booths and a kids' climb.

Tickets and waiver

The page says every climber, volunteer, sponsor and exhibitor registers online through Humanitix and fills in a participation waiver. Tickets carry a QR code that is shown at check-in. In-state climber tickets and volunteer tickets were on sale first, and out-of-state climber tickets went on sale on September 11, 2026. The ticket page on October 9, 2026 listed these climber and volunteer tickets.

TicketPrice as listed and status on October 9, 2026
In-state climberUS$85.00 plus sales tax and a booking fee. Sold out.
Out-of-state climberUS$105.00 plus sales tax and a booking fee. Sold out.
Volunteer/standby climberFree. Sold out.
VolunteerFree

The ticket page also offers an exhibitor booth ticket, three sponsorship levels and a KAA membership ticket. Humanitix states that refunds are available up to 14 days before the event, and offers a waitlist when a ticket type is sold out.

Events and how the champion is named

The KAA championship page says the KYTCC tests the working skills of Kentucky arborists and that the best scorers in the preliminary events go on to the Masters' Challenge. It says the Masters' Challenge winner is named champion and goes on to represent Kentucky at the International Tree Climbing Championship. The page names six events: the aerial rescue, the work climb, the ascent, the throwline, the belayed speed climb and the Masters' Challenge. For measurements it gives a throwline target height of up to 60 feet, a speed climb route of about 60 feet, and an ascent bell that may be set from 12 to 25 metres. Its work climb has five workstations, from handsaw to landing, and its Masters' Challenge is set up with stations like those of the work climb.

The association's page calls this "six different preliminary events", while the Humanitix page says five preliminary rounds. Neither page says how it counts the Masters' Challenge.

Results

The KAA page carries a 2025 winners notice with the names of the placed climbers and a photo. This page names no climbers. See the KAA championship page for it.

Sources