Barton Allen-Hall – ‘Barto’ to those who know him – is possibly at the top of his game. At 39, the Mt Dandenong-based climber recently locked up his third ITCC world championship.
Having started his arbor career in Canberra, Barton now has 20 years in the industry, and competition climbing has featured during those two decades.
But climbing wasn’t a big factor in his entry to the arboricultural world.
Beginnings
“I’d just left school and was looking for work, and I somehow found out that climbing trees and pruning them and working on trees was a job,” recalled the very well-spoken and likeable world champ, deep in thought.
“Shortly after finding that out, I then realised there was an arborist who lived a few hundred metres from where I grew up, and I went and knocked on his door and asked for a job.”
According to Allen-Hall the first year or so was spent “…dragging branches and cleaning up,” before he launched into a Certificate 3 course and moved to another company where he found himself climbing pretty much every day.
“I learned a lot in Canberra,” he remembered. “There’s some really great climbers there – some great arborists. But I think, in general, if you move around you find different ways of doing things.”
A move to Melbourne followed, and an introduction to competition climbing.
Moving
Relocating to The Big Smoke was all very well, but it meant a certain amount of uncertainty, as Allen-Hall related:
“I decided to move to Melbourne as a lifestyle thing, and the career was part of the motivation. I’d heard it was a good place to be an arborist, and I could see there were plenty of jobs available.
“I did one trial which didn’t work out, and then ended up with a great company. I got along really well with the boss and really well with the guys and really enjoyed working there. I learned a heap working for them.”
An introduction to climbing competitions came along soon after.
“At the time there weren’t any competitions in Canberra or the ACT like there are now, and it was probably through The Australian Arbor Age magazine that I even knew there were competitions. It wasn’t until I moved to Melbourne that I really heard about competing.”
“There’s a large competition scene down here, the largest in Australia by a long shot, and, eventually, after a couple of years, I drove out and had a look at one of them out of curiosity.
“I was blown away with the climbing and the work climb tree, and it looked like a lot of fun.”
Soon after the introduction to climbing competitions came a turning point: the ITCC came to Sydney in 2011, and a young Allen-Hall and friend Will Dunn flew up to see the action.
“It was even more impressive,” said the clearly affected Allen-Hall. “We were watching and Will said, ‘I reckon we should have a crack at this.’
“I agreed, so he and I started training.”
After the Sydney ITCC Barton and Will ‘sort of’ knew what was expected and began practicing for the next Victorian competition. They must’ve had a fair idea of how to train, because the newbie pair took out the top two places in a hard-fought B Grade.
Barton chuckled at the memory. “I just beat him by a small margin,” he recalled. “That was a good start to the competition career, and as friends, finishing first and second was a buzz for us.”
Hooked
Allen-Hall’s reaction to the win was incredulity.
“I was shocked, to be honest,” he told The Australian Arbor Age candidly.
“I don’t know if I’d won anything since I was a kid playing basketball, so I was pretty shocked (laughs). And having been working full time for seven years or so, I was like, ‘Wow! I didn’t expect that’.”
That competition was shortly after the 2011 Sydney international which had been won by New Zealand’s Scott Forrest with Australian Joe Harris in second. Both of those climbers travelled to the Victorian comp and did a workshop the day before. Allen-Hall made the most of the opportunity.
“I learned so much there,” beamed Barto. “Seeing those guys climbing in the workshop and then competing the next day, and watching them compete, was inspiring. “I’d definitely caught the bug.”
Harness the energy
Having caught the bug and worked at his trade, Allen-Hall went on to win ITCCs in 2022, 2023 and, most recently, 2024.
It’s a pleasure to watch Allen-Hall climb, and his apparent calm and calculation in the face of a challenge is an inspiration for life in general, not just climbing.
But his outward calm is a sign of self discipline.
“I get incredibly nervous,” he confided. “I think nerves and adrenalin can bring out the best in you if they’re harnessed correctly. My strategy for harnessing it is to try and have fun, and to try and see the pleasure and enjoyment in what I’m doing. If you’re having fun you’ll usually do your best. If you take it too seriously, the nerves can get the better of you and you can end up a bit shaky and not performing at your peak.
“An international comp is an incredibly exhausting three-day event – partly because you’re not getting much sleep each night because you’ve got it all running through your head. It’s hard to switch off.”
And the toughest situation he’s encountered in three world championships?
“I’d like to say fellow competitors, but it’s a solo sport, so you’re not head-tohead against them.”
“To be honest, for those three years, everything’s gone really well for me… obviously (laughs again).
“I’ve had a bit of luck in those three years, and I’ve obviously worked very hard to have the skills and the confidence to do well. But I think with the experience I have under my belt now, I have a strategy for dealing with everything.
“One example which springs to mind is, in the 2024 competition, I had to go first in the aerial rescue event – first out of everyone. If you end up going 20th in the aerial rescue you get a huge advantage over the person who went first, because you’ve seen 19 other people do it, and the easier way to do things starts to become obvious. So going first at that high-level event is tricky because it’s all based on your judgement calls. No one’s trialling things for you and seeing if they work or not. You have to go in there and hope your assessment of the situation is correct.”
Sound advice
Having time with a triple world champ in any sport is gold, and on behalf of The Australian Arbor Age’s readers, we asked Barton for any advice he’d have for those starting their climbing competition journey.
“Just to stick with it,” came the direct answer. “Focus on enjoying it, and make it great fun.
“And if you’re planning on doing any preparation on training for the events, make sure you focus on tree-climbing training. I see some people get carried away with gym work, thinking it’s going make them a brilliant tree climber. The reality is you get better at tree climbing by actually climbing trees. Focus on that.”
Bagging a shot
At the QTCC recently we noticed Allen-Hall didn’t use a Big Shot. He threw the rope bag with what seemed to us incredible accuracy, and hit his target on the second throw.
Chuckling, he explained he hadn’t quite hit his target, but decided the rope would work in the position he had, so he carried on.
It still seemed like a Herculean throw with incredible accuracy, especially when everyone else we saw used a slingshot.
“I’ll use a slingshot if the shot’s over 30 metres,” he explained, still smiling, “but I enjoy throwing so much more. It’s a bit like golf, archery and basketball all combined.
“I can see why people use Big Shots, and I use them myself when a tree is over 30 metres tall, but it’s just beautiful to be able to throw your ball where you want it.”
Next for the World No.1?
When asked about Barto’s future he told us he was eyeing off a Victorian competition to be held a few weeks after our chat.
“I’ve decided to miss that one because I think I need a break,” he told us. “I’m going to help set up and judge, and I’m looking forward to it.
“But I’m definitely looking forward to competing again, and that will start in 2025. It’ll be all about the big ones: the Asia Pacific title on the Gold Coast and the ITCC in Christchurch.
“I feel like what I’m doing with my training and strategy preparing for competitions is working, so I’m just going to continue. That’s good, because I enjoy what I’m currently doing, working with Jack Lewis (of Heritage Tree Professionals) and just refining the different skills involved.
“I’m looking forward to doing all that.”
Every day
Although Barton’s competition success draws plenty of attention, he’s been a pro arborist for long enough to have some relevant thoughts on the industry. We asked what were the biggest developments he’d seen in his time.
There was a long, thoughtful silence.
“I don’t know that it’s changed a great deal for me,” he offered. “I probably see a little more use of machinery like excavators these days, and the chippers are probably slightly bigger…and there’s probably slightly more finessed ideas about pruning compared to when I started. As an industry I think we’ve given it a little bit more thought. It’s not so much one menu for all trees as it used to be.
“But it’s been pretty small changes really, and that’s fine by me. The industry’s far from perfect, but I like my part in it and the people I work with. It’s a great industry.
“There are some changes that would be beneficial, for sure, but I hope it doesn’t change too much from the industry I love.”