Husqvarna’s continuing support of competition climbing has helped Australia achieve international recognition.
Tree-climbing competitions aren’t new in Australia, but competitor numbers have grown in recent years, and with climbers like Barton Allen- Hall, Jack Lewis, James Gigliottii and Alana Murray scoring high on worldchampionship rankings, the glamour end of the sport is going well.
But the grass-roots level competition climbing – where future international contenders will make their start – is continuing to gain momentum, and one thing that seems to be constant in the Australian climbing scene, from the most fundamental ‘local’ competition through events like Women in Arb and on to the sharpest and elite international contenders, is support from Husqvarna.
Officially
Husqvarna’s spokesperson, Marketing Manager Vienna Spence, offered a fairly modest comment on the situation.
“These events are a fantastic opportunity for Australian climbers to showcase their skills, and at the same time help to inspire the next generation. Husqvarna is proud its support helps showcase our industry and its importance within the community.”
While there’s no doubt of the truth of those statements, they don’t really present the depth of Husqvarna’s support of climbing competitions, competitors, and the sport in general.
The Australian Arbor Age tracked down a couple of people who were in a good position to explain the importance of that support to climbing nationwide.
Team effort
Adam Lovering is the manager of the Australian team which competed at the 2024 world championship. He’s been a working arborist for some years, and his company, Impact Arbor Tree Service, is based on the NSW Central Coast. Aside from his role with the Australian team, Adam is also involved with the NSW arb committee, and he’s been around the competition scene for long enough to have seen first-hand the effect of Husqvarna’s involvement.
“Husqvarna is one of the most important pieces in Team Australia,” the easy-going New South Welshman told The Australian Arbor Age, “but it’s not just Team Australia. Husqvarna supports a large number of competitions around the country.
“For the associations just to be able to run the competitions, then send people to the nationals, and ultimately field teams at the Asia-Pacifics and internationals…it’s Husqvarna’s support that’s helping to keep the community competitions going to enable us to get climbers to the big stage,” he said.
In the beginning
Adam’s personal support for Australian competitors began some years ago and has grown over time.
“I have a side company called The Climber Cartel which was producing T-shirts and rope bags and so forth,” he related. “I’d seen how much work Jamie Boston and a few other boys at the time were putting in to go to all these competitions around Australia, and I started supporting them individually.
“Through my sponsoring those guys, I knew a climber called Mark ‘G-man’ Gistitin. In my eyes he was probably the best climber around at the time, and he went to the US and finished sixteenth or seventeenth in the world. When he came back I asked how come he’d finished so badly, and he told me: ‘Mate. When you get over there it’s a scary place. There’s no one to talk to’. “It’s an individual sport, so it’s hard if you don’t have a team backing and supporting you the whole way.
“Once a few of our climbers made it to international level, we sort of came together trying to get some sponsorship and to bring the team together as a group. Because everyone came from different areas all around the country, once they got to the international level, they didn’t really fit in together, if you know what I mean,” remembered Adam. “Jamie Boston and I tried to unite the individuals as a team to represent Australia.”
Husqvarna
Adam and Jamie enjoyed some success, but then there was a shift in Australian competition climbing a few years ago.
Adam explained: “For the past three or four years, Husqvarna has jumped on board big time, helping financially with the things we couldn’t do. Husqvarna paid for a lot of us to fly up to Brisbane two years ago to have a big training camp just before we went to the world championships.”
It was the kind of support which allowed bringing the climbers together as a team, and focussed their preparation, skill development and sharing techniques to prepare for highlevel competition.
“We never would’ve been able to come up with the finances to be able to do that ourselves,” Adam said quietly. “Husqvarna definitely supported us heaps with that.”
Jamie B
When Adam said, “They paid for a lot of us to fly up to Brisbane…” the setting for the training was the property of good friend Jamie Boston.
Jamie has a string of internationals and titles to his credit – most recently a win at the Queensland Tree Climbing Championships – he’s a Husqvarna H-team ambassador, and he and his brother run Boston Tree Care near Brisbane. Jamie is also the current president of the QAA.
“In 2023 Husqvarna flew everybody that was part of the team up to my place in Brisbane where we hosted a training camp. Then Husqvarna brought in a videographer to film and do interviews to build the team brand and image to help us gain other sponsorship to help with the rest of the funding,” he said, clearly appreciative.
Vital support
Like Adam further south, Jamie is in a good position to appreciate Husqvarna’s involvement with the climbing fraternity.
“From the QAA’s perspective, we can’t operate and run events without help from sponsors. We’re a not-for-profit organisation,” explained the very likable and enthusiastic Boston. “But it’s not just the QAA Husqvarna supports. It’s the wider Australian arb community as well. None of us could give back to the industry without the support of Husqvarna,” he summed up.
Jamie’s also the current captain of the Australian tree-climbing team, and international competition is expensive. Attending the Asia- Pacific championships or the world championships takes a huge commitment, both personally and financially. For most climbers it’s not only the cost to travel and compete, but also the lost income from time off and not working. Jamie cites Husqvarna’s generosity as vital to both his and the Australian team’s ongoing representation and competitiveness at those events. Husqvarna awards individual climbers in the team a cash grant which goes a long way to making attendance achievable, as well providing backing to the whole team to ensure the climbers have real support in their efforts.
But, as Adam pointed out earlier, it’s not only big, high-profile events which get Husqvarna’s attention.
“For a number of competitions around Australia, most of the time the prizes are donated by Husqvarna,” Jamie pointed out. “Whether it’s e-vouchers, equipment, prize money…it’s a mix of product and cash or e-vouchers for the events.”
All for Aus arb
QAA will be hosting the Asia Pacific Tree Climbing Championship and New Zealand the International Tree Climbing Championship in 2025, and Husqvarna is the major sponsor for both events.
Jamie offered an overview of the way he sees Husqvarna’s involvement with arboriculture in Australia.
“It’s a ‘no-question support’ attitude,” he said. “Husqvarna’s open to the support of all practical arb throughout Australia.”
Husqvarna’s range arbor equipment can be viewed at husqvarna.com.
To stay up to date with the Asia-Pacifics keep an eye on the QAA website. For updates on Australia’s involvement in the ITCC, check the Arboriculture Australia site.