The Mat Fernandez Project
This series of videos will follow Mat, an Arborist of 3 years from the U.K who has moved to Canada to further his career. The aim is that Mat will compete in his first ever ISA tree climbing competition in September. Dan from ClimbingArborist.com will train with Mat over the the 3 months prior to the competition and document his progress along the way.
Episode 1- Meet Mat Fernandez and see how he fairs in his initial 'Work climb'
Episode 2- Mat undertakes his first two 'footlock' training sessions with Dan and Tiger.
Episode 3- Mat attempts to beat his previous best time for the footlock event as he works more on his technique.
Episode 4- Mat takes his first throwline session.
Episode 5- Mat climbs a large Acer macrophylla to practice some more work climb situations and take some swings.
Episode 6- Mat faces some friendly competition as he takes on Elliot, Rob and Tiger in a 'Speed climb' event.
Episode 7- Mat is joined by Tiger and Matt B, as word comes in that the B.C.T.C.C will not be an ISA competition this year and they will have an open ascent, so we decide to try some 50ft SRT head to head against foot locking.
Episode 8- Mat continues his competition training with some more simulated work climbs, as he aims to smoothen out his climbs and speed them up in the process.
Episode 9- Mat practices aerial rescue situations for the first time in 3 years. The first competition is just 2 weeks away.
Episode 10- Mat heads out to have the final practice session before the upcoming British Columbia tree climbing championships.
Episode 11- Will all the training pay off for Mat? or will nerves get the better of him as he competes in his first tree climbing competition at the British Columbia tree climbing championships.
Episode 12- After a great performance in the BCTCC, Mat is straight back into the training, he has two weeks left before the final competition of the year, the PNW - TCC.
The final episode- After 4 months of training, competition day has arrived.
Can Mat take everything he has learned and bring it all together at the Pacific Northwest tree climbing championships in Vancouver, Washington, where he will face an extremely strong field of climbers.