Association of Montana Turf, Ornamental, and Pest Professionals
Education – Partnerships – Networking
Promoting high standards within the horticulture, aboriculture, pesticide, and irrigation industry through education, partnerships, and networking.
Summer Workshops
July 12 – 13
Fairgrounds – Big Timber, MT
(Big Timber Fairgrounds location Map)
Registration coming soon!
Rope Access Systems
NOTE: class limited to 3 participants per company and observers are unlimited.
This 8 hour class will introduce students to arborist rope access systems. We will cover equipment/rope selection, anchors, moving rope systems (MRS), and stationary rope systems (SRS). Instruction will be hands on. Emphasis will be placed on basic equipment inspection, anchors and tie in points, ascending, descending, route finding, and work positioning. The target audience is new climbers, ground workers transitioning to climbing, and spur/MRS climbers seeking to learn SRS.
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At the end of the session students will be able to:
- Perform basic inspection of critical equipment
- Discuss advantages and disadvantages of each system
- Identify intermediate and final tie in points for a given route
- Select appropriate equipment and configure it for MRS or SRS
- Ascend and descend MRS and SRS systems
- Convert systems while in the tree
Students should bring their climbing equipment and personal PPE- helmet, gloves, eye protection, boots, etc. Instructors will provide ropes and canopy access equipment. For students that do not have equipment, please contact one of the instructors and equipment will be provided. Participants should have at least entry level experience in the arborist industry.
Instructor
Nick Merriman – Trees for Life
Nick Merriman has been in the forestry and tree industry since 1996. He got his start volunteering for Americorps in Colorado, Maryland, and Montana.
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After finishing his terms of service, he worked in wildland fire for 20 years with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. During his tenure, he was an assistant fire management officer, saw coordinator, and instructed numerous classes for multiple agencies. During the off season Nick climbed for tree companies in Washington, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Montana. He started working full time as an arborist in 2019. He is currently a crew foreman and lead climber for Trees For Life, Inc. in Bigfork. Nick is an ISA certified arborist and TCIA CTSP.
Aerial Rescue
NOTE: class limited to 3 participants per company and observers are unlimited.
This 8 hour hands on course will cover working with Fire/EMS, understanding basic life support (simplified first aid) and patient packaging. We will also go over committed rescue techniques (assisted, pick-off/transfer and 2 person rescue,Spar rescue), we will then include raising/lowering systems, crew based systems (simple mechanical advantage review, Raise/Lower systems, Track line systems and a Skateblock system.)
The intent of this course is to provide some review of the concept of self rescue as it pertains to the simplicity of how a rescue in the crown of a tree can be performed, but then go over ways to conduct a more complex scenario if the need is there.
Instructor
Dave Stice – WesSpur Tree Equipment/Ascension Group
Dave has been the technical consultant and trainer at Wespur Tree Equipment for the last 15 years, and operator of Ascension Group since 2015. Dave is an ISA Certified Arborist for 24 years, and has been an instructor for the Crane Safety Climber School since 2015. He is currently a SPRAT level 1 rope technician and a wilderness first responder. Dave gained some of his experience as a volunteer firefighter, member of the Hot Shots, timber faller, and as a fisherman on the Bering Sea.
Crane Safety Climbing School
NOTE: This class is limited to 2 per company for participants and 1 per company for observer
This course offers hands-on training to give climbers real world experience and familiarity with rigging and cutting techniques used in crane removals. This is a 2 day class.
Crane Safety Climbing School Instructors:
Pete Nieves-Sosa – The Crane Man
Peter has been a crane operator since 1999. Peter has 25 years of crane experience, and specializes in large and hazardous tree removal. He is a member of the ISA and TCIA, and a NCCCO Certified crane operator. He started The Crane Man, Inc. in 2008, and is the founder of the Crane Safety Climber School which is now in its 13th year. His philosophy is educating through sharing personal experiences.
Mike Teti – Custom Climber Services
Mike is a CTSP and ISA certified arborist with more than 30 years experience in the tree care industry. He began his tree climbing career at the age of 20 working as a groundsman and quickly fell in love with the outdoor aspect of the job. Once he began climbing, he knew that in the trees is where he wanted to be. His career has taken him to the tops of some of the tallest trees in some of the most beautiful locations across the country. He now owns and operates his own tree care business, Custom Climber Services, and resides in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with his wife and two boys. Mike has been an integral part of the Crane Safety Climber School since it’s inception in 2011.
Mark Chisholm – Aspen Tree Expert Co., Inc
Mark Chisholm is a New Jersey Licensed Tree Expert. He is the top climber at Aspen Tree Expert Company, in New Jersey where he has represented New Jersey as our state climbing champion at the International Tree Climbing Championships for more than 20 years. Mark is a twenty-time NJ Tree Climbing Champion and three-time World Champion winning his third World title in Chicago in 2010. Mark was World Champion in 1997 and 2001 and had second place finishes in 1996 and 2000. He has appeared at numerous TCI Expos doing climbing demonstrations, and frequently does climbing seminars in New Jersey and around the world. He is also currently the spokesperson for STIHLl and Tuefelberger, representing their interests at various seminars and trade shows across the country and overseas.
Ryan Torcicollo – SavATree
Ryan joined SavATree in January of 2020 when SavATree purchased his company Wasatch Arborists of Park City, UT. He is qualified in tree risk assessment (TRAQ), electrical hazards awareness (EHAP), and earned the title of Tree Worker Climber Specialist. In addition to these accolades, Ryan was awarded Arborist of the Year in 2019 by the Utah Community Forest Council. He has earned many tree climbing championship titles including the Utah Tree Climbing championship three years in a row. In 2017, he placed 4th in the North American Tree Climbing Competition (NATCC) and became the 2nd place winner at the 2018 Jambo Tree Climbing Competition, an annual event where arborists participate in various challenges.
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