{"id":101121,"date":"2025-10-25T23:47:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T23:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/101121\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T23:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T23:47:12","slug":"bay-of-plenty-arborist-steph-dryfhout-claims-second-world-tree-climbing-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/101121\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay of Plenty arborist Steph Dryfhout claims second world tree climbing title"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen they said it was going to be in New Zealand, I was like, wow, imagine going back-to-back there in front of a home crowd,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just sort of thought that, what will be will be, and I wanted to try and really enjoy the climb.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her wish came true as she climbed her way to a second world masters\u2019 title<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The masters\u2019 is the final event and involves climbing and ringing four bells. <\/p>\n

Planning the route is part of the contest, and competitors are not allowed to watch others before they climb.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to climb at home and in front of my friends and family and have them experience it with me, it was pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were 91 competitors from 28 countries competing this year. <\/p>\n

Events included two speed climbs.<\/p>\n

One is a throw line where climbers use a line to place a rope over a branch between 25m to 30m high. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the work climb \u2013 the equivalent to an arborist\u2019s obstacle course up to the top of a tree, and an aerial rescue to secure a mannequin and administer first aid. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey [events] simulate a few of the things we do at work,\u201d Dryfhout said.<\/p>\n

Her latest victory comes after she won the world championship in the United States last year<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe masters’ challenge, which Dryfhout won, is the final event and involves climbing to and ringing four bells. Photo \/ Pete Hunkin<\/p>\n

Dryfhout started the sport in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept competing and training and, less than two years later, I qualified to go to the worlds.\u201c<\/p>\n

In 2019, at her first international competition, Dryfhout came second, and placed third in 2022. <\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely started with a bang.\u201d<\/p>\n

The world championship provides a competitive but educational opportunity for working arborists to demonstrate climbing techniques and safe work practices. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an individual sport but doesn\u2019t quite feel like one because everyone, even your competitors, shares gear and their secrets \u2013 the sport is kind of a side thing,\u201d Dryfhout said.<\/p>\n

Dryfhout started training to be an arborist in 2017, and began competing in climbing as a sport the same year.<\/p>\n

\"StephSteph Dryfhout is an arborist by trade and has been competing in tree climbing since 2019. Photo \/ Pete Hunkin<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I left school, I started working in a tree nursery. It was meant to be for one year, but I ended up really enjoying it.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her studies, she said her classmates were in competitions and she had some tutors \u201cstrongly encouraging\u201d her to give it a go.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first climbing competition went pretty good and I really enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dryfhout said she had a \u201dpassion for the trees\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lightbulb moment, and I figured all my passions could be done at once, sport, doing something physical, but also trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dryfhout said going for a three-peat was her next goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think going three times back-to-back-to-back would be pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Morrell<\/a> is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWhen they said it was going to be in New Zealand, I was like, wow, imagine going back-to-back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[31701,1561,2562,12630,73901,111,139,69,1118,1562,8466,213,73900,2563,15981,377],"class_list":{"0":"post-101121","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-arborist","9":"tag-bay","10":"tag-claims","11":"tag-climbing","12":"tag-dryfhout","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-of","17":"tag-plenty","18":"tag-second","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-steph","21":"tag-title","22":"tag-tree","23":"tag-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}