Kirsten Locke

Full Name: Kirsten Locke

 

Age: 25

 

Where do you currently live?

I live in London, Ontario Canada. It’s known as the forest city with over 7 million trees - approximately 16.2 trees/person. We have a wide range of tree specifies ranging from massive maples and incredibly old oaks to coniferous trees. 

 

Company Name: My company is called Koala Tree. 

 

Field of expertise (arboriculture, forestry, carver etc): Arboriculture 

 

How Long have you worked in this industry?

A year ago, I had the opportunity to do ground work for a tree company. I was hooked on my first day and shortly after, my partner and I started our company, Koala Tree.  

 

Favorite climbing system?

My go to climbing system is SRS with the akimbo but I’m always eager to learn other climbing systems.  

 

What is your favorite tree?

My favourite trees are the ancient redwoods found in California. 

 

Highest tree you have climbed? 

Currently, the highest tree I’ve climbed was around 30 meters tall. 

 

 

Have you had any close calls? If yes, what happened?

A close call happened when I was working on the ground one day. When we were removing a massive box elder over a house, we were speed lining some big wood, and somehow a large block of a big wood slipped out a sling. It fell inches away from the house but luckily didn’t hit anything. 

 

What is your hidden talent?

My hidden talent is tree climbing. I worked as a nurse for years until I fell into tree climbing. I was climbing after a month on the ground and am always grateful I get to do what I love. Tree climbing is challenging and incredibly rewarding. 

 

When you’re not climbing trees what are your other interest/hobbies.?

If I’m not climbing trees then I’m climbing rocks or mountains. I love to train for climbing and I find I work much better when I workout before getting in the tree. I also love to adventure and travel while living in my van. I love to be outdoors as much as possible with people that I love