Climbers create a lifetime memory on a 200-foot redwood tree

It was chilly and overcast the morning of March 22, especially up in the wooded area of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The air was cool, and the gray skies released a constant mist that drizzled lightly to the ground. But the rain didn’t bother Missy and Max Von Luehrte one bit as they looked out across the forest that morning.

“It was classic redwood forest climate,” Missy said, “kind of foggy and misty and drippy. It created its own ambiance out there.”

It was the perfect atmosphere for the adventure that awaited them. The mother and son from Los Gatos didn’t make the winding drive up Summit Road that day just to walk through the trees; they were there to climb one.

As participants in a guided redwood tree climbing experience, the Von Luehrtes ascended 180 feet up into a 200-foot tall tree. Missy said it was a day she and her son will never forget.

“The best part was probably the beauty and quiet of nature,” she said, “and also doing something that is maybe just a once in a lifetime opportunity, something that is 100 percent completely new and different than anything I’ve ever done before.”

The climb was led by Tim Kovar, master tree climbing instructor with Oregon-based Tree Climbing Planet, and Cameron Williams, redwood biologist at UC-Berkeley. This year marks the third time that Kovar and Williams have offered guided climbs in the 850-year-old redwood, nicknamed “Grandfather,” that sits on private property in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

“It’s a very rare opportunity to get to climb a redwood,” Kovar said. “I travel around the world teaching tree climbing, but redwoods are the tallest trees in the world. It’s a very unique opportunity that not many people get to do.”

Kovar said just getting access to giant redwoods is a challenge and that they are very fortunate to have been invited onto private land by a property owner with an enthusiasm for their educational cause.

“The property owner had read ‘The Wild Trees’ by Richard Preston, and my name is mentioned in the book,” Kovar said. “I got a lot of emails from this book, mostly from people who said they wanted to climb trees. But he said he was interested in opening up his property to the right people who can respect it. He said it was selfish to have these 1,000-year-old trees and not share them.”

To protect the ancient redwoods, Kovar and Williams offer a limited number of climbs each year. The Sunday morning climb on March 22 was one of just 14 offered at this site for the year.

“You can actually kill a tree by climbing it too much,” Kovar said. “We don’t want to do it too often here. We want to be respectful and not damage the tree.”

While protecting the tree is at the top of his list, Kovar puts even greater emphasis on keeping his climbing students safe. The climbs are all done in small groups, just four participants at a time with the two experts by their sides.

“You could tell safety was a huge priority,” Missy said. “They were checking on each of us all the time and giving us little tips to make sure it was easy for you, but in a very relaxed and reassuring way. They were a very good team.”

Kovar has helped thousands of people reach treetops all over the world and said his favorite part of the job is seeing his clients rediscover themselves and their love of the outdoors.

“It helps reconnect them with nature,” Kovar said. “When you get people up there, they get back into their inner child. They get this sense of adventure that maybe they thought they’d never have again.”

For several recent participants, going on the climb helped them gain a better understanding of the wilderness right in their back yards. Mark Wialbut has lived with his wife in the Santa Cruz Mountains for 18 years and said he jumped on the opportunity to get a better look at the trees that surround his home.

“We have some big redwoods on our property, and I’ve always wanted to see what it was like to get on top of them,” Wialbut said.

The experience didn’t disappoint.

“It was spectacular,” he said. “You go up the tree and you’re really close to it. And the further and further from the ground you get, there are these incredible big limbs coming off the thing. There wasn’t as much of a view because it was foggy, but it was a really great experience.”

Wialbut added that the climbers were also treated to an advanced course in redwood education.

“It was nice because Cameron, he’s a PhD in redwoods basically, and we talked about how the trees survive and transport water up and some of the stuff he’s learning about,” he said. “It was really interesting. I even told him I was concerned because some of the redwoods look like they’re dying on the tops, but he reassured me that they’ve survived for thousands of years and they’ll figure it out.”

Kovar said there is also a social aspect to the activity. The 180-foot ascent is made slowly and with everyone sticking to the same pace so they can stay in contact for the duration of the climb.

“There is instant bonding and camaraderie,” he said. “You have four strangers going up into the treetops, and in a couple hours they leave as friends and share this unique experience together.”

Missy confirmed that the small group atmosphere made the trip up and down the tree fun for all the participants, and that it gave her and her teenage son a special memory to look back on for years.

“It’s a little social gathering up there,” she said. “You pause and look around and enjoy the environment, and there is a great bonding experience that unfolds in the slow process.

“And sharing it with my son was amazing; building those memories and bonding moments so that one day we can say, ‘Hey, remember when we climbed that redwood tree?’ I wasn’t sure what he would think because he’s 17, right? But he absolutely really liked it. He thought it was cool.”

All of the Los Gatos climbs for this month are full, but anyone interested can send an email to tim@treeclimbingplanet.com to go on a list for future climbs in the area. For more information, visit treeclimbingplanet.com.