She's on top of the world – kind of! Stephanie Dryfhout will take on new heights in Albuquerque for the International Tree Climbing Championship this August.

The Te Puke woman is one of only three New Zealanders to compete in this championship of agility, height and speed, which is being held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from August 11-13.

An arborist by trade, the 27-year-old has been competitive climbing for six years, getting into the sport when studying at Wintec. 'The year that I studied we helped set up [a tree climbing] competition and I just sort of had a keen group of friends that were into it, so yeah I just started from there,” says Stephanie.

She has certainly become a threat in the tree scene since then. In April she placed first in the Asia Pacific Championships in Singapore, and has held the national title for the top tree climbing women from 2018-2022.

So what does it take to be a champion of the canopy? 'You need to have good general overall fitness and you need to be able to keep calm and have a level head, which is something I struggled with at the start…and a bit of grit and determination.”

Treetop trials (sidehead)

Albuquerque's competition will be made up of five events with a mixture of belaying, speed climbing, throw lining and a simulated rescue. 'One event [you are] harnessed and roped up in the top of a tree and you have to sort of swing around and climb around it, and there's four bells that you have to hit with a handsaw that has no teeth.”

Joining the Kiwi climbers over in Alburquerque will be famed New Zealand tree climber Scott Forrest. 'He's won [top climber in the world] about four times. He's coming over as the coach, so that'll be cool to have his wisdom,” says Stephanie.

When she's not in the heat of the competition, Stephanie enjoys the tree top views. 'Climbing big trees is always pretty cool. We do some redwood seed collecting and some of the redwoods we climbed are up to 65 metres and 70 metres.

'If you haven't been that high in a while you actually get pretty nervous…definitely still a little bit of fear at the start.”

However, Stephanie's favourite thing about the tree climbing sport is the community. 'The people are real cool and it's an individual sport but everyone helps everyone else out and lends each other gear and gives each other tips. It doesn't really feel like its sport. It just sort of feels like a big family.”