ACT government arborist Maja Blasch is returning to her homeland Denmark to compete next month in an international tree-climbing competition after taking out the Australian titles.
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She has won the national title twice and this will be her third time competing on the world stage, although this competition has been a long time coming.
"The last worlds was in 2019 so it's just been continuously delayed because of COVID," she said.
"So, I'm just really excited to get back into competition."
With birdsong in the background, Ms Blasch was busy pruning as part of her day job on Wednesday.
She was looking forward to also seeing her family in Denmark, which is not a country especially big on tree-climbing competitions.
"It's probably no bigger than it is here," she said. "[It's] still reasonably unknown as a sport."
The international competition will rank competitors in events that test their speed but also their "skill and finesse in the tree".
"I'm pretty nervous, to be honest," Ms Blasch said, with a laugh.
Her pet event is the rescue challenge where competitors have to retrieve a dummy stuck in a tree while keeping the "victim" calm and working with emergency services.
"There's a lot of talking involved in that one," she said.
Ms Blasch said she was thrilled to win the national titles in Cairns and now represent Australia, her adopted country.
"I'm stoked, to be honest," she said.
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Megan Doherty
I like telling local stories and celebrating Canberra. Email: megan.doherty@canberratimes.com.au
I like telling local stories and celebrating Canberra. Email: megan.doherty@canberratimes.com.au
