Although immediately receiving two strikes against it because of an 8:30am Saturday start time, I really had a blast at the Illinois Tree Climbing competition last weekend. First off, it sounds like a joke. I imagined some nerdy 20-somethings pulling themselves up trees with their trendy shoes and well-kept messy hair. Wrooooong, mister. These chaps (and misses) were decked out in some serious climbing gear: safety harnesses, goggles for a few, proper shoes, and even adventuring beards (ladies, not mandatory.)