Ben Larson craned his neck toward the figure dangling from the top of the City Park pine.

"Climber injured!" he yelled. "Paul, call 9-1-1!"

Don't worry. The limp form hanging from the tree looked lifeless only because it was a stuffed dummy.

Seizing a harness off his tool belt, Larson scrambled up the rope to a steady branch and propped his foot against it.

"Go Ben!" An onlooker shouted. "You got this!"

With a flurry of snaps and clips and knots, he swooped down by the figure, hooked himself to it, and brought them both to the grass to boisterous applause.

The dummy was safe. And Larson's time for the Aerial Rescue challenge was pretty competitive.

"It was a little more challenging than ones I've used before," admitted the Coeur d'Alene man and arborist with Northwest Plant Health Care. "A lot of doodads."

Still, not bad for the first climb of the day.

Larson was among about 20 arborists from across the Pacific Northwest who twisted, groped and swung through trees in downtown Coeur d'Alene on Sunday morning at a regional tree climbing competition, held by the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture.

Flaunting their skills and obvious comfort with heights, they all vied for marks of top speed, skill, safety and communication that would land them spots in the international competition next year in Portland.

"It's a really good opportunity to learn from your peers. Most of these people are more experienced than me," said Larson, as he relaxed into regular breathing after the climb.

The Aerial Rescue challenge in particular is just a good thing to practice, he added.

"There's real risk in being an arborist," Larson said. "Every time you're able to practice a rescue is good."

The competition isn't about celebrity or big prizes, said event scorekeeper and ISA member Lyle Feilmeier.

Mostly because there's not much of either.

The professional arborists from Idaho, Washington, Oregon and British Columbia mostly come to learn new techniques and find out just how good they are, he said.

"It's for fun," Feilmeier said. "The right to say 'I'm the best tree climber.'"

After all, to tend trees without breaking any body parts, arborists need not just dexterity, but cooperation and a cagey awareness of nature's brutality.

The arborist trade is exploding, Feilmeier added, because of the growing importance of trees in communities and the necessity for folks who understand their risks.

"Every tree is going to fall," he said. "We identify and remove trees. That's why we have this industry."

Alberto Santacruz was breathing hard as he lowered himself down a rope in the Foot Lock challenge, where competitors had to step their feet up a rope to the height of a 42-foot tree.

"I've never foot locked!" Santacruz exclaimed as judges watched him return. "I was not going to quit, though, guys."

This his first competition, the Pasco, Wash., arborist said it gives him a shot at new tricks, and also allows him to acquire his ISA certification and better pay.

"That's my main goal," he said.

His wife Elizabeth, standing with their 2-year-old and 3-month-old daughters, cheered him from the sideline.

"I had to bring my cheerleaders," Santacruz said with a grin. "When I get tired and all I can hear is, 'Come on, daddy!' of course I'm going to push it."

At the Work Tree challenge, competitors were vaguely monkey-like as they scuttled across branches on all fours.

Susan Wright prepared by conferring with other competitors.

"You have to become accustomed to the equipment so you know what its limitations are," Wright said of the Christmas tree's worth of trappings and rope to handle.

The biggest challenge, she added, is shouting out details during the climb.

"Just the pressure to speak while tying knots that your life depends on," said Wright, an arborist at Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia.

ISA promotes safety and professionalism among tree climbers, said chapter President Jim Flott of Spokane.

The member organization certifies individuals, he said, and links the public to qualified companies.

For more information, go to: pnwisa.org.

"Why would you go to your neighbor to work on your plumbing? But people go to their neighbors about how to take care of their trees," Flott said. "It's no longer a pickup-and-chainsaw business."

Robert Bundy swept through the branches of a competition tree with nonchalance, like he was tidying up his living room.

When he landed, he wasn't even winded.

"I practice for the competition, rather than just doing work," the Portland man explained, adding that he tapes up practice targets on a tree.

It's the only competition he's found so far that he really aces, he said.

"I started out rock climbing, but I could never get skillful enough to be a professional," Robert said with a grin.

It's just as fun for his wife April, who applauded him as he stepped out of the challenge site.

"I get so excited, sometimes I think I'm more excited than him," she said. "I know I could never do it. He's pretty well respected, and it's fun to see him excel at something he's really expert at."