As a child, Jamilee Kempton was like others her age. She enjoyed being active — playing sports and climbing trees.

Now at age 26 the Lyon Arboretum arborist is quite unique: She’s still up in the trees.

While Kempton has only been involved in competitive tree climbing for the past couple of years, she has already become one of the best.

Last year she claimed the women’s division of the International Society of Arboriculture Western Chapter Tree Climbing Championship.

"I’m really new but I love it," said Kempton, who went on to compete in the international championships last summer in Toronto. "I’m just like, pedal to the metal, going full blast ahead."

The Seattle native moved to Hawaii in 2009 "looking to have more sunshine in my life."

Although she had been accepted to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, she decided to take some time off to figure out what she wanted to study. In the meantime she began working as a landscaper and eventually decided to become an arborist.

Not all arborists climb trees but Kempton sure does. It’s her job to maintain the vast array of trees at Lyon Arboretum, which is at the top of the lush Manoa Watershed. And climbing is the only way to do that.

"We don’t have any machines like buckets or lifts to access trees here," she said. "I have to do all of the work by climbing, which is supercool because it’s so diverse."

So what exactly does Kempton do up in the trees? She’s pruning, inspecting for disease or insects as well as health or structural problems, removing invasive species and sometimes taking samples for researchers for identification purposes.

"As a woman I never thought that I’d run chain saws for a living. That never even crossed my mind once — a heavily laborer kind of job," said Kempton, who is also working toward her degree in tropical plant and soil sciences at UH. "Even though I grew up playing sports and I was a tomboy, I still had no idea this was something I’d ever want to do."

ALTHOUGH Kempton doesn’t need to do much analysis in competitions, she must be more than just fast.

Tree-climbing competitions comprise five events: aerial rescue, belayed speed climb, secured footlock, throwline and work climb.

Climbers race against the clock to ring a bell high atop a tree using different techniques in the belayed speed climb and secured footlock events.

In the work climb, contestants are situated in the tree and must visit five work stations throughout the plant, performing a specified task at each site. The throwline is like target practice — the event tests the climber’s ability to accurately place throwlines and climbing lines in a tree.

In the aerial rescue, competitors must climb to and safely lower a dummy. But with that comes other requirements that exhibit a contestant’s knowledge.

"It’s almost like you have to act, like tell the judges, ‘You need to call 911, we got a climber in the tree. I’m gonna get up there, we’re at this location …’ and their gear is compromised so you have to bring things with you to safely lower the dummy out of the tree," Kempton explained, adding that a contestant can be disqualified for dropping a piece of equipment.

This weekend, Kempton is competing in the North American Tree Climbing Championship in Pasa­dena, Calif., with a spot in the world championship on the line. That contest will be held in Milwaukee in August.

Her preparation for competitions includes lots of tree climbing as well as time scouring the Internet for information and tips. She also looks to her boyfriend, International Society of Arboriculture-certified utility arborist Steve Connolly.

"He has taught me so many new skills, and I wouldn’t be the climber that I am today if it weren’t for him," she said.

While arm strength is key for any climber, Kempton doesn’t lift weights because her job provides her with all the training she needs, with logs and branches taking the place of dumbbells.

The on-the-job weight lifting and abundance of trees make Lyon Arboretum the perfect place to train.

"I’m lucky I have a really good practice ground here because our trees are so diverse and we have so many decurrent trees: wide, sprawling," Kempton said. "And those are really difficult compared to just the excurrent like the pine trees, which are more upright with not as many lateral limbs."

Naturally, some trees are more fun to climb than others. The monkeypod is Kempton’s favorite.

"Those trees are just unbelieveable," she said of the monkeypods at Moana­lua Gardens, where the state competition is held. "They are so massive, meticulously maintained and just perfect. They are so much fun to climb."

Her least favorite tree is the invasive albizia, a fast-growing tree whose weak structure results in downed limbs and sometimes leads the tree itself to topple.

"They’re really tough to climb, just because they are so large and their canopy is so spread apart," Kempton said, adding she’s also not a fan of climbing palms, such as coconut trees.

Palms and albizias aside, trees are Kempton’s passion, and she loves learning more about them and sharing her knowledge.

Through Lyon Arboretum and the University of Hawaii, Kempton is holding tree-climbing workshops for women, with the next scheduled for April 19. That class is already filled, but she plans to hold more in the future.

Kempton said she hopes to inspire more women to try tree climbing, which is a male-dominated field.

"I know it’s kind of a high-pressure environment when you’re surrounded by big strong men. And women, we don’t have as much upper-body strength, so we got to tweak the techniques and methods a little bit, use our legs a little more," said Kempton, who added she has been blessed with "upper-body strength like a boy."

"I love to see other women give it a shot because I know it can be nerve-racking in the beginning."

For more information on Kempton’s Wahine Tree Climbing Workshops, visit www.hawaii.edu/lyonarboretum.