Elite tree climber is on top of the world
Morrinsville tree climber Chrissy Spence is at the top of her game and on top of the world after being awarded the title of Skellerup New Zealand Rural Sportswoman of the year for the second time since the accolade was introduced.
Spence was the inaugural winner of this award in 2017 after proving to be unbeatable in a number of International Tree Climbing competitions.
That same year, Spence lifted the bar by taking out an unprecedented fifth world title at the 2017 International Tree Climbing Championship.
That achievement means Spence has five International Tree Climbing Championship titles (2005, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2017), six New Zealand National Women’s Championship titles (2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010), and four Asia-Pacific titles (2008, 2009, 2010, 2015).
Her most recent victory was at the 2018 Hilux New Zealand Rural Games where Spence also took out the women’s section of the NZ Speed Tree Climbing TransTasman Championship and the New Zealand team won the event against Australian arborists, with 316.81 points.
Thinking back, the professional arborist never dreamed that she would be tree climbing at competitive level and as a career.
She entered her first competition in 2003 and never looked back.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen and Skellerup’s Perry Davis and Deborah Allan presented the award to Spence.
The winners of the Norwood New Zealand Rural Sports Awards were announced at a gala dinner at Awapuni in Palmerston North on the eve of this year’s Hilux New Zealand Rural Games.
The awards are a celebration of the country’s premier rural athletes.
New Zealand Rural Sports Awards Judging Panel chair Sir Brian Lochore, said the Norwood New Zealand Rural Sports Awards was about celebrating traditional sports and the people who keep events running year-in and year-out in the towns and settlements across New Zealand.
‘‘We had a fantastic line-up of entrants and finalists for each category,’’ he said.
‘‘Our 2018 winners have proven themselves on the field of their rural sport or in the committee room organising rural sporting events around New Zealand.’’