highest paid climber?

[OTGBOSTON]

Something I've been wondering about for a while. Who do you guys figure has made the most endorsement $$ as a tree climber?

A short list off the top of my head:

Ken Palmer
Rip Tompkins
Mark Chisholm
Bernd Strausser

These guys stick out because I've seen them in chainsaw adds as well as others (climbing lines, harnesses, etc.).

So what do y'all think?

[MasterBlaster]

Heck if I know.

[vharrison]

I would bet hands down Bernd Strausser.

[OTGBOSTON]

I heard from a reliable source that Mark C gets somewhere in the neighborhood of 15k to make an appearance for a day, not including travel and lodging.......

I bring it up because I've heard so many older guys around here talk s#!t about how Ken + Rip weren't necessarily the best, just good at capitalizing on being champs and whatnot.

[Frans]

You want to know who makes the most money?


That 'hack' who underbids everyone, and only hires folks who work for pennys.

[treetx]

I doubt Mark gets that. I would love to hear his input.

I don't think you'll ever get the straight story on the glamour boys.

What I would rather hear is the highest $$ paid climber that is a day in, day out climber. Where is the ceiling here? I don't know many climbers making over $50k. I mean making, not grossing ;) $200k a year don't mean squat - it is about what you take home ;)

[OTGBOSTON]

You want to know who makes the most money?


That 'hack' who underbids everyone, and only hires folks who work for pennys.

Ummm no. endorsements/sponsorships, personal appearances.

I can't help but notice a cynical tone in your posts. Are you suffering from peepeeinthecheerios syndrome?:)

[treetx]

cynical, or simply calling a spade a spade?

[MasterBlaster]

I started at $20 a day and now I easily make more than ten times that.

Sweet.

[top hopper]

Id bet Mark C.

Being he is the Stihl poster child.

[MasterBlaster]

I heard from a reliable source that Mark C gets somewhere in the neighborhood of 15k to make an appearance for a day, not including travel and lodging.......

No way.

[Skwerl]

I'd believe that he made an additional $15K per month.

[OTGBOSTON]

Id bet Mark C.

Being he is the Stihl poster child.

I like the logic.

Ken and Rip both have been (or are) Husky poster children. Sampson ropes, buckingham saddles.

I was asking because I am not sure if guys like this were endorsing products before ken+rip. Hoping some of the older guys could shed some light on the subject for me.

[OTGBOSTON]

No way.

Tried to get him for a grand opening of a saw shop. Not sure if it was through Stihl or not.


I honestly wasn't suprised by that figure at all. Whatever the market will bear, right?

[MasterBlaster]

No way he makes 15K per speech, probably more like what Brian said.

[gf beranek]

If anybody should be the highest paid, it should be Mark. He's done a lot for the industry and is a most humble human being, an excellent spokes person and instructor.

[top hopper]

IMO Stihl is a much bigger name than husky, and the manufacturers which Ken and Rip endorse.

Who knows!

[top hopper]

If anybody should be the highest paid, it should be Mark. He's done a lot for the industry and is a most humble human being, an excellent spokes person and instructor.



Agreed, Ive met all them all and Mark is all those things you say. Cant honestly say that about the others though.

[OTGBOSTON]

If anybody should be the highest paid, it should be Mark. He's done a lot for the industry and is a most humble human being, an excellent spokes person and instructor.


True, he's also probably VERY busy. If someone asked him to appear on one of his few days off, he would probably command a very high rate.

[gf beranek]

Having Mark come out for the tree house project really made it special. Him and Brian Noyes made for a good pair in the tree.

[Canuck]

I doubt Mark gets that. I would love to hear his input.

I don't think you'll ever get the straight story on the glamour boys.

What I would rather hear is the highest $$ paid climber that is a day in, day out climber. Where is the ceiling here? I don't know many climbers making over $50k. I mean making, not grossing ;) $200k a year don't mean squat - it is about what you take home ;)


I make well over 50K. But maybe you where talking about climbers employed by others. And yes I mean take home

[NickfromWI]

Do rip and ken do treework?

I worked with mark for almost a year and he is a true tree guy and great guy to learn from. I would believe the appearrance fee is VERY high. I could see 15K happening. Do you know what Professional Insurance costs? Not very cheap.

love
nick

[Hollywood]

I totally heard from this friend of mine that Beddes charges $1000/hr just to compete in the ITCC! And, when he takes a tree down, he has saw techs that put a new chain on every time they fill the gas tank! Plus, he has a treeMotion for every day of the week! And when he takes lunch, he really likes olive bread but he doesn't like olives. So he has someone pick all of the olives out of his olive bread!

[OTGBOSTON]

Do rip and ken do treework?


love
nick

Not sure if they still do. Probably pretty busy with the Arbormaster stuff. They worked around here for a long time, Rip sold his co (Barkbusters) to another excellent climber who won the NETCC a few times. I hear lots of stories about these guys, met Mark once, never met Beddes.

[rumination]

Funny stuff Hollywood.

I personally don't care how much any of these guys make. However, I'll repeat what some others have said: from the few interactions I've had with Mark Chisolm I agree that he is a really great guy and a tremendous asset to tree workers everywhere.

[BostonBull]

I would say your close on your estimate OTG. Mark is one of the most well known, and RESPECTED names out there. He is a great guy and has a certain way of teaching/presenting things so that everyone takes something away.

He is also extremely busy, and IMO, one of the most sought after speakers around. Supply and demand makes for a fat payday!

[NickfromWI]

Another thing to consider is that mark makes his company a LOT of money every day he is there doing production work. A one day speaking engagement could be 3 or 4 days by the time you add travel. When I was there, you could see a huge difference in the types of work we did when mark was there, compared to what we did when he wasnt there.

15K sounds pretty reasonable when you start to think about it that way.

love
nick

[MasterBlaster]

I'll do it for half that! ;)

[TC3]

Really interesting thread & posts.
I'd bet dollars-to-donuts that Mark would be embarassed by this topic. He's a working climber & earns his keep every day, regardless of the charges.
Beddes is a businessman more than a working climber... & good on 'im for finding a way to capitalise on his many talents.
Making a living ? I know of climbers that get upwards of $48 an hour site time, day-in & day out...
The same climbers that'd do it for free. They can't live without climbing.

[TreeDr]

Mark is the most humble and down to earth person you may ever meet. I am lucky to call him a close friend.


Trevor

[OTGBOSTON]

Really interesting thread & posts.
I'd bet dollars-to-donuts that Mark would be embarassed by this topic..

I dunno, he seems to be leading my informal poll........:D Personally I think it's awesome that the top people in the industry are getting paid to promote. I came up idolizing the guys in tree mags, wanted to check in on the treehousers thoughts. I thought it was a harmless enough question, I am certainly not out to embarass anyone here.

[TreeDr]

you dont think they should be paid for being ambassadors to our industry? In a sense they are and they do a damn good job to boot. Mark, Dunlap, Tompkins, and palmer are all for industry promotion, not so much self-promotion as you may believe. You should model yourself from these guys and strive to be as successful and continue to promote modern arboriculture.

[TC3]

I dunno, he seems to be leading my informal poll........:D Personally I think it's awesome that the top people in the industry are getting paid to promote. I came up idolizing the guys in tree mags, wanted to check in on the treehousers thoughts. I thought it was a harmless enough question, I am certainly not out to embarass anyone here.

Sorry, OTG. I wasn't implying that your thread was innappropriate. Quite the opposite >>> You're giving kudos where they're due ! Your post(s) >>> Right On !

[Koa Man]

I make well over 50K. But maybe you where talking about climbers employed by others. And yes I mean take home

I sold my company to my son-in-law and now work for him. I get paid $50 an hour. I have worked for 3 other tree companies as a sub and got paid $500 for an 8 hour day.

I think $15K for a day's appearance is pretty high, but if Paris Hilton can get $25K for a 1 hour appearance, then who knows what the market will bear. I'll show up all day for $1K.

[vharrison]

If anybody should be the highest paid, it should be Mark. He's done a lot for the industry and is a most humble human being, an excellent spokes person and instructor.

I agree, he was just a pleasure to meet. Seemed so humble, like you said. A gentle spirit. That said, I still think it is Beddes, that is about all he does isn't it?

Also, if Mark was asked for appear for something dear to his heart, some cause, I bet he would do it for free. He seems like that kind of a man.

[OTGBOSTON]

you dont think they should be paid for being ambassadors to our industry? In a sense they are and they do a damn good job to boot. Mark, Dunlap, Tompkins, and palmer are all for industry promotion, not so much self-promotion as you may believe. You should model yourself from these guys and strive to be as successful and continue to promote modern arboriculture.


I think you misunderstood.

I started this thread because I think its GREAT that people get paid to promote. Where do you read otherwise??

[MasterBlaster]

you dont think they should be paid for being ambassadors to our industry?

Fifteen thousand dollars for an appearance? Hey, more power to them, but I say NO!

[treetx]

He's a working climber & earns his keep every day, regardless of the charges.
Beddes is a businessman more than a working climber... & good on 'im for finding a way to capitalise on his many talents.



I would say the chap charging $15k for an apprearance is rather the pretty poster boy than the working climber.

Keep it in perspective, Beddes is the best climber in the world. Not one climber has come close to winning as many times as he has. Unlike Mark C, Beddes does not work to grow some family business......we works in a work cooperative. http://www.baumkletterteam.com/

Keep in mind, these tree guys are pretty unknown. Even more unkown out of tree climbing circles...probably even less as you go up socioeconomically. Paris now, she is a celebrity and say what you want, she is a genious at branding.

[treetx]

I make well over 50K. But maybe you where talking about climbers employed by others. And yes I mean take home


You prove my point that in this industry, you have to make your own position if you want more than 50K. Many pull it off. Many just live off a cash flow and rule their own schedule.

$$ is a big reason I quit. While working in Germany, I found I was pulling more $ down than most climbers. My day rate was about $100 less than the other climbers, but I got mine every day, 5 days a week.

Still, in places where a 3 bedroom house costs upwards of $350K, $50k is just enough to starve on.

It is a tough way to make a living.

About folks that give to the industry, Mark Bridge should also have his hat thrown in with that group.

[OTGBOSTON]

You prove my point that in this industry, you have to make your own position if you want more than 50K. Many pull it off. Many just live off a cash flow and rule their own schedule.

$$ is a big reason I quit. While working in Germany, I found I was pulling more $ down than most climbers. My day rate was about $100 less than the other climbers, but I got mine every day, 5 days a week.

Still, in places where a 3 bedroom house costs upwards of $350K, $50k is just enough to starve on.

It is a tough way to make a living.

About folks that give to the industry, Mark Bridge should also have his hat thrown in with that group.

I agree with this post 1000%. I LOVED climbing full time, but a salaried management position is much more stable. Funny thing is, you and I are the same age, I think late 20's early 30's is when the tough decisions have to be made about one's future. I was fortunate enough to land a job that allows me to stay in the business:D

Mark B, great guy, definately noteworthy, there are lots out there. I honestly haven't met too many that aren't down to earth and approachable. (although those who are, really suck) If we were to make a list of people who give back to the industry it would be a looooooooooong list.

[treetx]

I wish I could have found a management job in the industry. They are hard to come by.

[OTGBOSTON]

I wish I could have found a management job in the industry. They are hard to come by.

I thought you had:? What are you doing?? Seems like there are always management positions in TCIA magazine.

oh yeah, keep looking, they are out there. I got my job when I was fed up with my old employer and quit to go back to school to get more edjumicated...

[vharrison]

Keep it in perspective, Beddes is the best climber in the world.

I agree.

[treetx]

Yeah, there are jobs in TCIA but they are always offereing "top pay"

I switched industries. Analytical lab stuff now.

;)