2010 is the first year there will be a father and son who are both Hometown Heroes.
Pole-climber Stirling Hart will join his father Greg Hart in the pantheon of people from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows who have been honoured for their athletic achievements.
Born in Maple Ridge, Stirling grew up in Ruskin and graduated from Garibaldi Secondary in 2007.
Competitive pole climbing began in logging camps in the late 1800s where loggers used to compete for bragging rights. Pole climbing and logging run in the Hart family—Stirling’s father Greg and his grandfather Gord ran a logging company and later a log house building company. Stirling started pole climbing at the age of four, encouraged by his father Greg who had been competing in pole climbing for years.
While Stirling enjoyed playing basketball at Garibaldi Secondary and football—winning the provincials at the age of 13—pole climbing was in his blood.
Stirling splits his time between doing exhibition logging shows at Grouse Mountain during the summer months and then travelling to New Zealand and Australia in the winter months to put on exhibition shows.
In 2010, Stirling won three world championships—the 80-foot, 90-foot and 100-foot records. He won the 100-foot championship in Longview, Wash.—he climbed the pole in 23.3 seconds beating the previous world record of 24.8 seconds that had held since 1988.
Two weeks later, Stirling won the 90-foot pole climbing championship at the Lumberjack World Championship in Hayward, Wisconsin.
"You’re not really anybody until you win there," Stirling said.
The 80-foot pole climbing championship in Squamish was an especially sweet victory for Stirling—he beat the world record of 17.84 seconds with a new time of 17.81 seconds. Not only was his father at the bottom of the pole waiting for him as he beat the record, the record he beat was of his long-time coach and mentor Wade Stewart.
Stirling has been training younger pole climbers to bring more interest to the sport. To compete in pole climbing, it helps if you’re "a little bit crazy," Stirling said, and you can’t be afraid of heights.
After racing to the top of a pole strapped on with a rope and with a spike on each shoe, the climber races to the bottom with mandatory touchdowns every 20 feet. This can take under five seconds, Stirling said, and is not for the faint of heart.
Stirling attributes his success in pole climbing to his extended family including his parents and grandparents
"I've been really lucky my family has been supportive," Stirling said. "I wouldn’t be where I am today if they hadn’t given me that little push."