National Geographic: Climbing Redwood Giants

Climbing Redwood Giants tells the story of a man obsessed with monster redwoods. To say that Humboldt State University’s Steve Sillett likes redwoods is like saying Edmund Hillary was keen on mountains or Jacques Cousteau had a fondness for the sea. Just when Steve Sillett thinks he’s climbed and measured the tallest living tree on earth, another one turns up in a hidden valley of California and breaks the record. Sillett, the first researcher to explore the redwood canopy, awaits the analysis of a new aerial survey that may point to the next record-breaker. As Sillett studies redwoods limb by limb, explorer Mike Fay is charting the entire redwood range step by step to get a sense of the past and future of the world’s tallest living trees.They are giants—stretching more than 300 feet above the ground, with hidden gardens and mysterious predators thriving within their canopy.

National Geographic reveals the unexplored environment of the California redwoods in an epic, year-long exploration. Obsessive redwood climber Steve Sillett of Humboldt State University investigates their monster crowns, tallying biological material and discovering new record-breaking trees, while escaping falling branches and crashing trees in the process. Down below, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Mike Fay charts the redwood range to size up the past and future of these primeval trees threatened in 21st century California

• Featuring Steve Sillet and Mike Fay
• Filmed in and around the trees
• See a habitat that you did not know existed
• Widescreen format
• Bonus program: Wildlife War USA: Elk Harvest (25 mins.)