Like Peter Pan, they seem to fly through the air, gliding from one branch to another high up in a spidery willow. They climb trees for a living, fulfilling the childhood aspirations of children around the world. And they wear green, to boot.

For the 2013 International Tree Climbing Championship, 64 professional arborists from around the world gathered on Centre Island over the weekend to scamper up trees, ascend ropes and inspire dozens of boys and girls to look at that old tree in their backyard as job training instead of play.

PHOTOS:Tree climbers in action at Centre Island

During the finals on Sunday, crowds of people disembarked the Centre Island ferry every half hour, and mesmerized children would gravitate toward the competition, pulling their parents along.

“I wanna climb the tree. Mom, can I?” said one boy as he gazed up at a graceful and daring competitor hanging between branches above.

This is far more than shimmying up a trunk. At this elite level of competition, tree climbers use complex rope and pulley systems to trapeze their way around the tree, leaping and hopping from one branch to the next.

Five men and three women advanced to the finals Sunday where they were tested on all arborist skills: throwing and setting an anchor, ascending a rope and moving safely around the tree to ring bells positioned in the canopy.

The skills are drawn from the certification tests you take to be able to work with a chainsaw in a tree, said Boel Hammarstrand, an arborist from Sweden who was participating in her second world championship.

“It’s very dangerous. We try to use a handsaw as much as possible,” she said.

There’s no sawing in competition, though. “That would massacre the tree,” she said.

While everyone’s timed, the sport is more like figure skating than racing because competitors are awarded points based on their problem solving skills and safety, said head judge Andrew Hordyk.

Nine-time champion Bernd Strasser has been working in trees for 24 years near Stuttgart in his native Germany. Despite missing the cut for the finals by 1.5 points and watching from the sidelines on Sunday, he maintained a sunny attitude.

“I’m just grateful that I get up every morning and get to climb trees,” he said.

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While all arborists have to keep safety in mind, Strasser says working in trees is a very natural, instinctive thing.

“Trees are living things. They’re much more than a piece of wood. If you’re in it just to climb, forget it. You must be able to communicate with the tree,” he said.