Foo - Vertigo, or complete lack thereof

http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2010/09/15

You better not get vertigo if your job description includes climbing up 1700 foot tall transmission towers with no safety line.

:twitchy:

That video makes my balls crawl. :eek:

Gah. My palms started sweating.

I got the heebie-jeebies just watching it.

There were more places to mount a moving securing mechanism on that tower than I care to count. The choice not to use safety gear is just that, especially as he already had most of the gear sitting idle on his belt. It does seem like a fun place to go though.

The gutters on my 1 story house are full of leaves because they are too high in the air. No way would ever EVAR EVAR do that.

Holy crap! That's a long way to go to change a light bulb:rolleyes:. Just think if those clouds in the distance were oncoming thunderheads. That'd be a ***** trying to get down in a hurry.
:twitchy:

Would be a great job for a base jumper. "Okay the light bulb is fixed, I am outta hhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

^That's what I was thinking. Wonder how long it took for those guys to reach the top. The return trip would be a lot quicker with a parachute.

The video says the first 1600 feet is done by elevator. Only the say part is climbing.

Gah. My palms started sweating.

More than my palms wee sweating after watching that.


The gutters on my 1 story house are full of leaves because they are too high in the air. No way would ever EVAR EVAR do that.

I used a 6 iron to clean my gutters when I had a house. What I couldn't get out could stay there until next year.

I found that on youtube last night. Watched it in full screen. eek!

The video says the first 1600 feet is done by elevator. Only the say part is climbing.

Gotcha. I could only watch. No headphones at work.

The gutters on my 1 story house are full of leaves because they are too high in the air. No way would ever EVAR EVAR do that.

I used to be terrified of heights. I don't really know what got me mostly over it, but now I'm the sort who still occasionally climbs trees just to see if I can do, and who likes to go up on the roof of my house to look at the stars.

Still, it was a little surreal to watch someone climbing in a manner where a moment's inattention means ample time to think about how stupid of a mistake you made while waiting to hit the ground.

I like being up high now, but the like part is often tempered by nervousness.


The video says the first 1600 feet is done by elevator. Only the say part is climbing.

It's a good thing, too. It would probably take several hours to climb the entire tower. Ladders aren't the easiest way to gain elevation, and on my feet I usually average around 1000 vertical feet per hour while hiking.

Would be a great job for a base jumper. "Okay the light bulb is fixed, I am outta hhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

I'm thinking the guy wires might be a minor hinderence to that idea.

< shudddder!!!! > Holy carp!!

I saw that on Facebook several days ago!

The thing that I don't get is that I looked up tower climbing jobs, and nowhere could I verify that "free climbing without a safety device" is either allowed by OSHA (as the video claims) or that it is considered normal for the job (as the video claims). Instead, I found a lot of devices that do not interfere with the job (which the video claims is not possible) and that all tower climbers use safety devices of some sort.

I also don't know why a helicopter can't drop them off. When I was looking at linemen videos, they are dropped off by helicopter and those choppers are very precise, so I can't imagine that that would be the issue for not using one.

Hmmmm....

I saw that on Facebook several days ago!
The thing that I don't get is that I looked up tower climbing jobs, and nowhere could I verify that "free climbing without a safety device" is either allowed by OSHA (as the video claims) or that it is considered normal for the job (as the video claims). Instead, I found a lot of devices that do not interfere with the job (which the video claims is not possible) and that all tower climbers use safety devices of some sort.
I also don't know why a helicopter can't drop them off. When I was looking at linemen videos, they are dropped off by helicopter and those choppers are very precise, so I can't imagine that that would be the issue for not using one.
Hmmmm....
They probably aren't using helicopters because it's cheaper not to. This way you need two people, I'm betting with a chopper crew you need more, plus the copter. They are also lots higher than the high voltage lines, so wind may be more of an issue. As for the safety gear, its like people that ride motorcycles without helmets and drive cars without seat belts. This is like the guys who rock climb without ropes, and a certain Nascar driver who died from a basal skull fracture due to choosing not to wear a now mandatory device that prevents that injury because it was "That damn noose". No matter how easy you make a safety device (and it's pretty easy) someone is going to insist that it's too much effort. So long as these guys don't fall too often, OSHA won't jump all over it.