http://video.yahoo.com/network/101149635?v=8244494&l=5144241

I was thinking how cool it would be to combine it with BASE jumping for a quick way down.

Wow! That's quite the climb to work!

They should make him climb the whole way up.

i got vertigo just watching that.

as a fellow rope access worker i find this video completely unprofessional and completely reckless if that operator is still going about his job in that fashion i doubt he would be around for much longer.
it is true that climbing with a via ferreta system is argues and slow, so all you do instead of risking a fall and becoming human soup is install a fixed metal cable that goes all the way to the top and use a cable wire stopper(fall arrester ) which is attached to the back of his harness.
as for me i don't work on antennas any more it is easy fun work but the radiation on those things is much scarier than the height trust me.

etai101 wrote:as a fellow rope access worker i find this video completely unprofessional and completely reckless if that operator is still going about his job in that fashion i doubt he would be around for much longer.

+1,000

There are plenty of new lightweight fall arrest systems that could be used in this circumstance.

etai101 wrote:as a fellow rope access worker i find this video completely unprofessional and completely reckless if that operator is still going about his job in that fashion i doubt he would be around for much longer.
it is true that climbing with a via ferreta system is argues and slow, so all you do instead of risking a fall and becoming human soup is install a fixed metal cable that goes all the way to the top and use a cable wire stopper(fall arrester ) which is attached to the back of his harness.
as for me i don't work on antennas any more it is easy fun work but the radiation on those things is much scarier than the height trust me.

I was thinking there had to be a smarter way that did not impede the speed of the ascent too much.

They do not turn off the thing for the climb? that is lame that the people must endure the radiation. I suppose most jobs make us do stuff that we normally wouldn't or even shouldn't do.

That really is a nutty way to climb that thing! I would make sure my gloves fit VERY well!

rasgoat wrote:I was thinking there had to be a smarter way that did not impede the speed of the ascent too much.

Here's one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-5F3np6IRE

Wow, and I think the worst part of that would be the down climb.

rasgoat wrote:

etai101 wrote:I was thinking there had to be a smarter way that did not impede the speed of the ascent too much.

How about simulclimbing it with a very short length of dynamic rope.

I bet Dean Potter has this job already lined up for the next time he climb s a sacred rock and loses all his sponsors. He'll even wing suit down from the top.

FortMental wrote:

etai101 wrote:as a fellow rope access worker i find this video completely unprofessional and completely reckless if that operator is still going about his job in that fashion i doubt he would be around for much longer.

Risk management entails many things, most important of which is exposure, meaning time spent being exposed to a risk. If that worker had to take time and set up a safety system, there would still be time spent setting it up, then removing it. Then there is the slow-down in efficiency, further exposing workers to risk. Sure, he could fall on the safety system, and he wouldn't die. But then he'd likely get hurt, further exposing others in rescuing him. Add it up and suddenly the risks become unwarranted. These guys attitude is no different than the alpine climbers who move "fast and light", soloing over easier ground, moving quickly, efficiently, and confidently. I'd hire them on the spot.

you are correct.. although on a transmitter this big there are many different antennas it is in the operators interest to set up a fixed cable like i suggested since he is going to climb that tower many a time on different capacity's.
most productive to set up a proper safety system.
trust me when working in that type of environment(allot like alpine climbing but not)every thought you have is followed by "is this gonna kill me" if you have a system set up that you trust that thought dosent even occur which makes the job easy and fun.

as for the radiation there are many different antennas on a tower especially this one because it is so high(hundreds).
when you go up you go up to fix one maybe two of the antennas oppose to not fixing all of them plus the different antennas are not owned by the same customer, therefor if you are working for "Verizon" than"cinguler" dosent give a sh*t about the operator so they leave the antennas they own working = allot of radiation from the company's who don't employ you versus the one company that does.