I am pretty sure that I would not be able to do this regardless of how much I was offered. :eek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhtgsAXmz7U&feature=player_embedded#!
I stopped watching it after not much time…
Saw that a couple of weeks ago on Yahoo, it’s breath taking when the guy has to free climb to get to the actual atena a top the transmisson tower. I guess if you have a thunderstorm come up your just screwed as their is no healthy and expedient way down.
fuck that. That’s not even a job. That’s just risking life.
“alright honey, going to risk my life. Might not come home tonight, kiss”.
I saw it a couple weeks ago, too, and got very sweaty and queasy.
No amount of money could make me do that. My body would not allow me to. Id get so nervous, and my hands so sweaty being up there my fingers would slip off, and Id have a long ride down…
My wife works for a company that has a huge tower. They said every few months a crew comes out and climbs the damn thing for updates on the equipment. She said they are all nuts and in damn good shape. The whole company comes out and watches them.
KC
I love the feeling at being at great heights, and that would be fun for me!!! I am one fo the weird ones that likes to fall from great heights; it feels incredible. Cliff jumping in particular; but specifically at night (With no moon) is one of my favorite things to do.
One job I would never do again; as it was dangerous as all hell; was underwater construction. That is literally the most dangerous job in the world, hands down. Especially the welders! WHOA!!! Welding under water with finicky currents is just like playing Russian Roulette.
at the risk of sounding like one of those one-uppers, that’s really not too much worse than a lot of the shit i’ve done. i’ve never been that high up for work, but a fall from 100-500 feet will kill the shit out of you just as easily as a fall from 1,700 feet.
as far as the scare factor, when that’s your job, you are usually focused on the job, not the risks. it’s definitely scary as hell, until you get to work. then it’s just work. eventually you get so used to it that it really isn’t scary at all. you have confidence in your own strength, and you have confidence in your gear… you’ll be fine, so long as you pay attention to your surroundings, and take nothing for granted.
as far as taking nothing for granted- the biggest problem i’ve had when working high up is trusting other people’s work. a lot of times, the only anchor points available to you are installed as the structure is built, and i have linked up to anchors only to discover somebody forgot to secure them. fortunately, i always check them before letting them be my only support- i’m not gonna be the guy who makes that discovery during belay.
Yeah I’d imagine one would have to be if superb physical shape as that is a long ass climb up.
Still that’s not crazy, the late Dan Osman was the worlds fastest free rope speed climber. You gotta watch this video! :eek:
True that, a good buddy from high school got into that game when he got out of the Corp. He makes good money but damn.
DAMN good money, but I couldn’t stomach it for much longer than 6 months, just saw too many guys go down and not ocme back to work; even saw a few loose limbs, and (1) die. Was a great gig to make some serious cash fast, but I am beyond thankful that I am still in one whole piece/alive today.
I think I got dizzy watching it!
I used to work for a cousin of mine named Eddie as a painters helper.
As far as heights went the tallest structures we worked atop was a couple of water towers and a bridge.
I was on the job one day and a buddy of Eddie’s stopped by asking if he knew anyone who would want to help him for a day job doing some basic maintenence and changing out some of the light bulbs from a cell phone tower. Eddie told him that the only one he knew crazy enough to climb one of those towers was me…
To make a long story short I spent the day a mere 330 feet off the ground making $23.00 an hour changing bulbs and helping with other minor maintenence work.
Heights have never been a problem for me but that night I woke several times having nightmares of falling…
I can’t imagine 1768 ft atop one of those rickety towers… I would be tempted to try it…although there is a good chance that I would have to be airlifted down crying for my Mommy.
That definantley rates a 9.9 on the pucker factor scale.
YOu want the worlds scariest job? Rosie O’Donnel’s Loofah operator.
That made me cringe…
Haha so did I. I would have liked to see a video of him going back down.
I agree with everything you posted here…The American Medical Association says that a fall from 30 feet and higher is fatal in 95% of the cases…so if you are working above that it becomes a mental game.
If you can get over the initial fear of not trusting your gear and your own abilities and following the 3-points of contact rule…(Only moving one limb at a time, commiting to your hand or foot hold and then moving another.)…it just becomes a game of endurance.
I admit though that as the heights increase…it is harder to maintain concentration on the task at hand.
As for the actual physical climb…the video narrator states that he rode an elevator to the 1600 ft mark…so he really only climbed the last 168 ft.
I did the IRONWORKER think for a few years long enough to get a pension and a journymens book. I worked at hight alot and that scares the shit out of me. Its not like the military the guy your working with could be a doper or a drunk all the time thats the scary part no one you can trust.
so you mean it IS like the military.
I’ve never had a physical reaction from watching a video, but that literally made my hands sweat profusely.