Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/06/22/how-many-engineers-does-it-tak.html
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Just finished the video and… yup, agoraphobia and acrophobia seem to have set in for life. If anyone needs me, I’ll be under my desk. Gibbering.
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I survived up to the point when the narrator says, “… after that its all about climbing.” So that’s about 20 seconds in 
Noh noh noh noh noh
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Me: This isn’t gonna bother me, I’m not particularly scared of heights!
Me 6 minutes later: Good thing I haven’t left the house yet since I now have to change all my clothes!
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I watched it all, but almost had to stop when he announced he wouldn’t be clipping in anymore and transitioned to free climbing. And I’m staring at a 3” screen with my butt less than two feet from a nice, solid concrete floor.
Hauling the 30 pound tool bag on a rope hanging below him probably isn’t as bad as climbing with those giant brass balls in his pants.
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Got to the part where they pointed out the tool bag. Just a little over a minute in. It was less about looking down and more about how the climbing surface started to look less and less like a ladder.
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Oops, I forgot my screwdriver!
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Not without a parachute.
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Two. Takes two.
Great video but just keeps getting worse and worse. A different kind of ASMR to be sure.
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Many of these are high enough that a parachute might work, if it didn’t get tangled in the tower. Thing is, while I understand what a PITA it is to reattach a safety line every step, it would seem fairly simple to clip in an auto-belay line every 10’ or so.
You know, every few years somebody falls to their death doing this sort of work.
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Even a SQUIRREL can’t handle this video!!
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It is absolutely bizarre to me that they haven’t come up with anything better than nothing.
What about a small pipe that runs right in front of your face, with something you clip on that allows upward movement but not downward movement? Something you have to reattach every ~20 feet to get around the part where the pipe mounts to the tower? How 'bout it, OSHA??
These jobs are typically handled by contractors . The owners of the towers or the service providers don’t employ the climbers, who don’t get paid that much ( contrary I think to most people’s expectations ) and are often expected to provide their own safety gear. OSHA regs are primarily useful for insurance companies use to deny or reduce compensation claims by the survivors
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Hah, this is fucken awesome. I reckon I’d be game.
“There’s no quick way down.”
Uh, I can think of one. Unfortunately.
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Got room for two under there? Well, two + vomit bucket.
People do BASE jump off these things ( the “A” in BASE is for antenna) , but guy wires are a big concern. Unfortunately the fatality rate for workers can be higher than “every few years”: Ten in 2006.
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Is this a BB repeat? I am sure I have felt this amount of acrophobia before.
I could barely make it to 3 minutes. Free climbing!? Are you nuts? Brass balls? Nay, stainless steel, polished to mirror, each the size of a basketball. That 30lb tool bag repeatedly catching and snagging on stuff is a doddle in comparison.
Jim on the tower: “Hold on, hit a snag”
Tower base control: “what’s up Jim?”
Jim on the tower: “Snagged my balls on rung 392.”
Tower base control: “Hope you didn’t tear off a rung like last time!”
Jim on the tower: “Nope, all good, just bent it a little. Nary a scratch on my balls.”
Tower base control: “Of course. Taking a nap here boss.”
Maybe they are regular size balls but made of neutronium or unobtainium?
edit to add: I sure hope they thought to make it a multi element LED bulb? Lasts longer.
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