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.
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
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!
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.
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.
Oops, I forgot my screwdriver!
Not without a parachute.
Two. Takes two.
Great video but just keeps getting worse and worse. A different kind of ASMR to be sure.
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.
Thanks for that @beschizza
Even a SQUIRREL can’t handle this video!!
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
Hah, this is fucken awesome. I reckon I’d be game.
“There’s no quick way down.”
Uh, I can think of one. Unfortunately.
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.
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.