back to article Nutter repairmen scale 1,768ft TV mast

Those of who you who get a bit wobbly at the top of a stepladder are strongly advised to look away now, because here's a helmetcam vid of just how you get to work when your office is at the top of a 1,768ft TV mast: This vertigo-inducing footage went viral recently after appearing on TheOnLineEngineer.org, and suffice it …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Looks like fun

    He's using cow tails, it's perfectly safe.

    It would be even more fun (although not as safe) if he'd brought a parachute for after the job.

    1. Alan Bourke
      Stop

      Not all the time.

      There are large parts, including at the very top, where he's not clipped onto anything.

    2. Fuzz

      Don't think so

      He has cow's tails but he's not even using them for the transitions. The only time he's hooked on is when he stops to take a rest.

      Strange that it's done this way really, I don't think it would be too difficult to build some sort of arrest system that you could hook into at the bottom of each section. I'm guessing they don't need to be climbed too often so the accident rate is very low.

    3. My Alter Ego

      Re: Looks like fun

      According to the commentary, he's free climbing, and only uses the cow tail when resting.

      Watch his hands at 7:18, he just rests against the upright while using both hands to open the carabiner.

    4. Annihilator
      Boffin

      Perfectly safe?

      Erm, he's only attaching himself to the structure when he stops for a break. Other than that, there's nothing holding him on, other than himself. If he falls, he can just hope that the bag he's tailing behind him snags on something.

      Still, if he falls, he's got a good amount of time to think about what went wrong! Just over 10s I calculate..

    5. Tom 35

      parachute

      It would solve the "no quick way down" if a storm blows in, but I think hauling up the extra weight and not fitting through some of the tight spaces would be a problem.

      1. Steve Evans

        Re: Parachute

        Too right, only way you'd get me up that thing!

        It'd be a quick (fun) way down, and way safer than dangling about with no safety, or a safety hooked over the end of a thin foot rung!

        Actually, I lied. That still wouldn't get me up there. You would also required a gun about 6 inches from my head - so you're coming up with me too!.

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      Aatchoo whoops!

      "He's using cow tails, it's perfectly safe." The first rule of safety is: There's no such thing as "perfectly safe".

    7. Anonymous Coward
      WTF?

      Dangerous!

      There are points in that video (especially at the top) where he is unclipped to any safety rope/anchor point. At one point he anchors to a part of the ladder (with scope for the thing to slide out of the side.

      He should have always been connected to something in case he fell. He was just being a potential danger to himself and anyone underneath.

      I've climbed, as have a lot of friends, and we've always at least anchored up the cliff face so that you only fall a short distance (which does happen when you lose your footing/hand grip)

  2. Sir Runcible Spoon

    Sir

    How fit must you have to be to climb that fucker?

    respect - although the lack of clipping on was a little worrying.

    1. Colin Miller
      Thumb Up

      Yup, slight lack of good clipping...

      Especially around 5:30. Putting the clip onto a rod with only a slight bevel at the end of it won't do much good if you fall sideways - it looks like the clip would hit the end of the rod and jump off the bevel. I hope his buddy is manipulating a second clip with more care...

      Aren't there running safety harnesses? I'm thinking of a T-shaped rail that goes all the way up the mast (bottom of the T is where is bolted to the mast). There's a semi-closed U-shaped clip that runs up this rail, fitting snuggly around it. Inside the clip is a brake pad, attached to an arm that points upwards, and the arm is attached to the safety harness. If you fall, the arm is pulled downwards, and the brake is applied is pushed against the top of the T-rail. You are then left dangling in mid-air, slightly winded, until you can grab the ladder again.

    2. Richard 41

      Fitness?

      How fit must you have to be?

      Fit enough to ride in the lift for the first 1600ft

    3. Chemist

      "How fit must you have ....."

      Just outside Zermatt is a 'test run' for candidates for climbing the Matterhorn. From memory it goes up very steeply through rough,loose terrain for ~~600m height or about the height of the mast. If you can reach the top in (I think) one hour you might have the stamina for the ~1100m up the Matterhorn from the Hornli hut.

  3. Chris Byers
    Thumb Up

    They had no choice...

    ...It was either do this or have their benefits stopped!!

    Joking aside, that is one job that I don't think anyone in their right mind would do, so well done guys, and so long as you're doing it, it means teh rest of us don't!

  4. irish donkey
    Coat

    I can't watch................

    Dumb users don't seem so daunting.

  5. Lottie

    I'd like it

    Looks like a really interesting job. Must be tiring as all hell and life insurance cover must be difficult to get.

  6. Gavin McMenemy

    Round Earthers pay attention now...

    The world is clearly "flat" if you look at the view.

    Uh huh.

    1. petur

      @Gavin McMenemy

      using a fish-eye lens, everything looks round...

    2. David Stever
      Boffin

      Flat but curved, eh?

      If you look towards the horizon, you'll see the gentle curve (just below the distant thunderheads, mate). You'll also notice that you can see a greater and greater distance, the further up you go, proving once again, that Newt Gingrich and his crowd is wrong, the Earth is round.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    In other news...

    ...El Reg winds clock forward by 7 days and finally catches up with world + dog.

  8. Chris Priest
    WTF?

    Holy.....

    I feel sick.....That is all

  9. Simon R. Bone
    WTF?

    Why?

    Why are their faces blurred out? Are they secretly claiming disability benefit or something?!

  10. CockKnocker
    Thumb Up

    awesome!

    Hahaha I saw this vid the other day and *&^% me its scary just to watch. I like the bit at the end where he is at the very top and not even holding on. Mental, and makes me feel a bit sick.

    Question: For £1000000 cash would you climb it? I think most people would be crying like a baby by the time they got halfway hehe.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      Definitely

      I'd do it and yes I would be crying like a baby, even half way in the elevator I'd still be crying and I'd keep crying all the way to the top for £1m.

    2. irrelevant
      Thumb Up

      me too.

      I used to climb out my bedroom window as a kid, and sit on the apex of the roof to read .... I'm somwhat older and less fit, now, but I'd love to have a go!

      I think I'd be more keen to stay clipped on at all times, mind ...

  11. Benny
    Thumb Up

    Have you guys been slowly reading B3ta?

    Its been a favoured link for a while...still scares all kinds of things out of me everytime I see it, I'll stick to my desk

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A question

    Even though it may be safe - what must his insurance premiums look like?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Even though it may be safe?

      There is no way that it is safe at all. Ever. In any way!

  13. Hermes Conran
    Go

    I hope they remembered,

    to bring the replacement bulb!

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Where is this tower?

    Would someone tell me where this tower is located?

    1. David Stever
      Thumb Up

      Tower location

      There are towers that tall all over North America. My favorite was the huge farm of them located in New Brunswick. Can't remember what the hell they were broadcasting off them, but they are impressive as you drive past 'em.

  15. TonkaToys

    Jeez

    That made my palms sweaty and I'm sitting at my desk.

    Respect.

  16. Josco

    Just watched full screen

    Arghhh. My legs have gone all weak.

  17. Dan delaMare-Lyon

    Wonder how often it rains 2000ft below

    when you get to the top and realise you hear nature calling ;-)

  18. Nick Lord

    The worst hazard of the job ...

    ... is that your face goes all blurry when you get to the top

  19. The Indomitable Gall

    You know...

    The copyright owner has withdrawn that video from circulation. You may not be hosting it, but still....

  20. JP19

    Higher the better

    After the first 68ft a fall is going to kill you anyway, at 1768 ft you get to live about 10 seconds longer.

    1. Nigel 11

      Not necessarily fatal

      There is a club that you can join only if you have survived exiting from an aeroplane in flight without a working parachute. There are surprisingly many members.

      From memory, the record is falling about 40,000 feet. It's what you land on that matters. The side of a pine tree and thence into a deep snowdrift is a good recipe.

      Then there's the Czech woman who jumped off the top of her tower block when she found out that her husband was having an affair. Guess who she landed on? She survived. He didn't.

  21. Tom_

    Recently on The Internet

    Well, not that recently, but still.

  22. Philip Birch
    Thumb Up

    respect

    I wonder what the job was when he got to the top. Change the light bulb? Dust?

  23. Matt Newton

    The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

    Saw it when it was first released last week.

    After the video had finished, I realised my palms were sweating.

    Not a job I'd do even if paid a million pounds.

  24. Woodgie
    Thumb Up

    I've climbed Himalayan Mountains in the Annapurna Circuit

    And the odd lump in Europe, Kenya and South Africa. I've hung upside down over a 200m drop for a bet (I was young, dumb and stupid, OK?) and I've jumped out of perfectly serviceable aeroplanes with a sheet in a knapsack.

    Yet for some reason watching THIS made me feel a little bit sick.

    I hope they get paid well. Kudos to some very hardy people. They must be related to the New York High Steel workers of the 1920s :)

    1. Mark 65

      Pay

      I think you could justify giving them one hell of a salary. Bloody thing doesn't look like it was overly designed for climbing once installed - a couple of up over and around sections.

  25. Cunningly Linguistic
    Happy

    The height wouldn't daunt me...

    ...but the lack of toilet facilities might!

  26. Rolf Howarth

    head for heights

    Reminds me of the window cleaner I saw on Wall Street. He simply climbed out the window on the 10th floor and stood on the ledge wiping the window, then swung himself round the pillar to the next window... all without any rope or harness! Absolutely crazy, makes me feel faint just to think about it.

    1. BongoJoe
      Thumb Down

      Equally

      I remember some poor sod of a window cleaner in Belgium who went past my outside window at what could only be described as at terminal velocity...

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I presume they realised the futility

    and that they have finally stopped issuing copyright takedown notices to Youtube?

    http://www.b3ta.com/links/A_terrifying_climb

  28. Fatman
    Alert

    And some dense PHB will complain about the bill....

    for changing a dammed LIGHT BULB!!!

    No doubt the PHB will scream something along the line of "Anybody can change a LIGHT BULB!!!"

    Tower jockeys and high steel workers are two professions that I have a lot of respect for.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Black Helicopters

      Easily resolved...

      Hand him a nice shiny new lightbulb, and tell him to DIY.

      Helicopter's the only way you'll get me ANYWHERE NEAR the top of that...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Paris Hilton

        Indeed

        Helicopter's a much better way to die, when a gust blows it into one of the guy wires or the top of the tower itself then you get to go out with your friends in a ball of flame.

        Million quid? I'd climb it but the bloke following me up would get wet...

        Paris, I'd climb her for considerably less..

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sky Engineers take note

    Having seen this can someone explain why I can't get a Sky Installer to put a dish on my roof. "It's too high and not a standard installation" I'm told - this on a standard modern house! I know - it's a ploy to grind even more cash out of me!!

  30. Dayjo
    Thumb Up

    Nice..

    Feet were tingling at the end! Would be an incredible base jump!

  31. richard 7
    Thumb Up

    Bugger that for a game of soldiers!

    I hate anything beyond first floor on a ladder.

  32. John Robson Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    I didn't have vertigo....

    Blimey!

    But there is a quick way down if a storm blows through - base jumping!!!

    And if I were there I'd check on the storm conditions BEFORE climbing that thing!

    Still - respect for those guys.

    Now to develop stratellites so these guys can do their job in somewhat more comfort...

  33. DS
    Happy

    Where do I sign up?

    I've always wanted to mix my three favorite things (technology, ladders and lightning).

  34. Guido Esperanto

    a sh*tstorm is brewing about this

    apparently due to the lack of safety equipment this guy as famous as he is now, could be blacklisted.

    it's all here

    http://www.theonlineengineer.org/TheOLEBLOG/?p=561

  35. Nick Ryan Silver badge
    Coat

    I thought I was largely over my fear of heights...

    I thought I was largely over my fear of heights...

    I was wrong. Youch.

  36. luxor
    WTF?

    Yikes!

    That is one job you could never pay me enough to do.

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    really wonder

    what these people get paid.

    though I wouldn't do it even for a million quid

    1. gollux
      Pint

      Not really that much...

      After 50 feet you're dead anyway. And it's just an average job paywise. $55,000 a year and you have to know how to maintain the radio equipment as well. Two standard business radio technicians I know work on 400-600 ft towers quite regularly to take care of winter ice and water damage to feedlines and antennas.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Thumb Up

        well,

        props to them then for doing it for that kind of salary

  38. Lionel Baden
    Joke

    i wonder

    get to the top turn on laptop

    STILL NO WIRELESS

    FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Troll

    Disappointed

    I'm quite disappointed there isn't a traffic cone up there.

    Troll, because I'd rather be under a bridge.

  40. Diesel Fitter

    I used to do things like that in my youth

    In the UK masts only go up to about 1200 feet.

    There are two groups of people dafter than antenna engineers. Painters (transmission masts are painted every five years) and stay greasers. The latter are winched up and down the mast stay wires and apply grease to them.

    Barking!

  41. Cameron Colley

    That is truely awe-inspiring.

    I watched it a few days ago thanks to another news site, but this time I was watching out for the other tower and his colleague climbing after him so it seemed even more unreal.

    I wish I were that fit and that able to concentrate for the ammount of time needed to get up there safely.

    Oh, did El Reg dig at all to find if free climbing is within the rules? Some sites suggested the vid was removed because it isn't.

  42. h 6
    Thumb Up

    Tower work

    A friend of mine does tower work, although as promoted to crew chief he's on the ground a lot more now.

  43. Lewis Mettler 1
    Stop

    buck a foot no doubt

    You are out of your tree.

    Hey, I have been up the mast on a sailing vessel and I got queazy. Also up a 50 foot wind machine tower. And even part way up a antenna. But, these guys are nuts. The pay must be great. But, no medical benefits. Who needs medical benefits if you have absolutely no chance of surviving the fall? Maybe the company pays for the funeral?

    I swear at one point the guy let go with both hands and jumped to the next higher rung. I know my heart skipped a rung or two.

    Too bad the video did not last long enough to see what he actually did. Most likely replaced a light bulb or two. It appeared to have a strobe on top. Buy a longer lasting bulb next time.

    Maybe it is two bucks per foot. And usually those towers do have an elevator that takes you almost to the top. But, the last couple hundred feet are on your own.

    I guess you could wave at the International Space Station as it flys by. That would be fun.

    $5 a foot is not enough to convice me. Those gloves can slip. And somehow he managed not to grap one of the aluminum antennas. If he had, he would still be holding on to it as he hit the ground.

    I also wonder is all of his tools had tethers? Dropping a simple screw driver can ruin your day if you are walking around at the bottom. Not to mention going down to retreive it. Maybe your good buddy has a spare?

    When you fly up a mast on a boat you are actually being lifted up the mast. And that gives you a sense of security. Weak but no doubt comforable. Free climbing like those idiots is crasy. And did you notice how the guy hangs on with one hand and swings around looking down to see if he buddy has chickened out? And the guy even took the time to scratch his leg once. Hate to have an itchy leg, right?

  44. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    3 Phrases spring to mind here....

    1 - Looks like fun

    2- I can see the pub from here!

    3 - I'm the King of the woooooooooooooooooooooo<breath>oooorrrrrrrrrrlllllll<splat>

  45. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge

    Him? a nutter?

    Real nutters are the guys who jump off helicoptors to work on the 400 000 volt power lines while they are still switched on!

  46. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No thanks!

    I'm a rock climber who is used to climbing with some pretty hairy exposures but you wouldn't catch me doing this! If I were, I certainly wouldn't climb without protection of some sort. The "cow tail" he is using should be attached to something at all times not just while resting. To do otherwise is just fscking stupid. They make 'via ferrata' rigs that would be perfect for this application and allow him to always be clipped to something.

    I noticed that his partner was climbing on the other side of the tower from him. You bet your ass I would too.

    You have to give the guy credit for balls of steel though...

  47. Smudge@mcr

    Nice vid...

    Reminds me of when I used to fit lightening protection to Mobile Phone Masts for Orange.

    In the days when I was young and fit. :-)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Explains why Orange Data sucks..

      The towers were too lardy to get off the couch and send it?

  48. Nexox Enigma

    I get it now...

    I always wondered what those insane speed climbers / base jumpers do for a day job. I suppose this would be it, then.

  49. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It could be worse...

    I'm waiting for the 3D version.

  50. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    What worries me is ...

    ... the workers don't have gloves that tighten up around the wrist.

    (Loose fitting gloves can give rise to the hand slipping out - the gardening gloves those guys are wearing look a bit dodgy to me. Same things hold if working with buddy - those glove covered hand grips can slip yes?)

  51. mulder
    Thumb Up

    perfect for with video glasses

    guys if you have video glasses this IS THE clip to use them

  52. BarryMc
    Coat

    Why were they up there?

    a) The top looked far too small for one man to be stood on, and then his "climbing buddy" got up there!

    b) The narrator made reference to a "too-b", wotdatden?

    c) If there was a fault, did they they try turning it off, then on first?

    Mines the one with the concealed parachute.

  53. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    Nasty but...

    That's scary enough, what about the nutters who build the bloody things? They must be out of their minds, they have to climb and build as they go, working with cranes and tools!

  54. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    Oh..........................................!

    OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......OhMy God!......

    That was scary, im now currently lying on the ground holding very tight! (after typing this!)

    i wonder how long such workers last in that industry, do they get fried when going up or is the tower off ?

    and there i was thinking climbing 100foot cliffs without ropes was bad enough (when i was aged 10).

    first time i suffered vertigo was when going up the all glass lifts in Lloyds, now i really hate heights!.....

    i got no bottle for that job, so a pint to the man who has....

  55. PikeyDawg
    Thumb Up

    I rarely have a visceral reaction to a video

    ...but that was hard to watch. Gave me the heebie jeebies.

    I'm with Chris, thank god/darwin/flying-spaghetti-monster/whatever-you're-into that those lads are out there doing that and weenies like me don't have to.

  56. Andus McCoatover

    Oddly..

    About 30+ years ago, I'd have laughed at that. I remember scaring the shi*t out of one of my buddies by hanging - one-handed - from the dish of Antenna-2, Goonhilly. Lunchbreaks were spent in the centre of Antenna-4, with the reassuring sound of the cryogenic cooler puffing every couple of seconds or so (Parametric Amplifiers, anyone??)

    Then, somehow, I developed a terrible fear of heights, such that I paid a bleeding fortune to learn to fly microlight aircraft. Didn't cure it. Nowadays, if I so much look at a roof-worker, I can puke.

    One fault in the video. "Once you're this high, there's no quick way down".

    Disagree. Might make your eyes water a bit, but it's quick...

  57. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Helicopter?

    There are several comments in YouTube asking why not use an helicopter and also a couple of replies trying to explain, but I still don't get it. Wouldn't be much easier and safer to be lowered from an helicopter, anchor yourself to a safe place in the top, do the job and be taken away? Also, is he meant to go down the same way?

    1. gollux
      Alert

      Why not a helicopter?

      Bouncy, bouncy, swing, swing, thump, bang, thump, thud.

      Haven't watched a helicopter in hover much?

      It's not a stable platform, due to wind drift, up and down drafts and the fact that you are a swinging pendulum on a long cable as the guy in the helicopter wants to be a long ways away so he doesn't attempt to mate with the mast or trim his rotor blades, killing all involved.

      1. Andus McCoatover
        Black Helicopters

        Helicopters? There's another problem.

        Ever been lowered onto a nuclear sub. by chopper? Unless they've done something about it in the last twenty years, there needs to be some 'matelot' on the deck to ground the cable with a long stick before touchdown against the rather large eye-watering static the 'chopper's blades generate.

        And, yes, it rocks about a bit, even with an anchored and tethered boat.

        Elf And Safty wouldn't allow it.

        Icon, natch...

  58. Version 1.0 Silver badge
    Happy

    BASE jump?

    Looks like fun ...

  59. TseTT
    Pint

    Pah!

    The late, great, Fred Dibnah would have been up there in half the time! - and had a fag at the top! :-)

    Seriously, that was stomach churning, well done those guys.

  60. Ivan Headache
    Thumb Up

    My brother used to do this

    in the middle east. From what I remember, his towers were only about 600 ft.

    I climbed one with him up to the first level (about 200 ft) that was it, I was knackered.

  61. Jeff 10
    Paris Hilton

    Holy crap!

    About the time you think it can't get any worse, he climbs an even more questionable ladder. I didn't even see any hint of wind up there- I would think at that height it would be brutal.

    Paris 'cos even she wouldn't be able to mount that pole...

  62. Mr_Pitiful
    Pint

    Waaaaaa Waaaaaa Way too Scary

    I think I'll stick to my step ladder, to "adjust" the sat dish

    These guys are awsome

    A beer or two if you make it down

  63. Robert Moore
    Thumb Up

    Where do I apply?

    Looks like fun.

  64. Dan Herd
    WTF?

    Apparently...

    ...these guys get $25/hour tops for doing this.

    Insane.

  65. blackworx
    Alert

    Is it just me

    Or is he being chased by a stormtrooper?

  66. Anonymous Coward
    Dead Vulture

    Oh for the love of <insert something>, please Stop Looking Down!

    Some-one asked if £1,000,000 would be enough to make people do this.

    The answer is no.

    Maybe, just maybe, if I was offered the whole world, I might go up as far as the top of the lift, but no higher than that, and even then only for an insane reward.

    Tombstone, because I just know that's all I'd have if I were to try this.

  67. SirTainleyBarking
    WTF?

    Best cure for constipation I can think of

    Is watching that video.

    Nuff respect to him and the other Fred Dibnahs of the world

  68. Michael Necaise 1
    Pint

    no thanks

    after watching realized I was a bit shaky and my palms were sweating. Don't think so. Not me. No sir.

    Respect.

  69. David McMahon
    Alert

    Where is it???

    I wanna know where this is!

    Made me feel a little ill!

  70. Dick Emery
    Stop

    It's all about the lens

    Having a very wide angled lens on the camera is what makes this seem more daunting. Still impressive though.

  71. Barry Rueger
    FAIL

    Idiot, obviously

    There's a reason why at least once of twice a year you hear about some tower rigger making his last climb. Way too much macho, and way too little safety consciousness.

    There are regs, and equipment available, but some of these guys just refuse to show an iota of brains.

    What impressed me were the climbers in Ottawa, Ontario who would climb the giant CBC (and everyone else) tower in the Gatineau hills. Because they were only allowed to climb when the power levels had been turned down they did it at 3 AM. In February. Wind chill minus 40C.

    Did I mention ice? Lots and lots of ice?

  72. corestore

    I'm a fireman...

    ...and my dad was a linesman all his working life. He taught me there are only two heights; those that are enough to kill you, and those that probably aren't. 100ft or 1700ft makes no bloody difference at all. It's all psychology; what climbers call 'exposure' - you can get used to pretty much anything.

  73. James Woods

    wonder what it pays

    Would seem to be a job you wouldn't want to get too comfortable doing. Throughout the video it appears as he's floating.

    We need jetpacks for this kind of work.

  74. Allan George Dyer
    Joke

    The Office

    Well, the view is great, but the air-con is unreliable, there's a flickering light, and you've got to share your cubicle.

    Is that the repairman on the voice-over? Sounds so calm. Awesome.

  75. Mips
    Jobs Halo

    I once had a project..

    ...Well I cannot tell you too much about it but it included a 600m height mast. The PM of the contractors team described a similar mast "it is it is triangular in plan, 1800mm wide sides at the bottom; the legs are 250mm solid steel. I has a ladder but is also fitted with a lift which crawls up the ladder. We can arrange for you to go to the top if you like"

    As you can imagine there was an enthusiastic response from our side of the table "Hum! Yes! How interesting"

    Brown trousers just thinking about it.

    1. Andus McCoatover
      Joke

      I call "Cheat"!!

      In your project, there was a café at the top. Not a bloody thermos. Maybe, if you jumped off hard enough, you'd be classed as "in Seine"...

  76. Mips
    Jobs Horns

    I am allways repelled by heights...

    ...what really scares me is that I WANT TO STEP OFF.

  77. Mips
    Jobs Horns

    I'm qualified

    I've got a watch like that.

  78. raxtor
    Unhappy

    I get vertigo

    .. standing on the Sunday papers. Thanks guys. Off to change my underwear. Kudoes, and lots of 'em, to the folks in the video though.

  79. Hull
    Stop

    I worked in wind turbines

    to pay for university. Until I fell from 36ft height onto a steel floor.

    http://de.wikinews.org/wiki/Monteur_st%C3%BCrzt_im_Windrad_ab

    The climb down from the turbine should have been (relatively) secure since I followed regs and used protection equipment. But the anchorage in the wind turbine tower was installed incorrectly and bent open when my hands slipped on the oily ladder on a cold December morning.

    In Germany you can't sue your employer for negligence, since there is a "Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung" that insures him against all your claims, unless he tried to injure/kill you on purpose. In return, the "Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung" is supposed to pay for an equivalent education if you can't do your job anymore and compensate you for permanent consequences of work accidents.

    In my case, that means no help in getting an education (since I was still a student at the time of the accident) and 400€/month for not being able to walk without a crutch, two smashed elbows, some nerve damage to the arms and higher back pain when my back is upright. The courts still have to decide on that, though.

    Nothing for about 20 month of hospitals.

    At least I can type, and luckily my parents pay for food and room while I finish university.

    I recommend against believing you will be cared for if anything happens to you while working in Germany. I don't know about other countries.

  80. Peter Christy

    Many years ago......

    ..whilst training as an engineer with a major broadcasting organisation here in the UK, I found myself stationed at a transmitter high up on the Yorkshire moors.

    Occasionally engineers were required to ascend the mast - a triangular structure a bit like a crane jib tipped on end - to carry out maintenance work.

    Because of the dangers of working near the output end of a 100KW transmitter, our thoughtful employers provided us with a "Field Strength Meter" to warn us if some idiot switched the transmitter on whilst we were up there!

    The Field Strength Meter comprised a large-ish cast iron box, roughly 8"x6"x4", with a meter on its face, with a dipole aerial sticking out of the top, and a wooden handle sticking out the bottom with which to grasp it.

    One was then expected to climb several hundred feet up the middle of the open frame-work mast, whilst holding this contraption in one hand!

    Needless to say, being engineers, a much more elegant solution was quickly found! This comprised an old car headlamp bulb with a 1" diameter loop of copper wire soldered across its terminals. This could be quite conveniently pushed into a button hole, or clipped to a lapel, and as soon as you got anywhere near a dangerous RF field, the bulb would start to glow brightly!

    One of the other short cuts was measuring the SWR (standing wave ratio) on the feeder co-ax by running your hands along the 1 foot diameter pipe and feeling for hot-spots! If the skin started to peel off your hands the next day, you knew something needed attention!

    Happy days.....!!!

    ;-)

    1. GrahamS
      Thumb Up

      Re: A much more elegant solution...

      Sounds good, till you realise the bulb has blown and you've actually been standing in the RF field for the past hour!

  81. Anonymous Coward
    Badgers

    hmmmm.... im still here on the floor....

    the last 2 ladders i went up.....

    i fell off of!

    cue image of up a wall and ladder falling sideways and me falling whilst scrabbling onto the wall for a handhold... like in a tom and jerry cartoon...

    2nd was up a ladder in the loft... till the ladder decided to slip out backwards!... one moment doing electrical stuff, next !....... going down.. next floor.. 1st (at the very top of the stairs!)

    (and once everything had stopped doing the Crash/Thud thing, i managed to do a succesful audit of all bits, whilst still firmly clamped/gripping the ladder. (eyes, head, fingers-(wiggle) arms, ribs, hips(fail!), legs(fail!), toes) )

    i honestly dont think ive ever seen such am amazing range colours, that were in the bruise on my leg.

    yes lying flat on the ground with eyes firmly clenched shut and gripping on to the carpet is very reassuringly safe ;p

    maybe digging a hole and climbing in wil be safer?

    I'll get set to start in a minute........

    1. Andus McCoatover
      Joke

      Going down...

      "Ladies Underwear.."(etc)

      'Never mind the quality, look at where the ladder was made'. Bet the end of the URL was .cn

      They don't write stuff like that anymore..

  82. George of the Jungle
    Thumb Up

    Tower climbing

    I have climbed two different radio towers, both times to change the warning lamps at the top of the tower. These were just baby towers though - 100 feet and 200 feet. Since both were on the tops of major hills in the area, the view was spectacular. Not as good as the one in the video, but still impressive.

  83. mulder

    queation for those good with math ect

    Just love to know how long it will take to arive down if you happen to fall from the top.

  84. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just as dead...

    ..if you fall from 100'

  85. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    arduous work getting to the top.

    ... Damn! forgot my hammer.

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