[TowerTalk] Risks on short towers

[W0UN -- John Brosnahan]

At 21:10 25-10-07, jacobsen_5 at msn.com wrote:

>"Tony, sorry to say this, but if you think free climbing a 42 foot tower
>is any safer than a taller one, we'll probably be reading more about you
>before you get old.

For the past 30 years or so, whenever I heard about a tower accident, I tried
to find out as many details as possible in order to be better educated and to
possibly avoid making the same mistakes.

And this is what I have learned although I have NO statistical data 
to back this up,
only my impressions of what I have seen, heard, or read.

To me it seems that the shorter towers are the most dangerous!  This may
be explained in any number of ways, although I don't know for a fact that it
is true.  Possibly the shorter ones are more dangerous because the 
belief is that
it is just a little tower, no big deal, and the climber is more lax 
about safety.
Possibly they are more dangerous because taller towers tend to be climbed
by professionals whereas the little ones are often climbed by 
non-professionals.

I do know for a fact that in the past, if I was making a quick run up 
a short tower,
I would just grab my old pole-climbing belt, or in later years I would use my
tree-trimmers belt.  I wouldn't bother with more serious rigging for 
a few minutes
on a short tower.

Now that I am older and have seen more info on the dangers of NOT wearing an
arrest harness, I have a much less cavalier attitude about the risks 
of climbing
with inadequate equipment.

--John  W0UN