[TowerTalk] Risks on short towers

[Al Williams]

I have posted the following before but it is probably worth repeating.

(I may hold the record for falling off short towers)

Actually it was not the tower (I don't climb towers) but was the tower tilt 
fixture.  I was coming down from the third rung and then fell off the first 
rung of the tilt fixture.  I am normally careful to always have at least one 
hand on the rungs when moving my feet but apparently was not holding on when 
my heavy soled boot caught on the rung and off I went.  Fortunately I didn't 
fall on the concrete but it was still quite a surprise and shock.

I hope that this posting will help real climbers to ALWAYS BE CAUTIOUS!

k7puc


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "W0UN -- John Brosnahan" <shr at swtexas.net>
To: "towertalk" <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 5:32 AM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Risks on short towers


> 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
>
>
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