[TowerTalk] Climbing advice

[N1BUG]

Mike,

The best advice if you're not comfortable is DON'T CLIMB. I strongly 
encourage you to take that advice.

However I will relate my story.

I'd had some very minor experience climbing 40 to 50 feet and I was 
terrified. In 2004, at the age of 40, I decided I wanted an 80 foot 
tower. I knew that was going to be a problem. I honestly didn't know 
if I was going to be able to do it.

I put up 20 feet of tower, properly guyed. Two to three times every 
day, weather permitting, I climbed it, strapped on, hung out for a 
bit, then came down. I was reasonably comfortable at 20 feet so I 
only did this for a few days. Then I added another 10 feet and 
continued the daily routine. I was somewhat less comfortable at 30 
feet but gradually got used to it. I think I spent about two weeks 
with that height. Then 40 feet, 50, 60, and so on until I was 
climbing my new 80 foot tower. It took the better part of that 
summer. I still wasn't entirely comfortable but I continued to climb 
periodically after the tower was finished. During this process I 
also found that doing a light upper and lower body workout three or 
four times a week helped me feel more at ease and confident on the 
tower.

13 years later, now 53, I have a 100 foot tower and an 80 foot tower 
at home (the latter to be removed and replaced by 105 feet of 
stronger stuff next month), a 105 foot repeater tower I installed 
and maintain for the club's repeater site, and I did all the 
climbing to install and populate a friend's 70 foot tower. I haven't 
felt uncomfortable climbing in several years except maybe 10 feet up 
a mast once or twice. It has become routine. Barring unforeseeable 
health changes, I expect to be climbing for many years to come.

If you are going to climb, I suggest you use good safety equipment. 
I just recently upgraded from a simple old style waist belt with 
positioning lanyards to a DBI Sala Exofit tower harness with fall 
arrest lanyard and of course positioning lanyard(s). I really like 
the new harness!

73,
Paul N1BUG



On 08/06/2017 06:07 PM, Mike Ricketts wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> I was finally able to get my tower upright. It's 50' and 54' to the top of
> the mast, freestanding. Nothing big by many of your standards, but it's a
> city lot, so have some limitations.
> 
> My problem is that I'm having difficulty climbing it. I used to climb, when
> I was younger and a little less wise (teens), but it's been about 25 years
> since I've done it. I'm still plenty young enough to do this physically,
> but just can't seem to get myself up high enough to be useful.
> 
> I can easily pay someone to come out and do the work to get the antennas
> and stuff up there, which is fine. However, i feel that I should at least
> be able to do some of my own work for maintenance and such, and not always
> paying someone to climb it for me.
> 
> Do any of you climbers have any advice that could possibly help me get over
> this thing in my head?
> 
> 73,
> Mike ND9G


-- 
Paul
N1BUG  160m-2m         DXCC Honor Roll
WI2XTC 2200m-630m Experimental license
FN55mf      ME      Piscataquis County
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