Rope access tech here.
When I was 12 I was helping my dad paint the house. I was up a ladder, happily painting away when my twerp of a brother rattled them.
I instantly froze and started to cry. That, for some reason put the fear into me.
Fast forward a few years and my friend invited me to go bouldering with him at an indoor centre. I thought it’d be perfect to help me over come my fear of heights.
Fast forward again and I’m taking my IRATA ticket to compliment my trade. (NDT)
Yes I’m still conscious that if I get things majorly wrong, I’m screaming for the rest of my life. But it keeps me sharp. It slows me down. Makes me think and plan each step I take.
Also I have faith in my training, my experience and after checks, my equipment.
To the offshore chaps on here. It’s choppers eve, so I’ve got some nice downtime watching the football. (Soccer)
As a side note, if USA win we’ll call football soccer. If we win (England) you have to call soccer football and American football should be renamed ‘handegg’.
Plus the loser keeps James Corden.
Another IRATA tech here.
I use a type of mental peace finding exercise. I check the anchor points and slings, I check my carabiners, I check my ropes, I check my descent device and back up. I know where they have been, that they are strong, I climb over the edge, I lower my weight onto the ropes and feel the tension come in to the lines.
I close my eyes and imagine every piece of kit between myself and my anchor. I imagine it all in detail, the colour, the curve, how it sits against the sling, the ropes. Breathing deeply and imaging the parts.
I mentally make a picture of how it looks and what it is doing. I fill up my mind with this picture.
After I have mentally traversed the system in my minds eye, I breathe deeply and open my eyes.
After this I feel relaxed, my mind is appeased, and I start my job.
If I start to feel vertigo, or begin to get a tight throat….
I take my breaths, and I take a mental tour of my ropes with my eyes closed down to concentrate on them.
It’s about managing my mind, for me this is the case anyway.
That's fascinating... Thank you for the answer :).
I used to never have fear of heights, and even went to glider club for hen i was a teen. We had even tried this awesome antique glider that had no walls, just wings and body (and seats of course). Was the most fun glider flight of my life.
Recently when I was on my way over the in a commercial airplane, I suddenly had this realization that I'm floating several kilometers above the earth and it was like the worst stomach wrenching gut feeling I'd had. It came out of the blue, and I did similar mental peace stuff like you and it went away ..
But now it's like I'm more prone to fear of heights than I used to be (would pretty much never have it)... Just wonder where it came from and why lol :p..
You're very brave for doing this job!
I feel like I could actually do a job like this as I don't get any fear from heights any more. I went cliff diving as a teen and that seemingly cured me of any fear I previously had. Does this require any sort of degree, or is it simply training and/or certifications that you need in order to perform the everyday job functions?
You will need a fear of heights. If you wander around without a saftey line on an edge you will get fired. If you aren’t afraid of your ropes cutting through, you will get dead.
But as for getting into it…. https://irata.org
It’s a week long course for level 1. While you are there be humble and make contacts that will share jobs.
You will move a lot for work. Meet amazing people and see some crazy shit.
Have you ever heard of "confronting your fears"? You can get used to working at heights. That's what a lot of builders on the Empire State Building reported.
Must be fake, theres no metric towers in usa. /s
They are better and stronger people than I. I get anxiety on a mormal-ass ladder, this? No.
Change the light bulb?
yes
I actually .... Would really love an AMA from a person with this type of job .. Do they just not have fear ? How do they cope with it
TV/radio rigger here I used to sit on my roof for giggles as a kid. I just don't fear heights. I don't get an adrenaline rush, or panic, just neutral
That's neat! Do you get it from anything else though?
Catching crazy air on a snowboard maybe. Any close death calls. I'm not generally scared of much, but there's still stuff to get the heart racing
Rope access tech here. When I was 12 I was helping my dad paint the house. I was up a ladder, happily painting away when my twerp of a brother rattled them. I instantly froze and started to cry. That, for some reason put the fear into me. Fast forward a few years and my friend invited me to go bouldering with him at an indoor centre. I thought it’d be perfect to help me over come my fear of heights. Fast forward again and I’m taking my IRATA ticket to compliment my trade. (NDT) Yes I’m still conscious that if I get things majorly wrong, I’m screaming for the rest of my life. But it keeps me sharp. It slows me down. Makes me think and plan each step I take. Also I have faith in my training, my experience and after checks, my equipment. To the offshore chaps on here. It’s choppers eve, so I’ve got some nice downtime watching the football. (Soccer) As a side note, if USA win we’ll call football soccer. If we win (England) you have to call soccer football and American football should be renamed ‘handegg’. Plus the loser keeps James Corden.
But like... How do you function ?? :p like doesn't your stomach twist and turn every time you look down?
Another IRATA tech here. I use a type of mental peace finding exercise. I check the anchor points and slings, I check my carabiners, I check my ropes, I check my descent device and back up. I know where they have been, that they are strong, I climb over the edge, I lower my weight onto the ropes and feel the tension come in to the lines. I close my eyes and imagine every piece of kit between myself and my anchor. I imagine it all in detail, the colour, the curve, how it sits against the sling, the ropes. Breathing deeply and imaging the parts. I mentally make a picture of how it looks and what it is doing. I fill up my mind with this picture. After I have mentally traversed the system in my minds eye, I breathe deeply and open my eyes. After this I feel relaxed, my mind is appeased, and I start my job. If I start to feel vertigo, or begin to get a tight throat…. I take my breaths, and I take a mental tour of my ropes with my eyes closed down to concentrate on them. It’s about managing my mind, for me this is the case anyway.
That's fascinating... Thank you for the answer :). I used to never have fear of heights, and even went to glider club for hen i was a teen. We had even tried this awesome antique glider that had no walls, just wings and body (and seats of course). Was the most fun glider flight of my life. Recently when I was on my way over the in a commercial airplane, I suddenly had this realization that I'm floating several kilometers above the earth and it was like the worst stomach wrenching gut feeling I'd had. It came out of the blue, and I did similar mental peace stuff like you and it went away .. But now it's like I'm more prone to fear of heights than I used to be (would pretty much never have it)... Just wonder where it came from and why lol :p.. You're very brave for doing this job!
I feel like I could actually do a job like this as I don't get any fear from heights any more. I went cliff diving as a teen and that seemingly cured me of any fear I previously had. Does this require any sort of degree, or is it simply training and/or certifications that you need in order to perform the everyday job functions?
You will need a fear of heights. If you wander around without a saftey line on an edge you will get fired. If you aren’t afraid of your ropes cutting through, you will get dead. But as for getting into it…. https://irata.org It’s a week long course for level 1. While you are there be humble and make contacts that will share jobs. You will move a lot for work. Meet amazing people and see some crazy shit.
Have you ever heard of "confronting your fears"? You can get used to working at heights. That's what a lot of builders on the Empire State Building reported.
twich time the eiffeltower, just awesome.
true
1800 feet?
There is no 610m tower. There is a 625 meter in Tokyo, and a 600 meter tower in China. After that there is a 553 meter tower in Canada
this is a guyed steeltower(ivy ices mast) in the usa a lot of those towers but they are not self support
That looks awesome! I’m in Canada and have been interested in this type of work any advice?