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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 25, 2009 - 11:09am PT
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There is a short and interesting article in the NY Times this morning by Kate Galbraith concerning rope workers. Such workers are usually avid climbers and I think a couple of them even post here! The article centers briefly around two of them as they work on a wind turbine in Pennsylvannia. This pair issues from Rope Partners of Santa Cruz. a company founded in 2001 by Chris Bley a climber and also one of the original limited partners in Pacific Edge Climbing Gym founded by Tom Davis and later joined there by Dianne Russell. The two workers are Matt Touchette and Sequoia Haughey.
Apparently there are about 300 certified rope workers in North America, and just about a handful of companies, all with months of backlog. There is a Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians even: www.sprat.org. Some of the companies doing this work are Skala of Reno, Windswain of Ontario East River Rigging of Brooklyn.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/business/25climb.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
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billygoat
climber
cruzville
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Dec 25, 2009 - 11:44am PT
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Peter, you know damn well that Dianne Russell wasn't a founder of Pacific Edge. Michael Harrington!
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billygoat
climber
cruzville
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Dec 25, 2009 - 11:46am PT
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Medusa, I only had to drug test once with Rope Partner, and it was because of the company we were contracting with. So, unless things have changed, I'm guessing there's still a few techs enjoying a lunchtime doobie on top of a tower somewhere.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 25, 2009 - 12:03pm PT
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She joined Tom after the opening, I edited above. Michael it would be fun to hear more about this line of work; you must have some tales to tell? Isn't Peter Carrick also doing this?
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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Dec 25, 2009 - 02:09pm PT
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Billygoat, things have changed! I am enrolled in two separate drug testing programs that can test me at any time.
Just to add a couple of companies to your list, we have Dragon Safety Systems, Rigging Technologies, Global Ascent International, RAT, and a bunch over in Europe like Rope-Link, Rig Blast (best name ever), and many many more.
There HAS to be more than three hundred of us in N.A....
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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Dec 25, 2009 - 02:42pm PT
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Aww yeah. I got to do a cool tensioned line drop in Billings over a fin-fan deck from a reactor. Fun Stuff.
I've gotten to do some really cool stuff. I did a confined space inspection of the inside of a petro-reactor. It was about 150-175 feet tall, and the manway holes between the decks inside were about 16 inches by 16 inches, and the deck were about two feet thick. That was way tech.
The work can be fun when it's challenging, but the environment sucks-but so far, I've only worked petro-chemical jobs. Maybe someday I'll get to do the cool stuff like castle restoration!
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noshoesnoshirt
climber
Arkansas, I suppose
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Dec 25, 2009 - 03:00pm PT
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Mostly wind turbines here, plenty of that work going around. Generally fun, easy access, nice views.
The Reeve highline set-up above was for training only (hence the proximity to terra firma).
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billygoat
climber
cruzville
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Dec 25, 2009 - 03:57pm PT
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Wildone--doesn't look like you're working for Rope Partner? I wonder if those guys do more testing. They certainly wouldn't unless somebody made them.
Peter Carrick was working at Rope Partner for a while, but no longer.
Oh, and I am not Michael. I was saying it was Michael who founded P.E. with Tom. Diane stepped up when Michael left.
IMHO--the video/article grossly romanticizes the job. It's dirty, long hours, generally in crap locations, and (although it's a green industry) most of the folks running Wind Turbines don't give a crap about the environment. Being on turbines is awesome, but it's not a dream job.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Dec 25, 2009 - 04:50pm PT
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I was going to post something about this...
...Peter's on it!
Hey, what job is a dream job? I've got it good, getting paid to think (essentially) but I've got a drug test program too (which wouldn't matter anyway) and a whole bunch of other things to deal with.
It seemed a good way to make some money using skills you developed climbing... and there seems to be a big demand for people to do it...
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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Dec 25, 2009 - 05:14pm PT
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Well, I'm going to the north slope this may for 90 12-hour days, and from where I'm standing, it looks like a dream job to me. I'm going to need how to figure out the best array for stacking cash. Maybe Ed could think up something for me.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 25, 2009 - 05:31pm PT
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Thanks Billygoat for getting me straightened out here. I DO remember Michael Harrington now. Shorter quiet guy, brown hair and full beard and an old friend of Tom D's. It was really hard for those guys for awhile; the gym was a major undertaking and to put it in there took twice the money they had budgeted. Tom and I used to have lunch regularly while he was securing the funding, the space, the permits. He was asking for advice; Harrington was not part of our get-togethers. I kept telling Tom his budget was too small---in fact half of what I thought it would cost---but he was convinced by donated labor, labor paid by trade and so forth that they would come in as planned. But of course it didn't even with all the hard work of many. This was back in I guess 1992-93, wasn't it.
Yeah every job has drawbacks but I can imagine pretty much all the clients are corporations and partnerships and maybe sometimes the actual site conditions must be hard to take as well.
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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Dec 25, 2009 - 05:51pm PT
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As I understand it, Jan, who posts here is an owner (IDK?) of skala/rope link. Maybe he'll chime in.
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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Dec 25, 2009 - 10:24pm PT
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DING DING DING!!!
Stich nails it.
When I first started, the office ladies in Vegas (where my company's US office is) were saying, "It's the best job for climbers! You do a little job then you have a month off to climb, then you do a little job, etc", and I was seriously considering flying back home without taking my level I assessment because I'm that guy that wants to work 50 hours a week if you let me, and never take a day off. However, I'm glad I stuck with it, because it's really about to pay off for me. May 21, flying to the N. Slope of the Brooks range. Been trying to get to this point for the last three years.
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dangry
Trad climber
the bay-sierra complex
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Dec 26, 2009 - 04:56pm PT
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Wildone: What was the work availability like in the beginning?
I am going for my level 1 IRATA next month down in Reno with Skala/Ropeworks. I haven't gotten much info as to how much work is out there and what it's like for level 1s.
My work background is in residential construction as a carpenter. A couple of folks here on the Taco have suggested coming into the rope access work with certs. in another skill ( welding, NDT ).
Any advise you can give would be greatly appreciated.
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apogee
climber
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Dec 26, 2009 - 05:04pm PT
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Here's some more beta:
http://supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=757795&msg=757795#msg757795
Peter Carrick left Rope Partner about a year and a half ago- not sure what he's doing nowadays. The folks I met while doing a training for Rope Partner had varying backgrounds- lots of climbers, but also lots of raft guides and other similar itinerant lifestyle/careers. While I'm sure some of them burn a bit on their time off, I did not at all get the impression that it happens on the job- these folks are pretty serious about their jobs.
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beef supreme
climber
the west
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Dec 26, 2009 - 07:43pm PT
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Sounds like some of you guys are involved in this type of work- is it a possible second career? I work in the summers and have the other half or the year or so off and I'm looking for another way to make some money and still have some time to climb.
What is the realistic chance of getting through all the training and then getting picked up by a company?
What kinda money are you talking about?
What is the cost of training?
What other skills are desired/ necessary for this type of work?
Thanks for any info, it sounds pretty cool and would potentially fit in pretty well with what I'm already doing.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Dec 30, 2009 - 11:57am PT
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Checking the dingle-berries on Notre Dame...
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Welding
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