Never in a million years…

[rogerzilla]

People tend not to climb up these things without very good reason.  They have to switch the transmitters off first (the radiated power levels are hazardous up close and personal), and that's something you tend to avoid doing during the daytime for prolonged periods if at all possible.

And deprive the masses of Jeremy Kyle?  Now that would be risky.

[Kim]

Exactly.  It'd be zompocalypse lite faster than you can say "Peter Levy".

[perpetual dan]

Missed this before. I've walked down a via ferrata in the Pyrenees, alone, at the end of quite a hot day. Not too bad if you're careful - and I'm not keen on the very exposed climbs in today's pictures.

Found a photo of this earlier. I came down this valley as I'd run out of water after a long, hot, solo ridge walk. Looking at the map I reckon there was at least 4km of these little metal walk ways with a single rope along and crossing the gorge before I actually got to the water - and to firm enough ground to take a photo.

[Nonsteeler]

Yes but they could install vertical cables to which he could clip his life line with some sort of fall arrester carabiner. That could even be used to suppoert the tool bag. With a bit of ingenuosity there is often a workable solution to these kind of issues.

You could now, but most of these structures have been around a long time, so such mods would be time consuming and expensive to install.  Only very occasionally is this sort of access needed, so as has been said, it's probably considered a reasonable compromise between speed and safety.

Oddly enough, with these sort of supposedly dangerous environments, the overall level of safety is often better than with more safety features added.  When you're doing something which is fundamentally dangerous like this, people are very careful, and this extends into elements not directly involved with what appears to be the dangerous stuff. 

Same thoughts here. It seems lazy not to incorporate another layer of safety that is quick  and convenient. Redundant safety systems are a good practise where lives are at risk - so why not do it here? An auto belay comes to my mind, or a wire running parallel to the ladders combined  with Self Belaying Device. But hey, that's their life.

Also from the perspective of a rock climber,  they are most certainly not free climbing. One might classify it as 'free solo aid climbing' ...

[TimO]

What amuses me about Excalibur, is that whilst there are mounting points for safety ropes at the top, as far as I can see, the only way you can get there, to attach them, is to climb up the outside!

[clarion]

Crikey!

[Bledlow]

Nothing natural to climb except trees for hundreds of km in any direction. You can see the landscape.

Groningen is in the NE Netherlands, which technically is not Holland - that's the bit where Amsterdam & Rotterdam are.  It's in the province of Groningen. 

[mrcharly-YHT]

Groningen or Freisland?  I thought it was Freisland.

TimO, you wouldn't climb that hanging off a safety rope attached to the top, you'd climb it like a (bolted) cliff face, clipping in on the way up. If you fall off, you only fall twice as far as the height above the last clipping point.

[Peter]

So that's ok, then!  I was in Groningen for a gig years ago.  They seemed to be able to build properly, then.

[TimO]

I was being a little facetious.  I imagine there's a lot of points to attach protection, although it's hard to see in the images I've looked at.  You wouldn't want to top rope the entire route, if nothing else you'd need a long rope to do it!

It looks like there are different coloured routes, distinguished by colouring the holds, which is quite neat.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I was being a little facetious.  I imagine there's a lot of points to attach protection, although it's hard to see in the images I've looked at.  You wouldn't want to top rope the entire route, if nothing else you'd need a long rope to do it!

Not that long.

I had to dig a bit to find info, but it turns out the photos are really deceptive. The tower is only 37m high.  So you could do it with a standard 45m rope and someone belaying from the top (probably designed with that in mind). I've done (a very long time ago) routes in the lakes that were 2.5pitches, so they'd dwarf the tower.

[Peter]

So that's ok, then!  I was in Groningen for a gig years ago.  They seemed to be able to build properly, then.

I was being a little facetious.  I imagine there's a lot of points to attach protection, although it's hard to see in the images I've looked at.  You wouldn't want to top rope the entire route, if nothing else you'd need a long rope to do it!

It looks like there are different coloured routes, distinguished by colouring the holds, which is quite neat.

So was I - I only meant it didn't seem very straight!  I know next to nothing about climbing, though I did a bit at Bosigran for my DofE a long time ago.  Enough though, to be mightily impressed by this stuff!

[TimO]

I had to dig a bit to find info, but it turns out the photos are really deceptive. ...

It's a bit like indoor ski slopes.  When you're at the top, they look quite a long way down, but when you actually use them, you're at the bottom in only a short time (and then have to get back up to the top again...).

Nature is far better at producing these large structure, ie mountains, than we can ever be!

[Oscar's dad]

Video, not photo, but sent to me yesterday:

http://www.liveleak.com/e/07b_1284580365

(Comms engineer with headcam climbs comms tower with no safety harness.  There doesn't appear to be an emoticon here for ring-clenching terror).

 
I was alternately feeling dizzy and sick and my testes have retracted rather a long way. I'm still swallowing to try to get them to return to their rightful place¹.
I had to stop watching when he reached the naked antenna.

¹ Sorry if that is either TMI or too gender specific.

Ditto!  I think I can honestly say you couldn't pay me enough to do that.  That takes a very special person.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Is that second photo real?  I've seen films of people going over waterfalls, but never anything even half that height.

[Steph]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/25BnHVC5TQM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/25BnHVC5TQM&rel=1</a>

[clifftaylor]

Or a lot longer than a million years. If you don't like heights, look away now

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N70DLM8Az_8&feature=player_detailpage

[Cudzoziemiec]

Wow! Well I could certainly never begin to do anything remotely like that, but it was fascinating to watch.

[LindaG]

Wow. What a fascinating piece of film - thanks cliff.

[clifftaylor]

I first saw that film a couple of years ago, but the overhang sequences give me damp hands every time.

[jogler]

It's the sort of thing whereby you have to see it to believe that it's possible: & she makes it look straightforward

[TimO]

I've seen that footage before, and it's the fairly casual way she hangs down from the overhangs, with a fall that would clearly kill her (even though many smaller ones likely would as well), which is what makes you nervous.  You need a massive amount of self confidence to do that sort of thing.  The jazz witch doctor is a little amusing though.

That film was made some time ago, she was born in 1960, so is into her early fifties now.  According to Wikipedia, she cut down on Solo climbs, is married now, and has a 16 year old son.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Her hair style would suggest early 1980s  which would tally with her apparent age in the film if she was born in 1960.

[welshwheels]

DOES HE MAKE IT LOL

[LEE]

My Hero! Fred Dibnah.  All worth watching if you are interested in seeing someone really earn a living.

No safety ropes, ciggy in the mouth and a couple of pints for lunch.  What could possibly go wrong?

I think he's a legend.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ezX_o0H5FuE&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ezX_o0H5FuE&rel=1</a>

And don't forget...those ladders and platforms didn't attach themselves to the chimney, someone had to put them there.....

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/F04dGK1_wYA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/F04dGK1_wYA&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/E-a27xwcLfU&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/E-a27xwcLfU&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/6W_7uIapoHc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/6W_7uIapoHc&rel=1</a>