Although the concept of staging a tower skills competition had been floating around for years, Tower Safety’s Kathy Gill was the one who finally put it on the map. More specifically, she put it in Phoenix, AZ where her TRX Tower Rodeo World Championship celebrates its third consecutive year of pitting various tower crews against each other and an ever-changing set of challenges on December 2-3. Gill, however, gives all the credit for the concept to Pat Barr at ASK Tower Supply in Albuquerque, NM whom she said always thought the idea of a tower rodeo would be great for the industry.
This year, the two-day event features seven crews assembled from different walks of the tower-climbing industry that includes utility workers and first responders. Gill, President and Founder of Tower Safety, a tower safety and rescue training company, hopes the cross-the-aisle competition not only pays tribute to climbers at large but allows them to share techniques and strategies in tower safety and rescue that may have not been on their respective radar. Her compound in Phoenix features several structures used in her training operations that will serve as the proving ground for the contest.
The Rodeo this year will add social media coverage so the event can be seen live and Gill, to serve the growing numbers of attendees, has added a jumbotron screen and an on-site announcer. Pacific Network has volunteered some of its climbers to film the event live from all vantage points on and off the tower. Contestants and attendees will also be serenaded with live music to add to the festivities.
Gill has added a rooftop challenge sending teams over the edge of a building and back, an operation she refers to as a “thrash and dangle,” along with a mobile elevated platform (MEWP) challenge. To recreate some of the unforeseen encounters climbers face in their daily work, Gill has plans to place some heart-stopping surprises in the way of the contestants.
“I can’t tell you what they are,” she said, “but on a tower, not only do you have to be clipped on, you have to be mentally buckled-up and ready for anything.”
Both participation and projected attendance for the event have grown steadily over the years as has the enthusiasm.
“We started this in the depths of COVID,” Gill said, “but tower climbers stayed on the job through it all and now that has eased up, there is a hunger for engagement in the industry, the job, and with each other.”
Reader Interactions