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9 review:




Gear reset:

Despite the haphazard packing up of gear, the long (300ft) ropes were remarkably easy to reset. The white
11mm "long lift" rope was effortlessly repacked into its satchel. The orange 5mm "long tagline" was a bit
more of a job to untangle, but was repacked pretty easily. Both ropes had patches of small burrs picked up
during use.

The 600ft long red/blue 5mm rope (two 300ft spliced together) was more of a challenge as it was twice as long,
had gotten heavier use, and wasn't as cleanly packed away. I started by unsplicing the ropes and marking the
ends. Then untangled one rope (starting at an end) then moving on to the other. Strangely, there were only a
few burrs on these ropes. After untangling, I spliced and repacked the rope back into its green bag.

I didn't run into any damage or loss of gear during the reset, although I haven't seen my pulley carabiner in
several events. I guess I'll call that one "lost" and look into getting a replacement.


Problems encountered during the event:

We experienced a surprisingly small amount of problems during this event. Our biggest issue was lack of time.
(and climber stamina)

- I didn't have enough advance information about the hardware that was going up, which led to last-minute
  discussions of provided hardware, changes of plans, and need for different materials not present.

- lift and tag line ropes weren't long enough without modifications, and the small #20 pulleys were too small
  to pass the splice knots in the 5mm ropes.

- we initially tried to include the long lift rope for moving tools etc, but found its weight to be a problem
  and was quickly abandoned for using three 300ft 5mm ropes instead.

- at the top, the knots splicing the 5mm ropes stopped lifts about 20 feet below the climber, forcing me to haul
  the gear up the remaining distance on my own.

- lift lines (and occasionally gear) were frequently getting caught up in antennas mounted lower on the tower,
  most notably the meshtastic antenna. This was difficult to avoid due to pulleys at the top and bottom of the
  tower. With all three 5mm tag lines in use. we were forced to use the 11mm long lift rope as a tag line.
  This made lifts much heavier, making things more difficult for the ground crew.


Changes for the next event:

- get more detailed information provided to climber prior to event

- use larger pulleys on lift line to allow splice knots to pass through

- use a stand-off bracket to mount the upper pulley on to get a few feet of separation between the tower and
  gear being lifted

- the lower pulley probably could have been moved from low on the tower to the fence around the tower, which
  would also have helped keep gear away from equipment mounted on the tower.


The "rimshot" difference might have to be "don't work on 300ft towers anymore". I just turned 54, am slightly
overweight, and just barely had enough stamina to get the job done. This probably isn't going to get any better
down the road, so I should probably pass on jobs over 200ft in the future. I was able to pace myself and remain
safe, but the higher up I go the more difficult it becomes to estimate when I have just enough gas left in the
tank to safely climb down. If I find myself completely exhausted while still on the tower, I don't have the
option to just call it a day right there and stay on the tower till morning, so that must never happen.



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