'elf & safety - TV tower style

[Lobster]

It was reasonable clear in mine I thought (at 3'30") () - the process being made somewhat more scary by being performed in discrete movements in time to the music!

[Tim Watts]

He's leaning on a pole!

[Lobster]

AFAIUI the Ganges mast had that too though: it's a lightning conductor:

David

[tony sayer]

I think that lightning conductor on the top of the mast is a lot thicker and stronger than it might appear from the ground...

[tony sayer]

Course like all these scary ascents and climbs and roads and walkways slung across the side of a mountain .. but BIG respect for the brave blokes who built them up there in the first place!..

They don't seem to get any recognition;!...

[Him & Her]

If you watch the link posted by David Chapman

at 3:05 to 3:12 it doesn't look like there is anything atop the button.

Regards,

[Roger Chapman]

He also had a ladder right to the top.

Not very visible on the video but could possibly be short and just about seen for an instant between the button boy's legs. Such a handhold would had it significantly easier to mount the button.

There is another difference between the North Sea Cowboys (as we used to call them) who were taught to rely on the shrouds and never use the rat lines for handholds and the modern display team resolutely grasping their rigid hand/footholds as they mounted the rigging.

[John Rumm]

The royal tatoo video showed the button with some 5' of mast protruding above it - so the bod on top stood in front of it and helt onto it behind him.

[Tim Watts]

No - 3:40 - there is definately a pole perhaps 2-3" dia, white, upto his groin which he appears to be holding onto with his knees.

It's hard to see due to being white against white trousers.

[Him & Her]

Yeah, I saw that part of the clip and it does look like there's something there but it's not visible during the climb. 3:08 to 3:11 is a fairly clear shot of the button and *I* can't see anything there.

Regards,

[Lobster]

Actually I beg to differ! If I put the video to full screen - which emphasises the poor video quality - there's an instant at 3:10 (if you blink you'll miss it! where what I think is the lightning conductor flashes into view. Either that or a film artefact. It's clearly present at 3:40, as explained above - presumably the rod is so narrow that it's beyond the resolution of the film when at long shot.

David

[tony sayer]

Yep!, He'd look a right Dick Tar the other way;)...

[Him & Her]

I did say *I* couldn't see anything. Either way, he's got a bigger set of steel one's than me. Nothing would possess me to be up there! ;)

Regards,

[John Rumm]

What, not even for a shilling? ;-)

[Him & Her]

Hmm, that's a difficult choice.

There's a very short list of things I really want in my life and even on a promise of all of them, I wouldn't ;)

Regards,

[Pete Verdon]

Yep - I hadn't seen that one.

That's a different mast though, being a portable exhibition one. It looks shorter than the Shotley mast.

Pete

[Huge]

You don't have to. There's a short vertical steel rod reaches above the button for the button boy to hold.

[John Rumm]

Oddly climbing something like that I suspect I would quite enjoy doing (not that for a moment am I suggesting I have the fitness required to actually do it!). As with most activities working at height, once you go past a few tens of feet the outcome of a fall is much the same - all that changes is the amount of time you get to dwell on the mistake.

[Him & Her]

Anything I climb these days needs to come complete with a (proper) ladder and probably not be higher than my house. I was better when I was younger but still wasn't *that* daft :-)

Regards,

[Dave Liquorice]

Well in the pauses you have a chance to adjust your grip and get properly ready for the next move. Not watched the vid yet but if it's how I think it is each move is fairly small and self contained single movement.