One of the cool things that I get to do is participate on an industrial rope access team that conducts inspections of facilities throughout the West. People frequently ask how or why I do this as work, so I thought I'd talk a little bit about it here. To get started in the Rope Access industry I attended a Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT) course offered by Mistras-Ropeworks (http://www.ropeworks.com/) in Reno, Nevada. While there I was given 32 hours of extensive rope access training related to everything from equipment to knots to basic work positions and into rescue processes. After four long, physically and mentally demanding days me and my classmates took a written test and a physical skills test with an evaluator. Once you passed the list of maneuvers (with less than three errors total) you were among those certified as a level one SPRAT rope access technician (I'll call them RAT for short). So, several years ago I went through this course and became certified. I've since recertified and worked toward becoming a level II technician.
Fast-forward to today, and I've been working as a RAT for nearly 5 years now. It is an incredibly demanding job both physically and mentally, but I love it. Recently I had the unique opportunity of inspecting for potential rockfall risks at the iconic Hoover Dam. Over the course of a week we scoured the slopes near Hoover Dam searching for any rocks that might be dislodged. It was an incredible experience to work at one of the places where parts of modern rope access took root, with the Hoover Dam Highscalers working on the same rock faces that I was on. In fact, remnants of their anchors were still firmly on the rock faces, and I was reminded of all the hard work that went into building this iconic structure.
Fast-forward to today, and I've been working as a RAT for nearly 5 years now. It is an incredibly demanding job both physically and mentally, but I love it. Recently I had the unique opportunity of inspecting for potential rockfall risks at the iconic Hoover Dam. Over the course of a week we scoured the slopes near Hoover Dam searching for any rocks that might be dislodged. It was an incredible experience to work at one of the places where parts of modern rope access took root, with the Hoover Dam Highscalers working on the same rock faces that I was on. In fact, remnants of their anchors were still firmly on the rock faces, and I was reminded of all the hard work that went into building this iconic structure.
So, if you're considering becoming a rope access technician I'd recommend taking the following steps.
1) Make sure you're not terrified of heights or falling. We've had a lot of people think they were cut out for this only to realize that hanging 600 feet over the ground isn't for them.
2 Familiarize yourself with rope access equipment, methods, and best practices. Go in with some knowledge. Visit Petzl at https://www.petzl.com/LU/en/Professional/Rope-access-and-confined-space#.WJy5L1MrJ9M for information on the industry.
3) Enroll in a course at a place like Ropeworks (http://www.ropeworks.com/). I've taken multiple courses from them and they're always super professional, knowledgeable, firm but fair, and of course most of them are incredible athletes (guides, climbers, skiers, moutaineers, etc).
4) Get to work.
1) Make sure you're not terrified of heights or falling. We've had a lot of people think they were cut out for this only to realize that hanging 600 feet over the ground isn't for them.
2 Familiarize yourself with rope access equipment, methods, and best practices. Go in with some knowledge. Visit Petzl at https://www.petzl.com/LU/en/Professional/Rope-access-and-confined-space#.WJy5L1MrJ9M for information on the industry.
3) Enroll in a course at a place like Ropeworks (http://www.ropeworks.com/). I've taken multiple courses from them and they're always super professional, knowledgeable, firm but fair, and of course most of them are incredible athletes (guides, climbers, skiers, moutaineers, etc).
4) Get to work.