Vertigo inducing footage captured by a drone in South Dakota depicts one climber's day at the office, as he scales a 1,500 foot TV Tower in order to simply change a lightbulb.
The climber, Kevin Schmidt of South Dakota, is a project manager at Sioux Falls Tower and Communications, according to the Daily Mail. He was filmed while scaling a now-inactive tower, the KDLT-TV antenna in Salem, in order to replace the burnt out lightbulb that warns aircraft away from the structure.
Schmidt makes his ascent confidently and with precision, clipping his safety gear to the tower as he goes. His job isn't for the faint of heart, nor those who fear heights, as he stands 1,500 feet above the ground by the time he reaches the top of the tower, with little protecting him other than his safety harness. Schmidt regularly climbs towers like the KDLT antenna, engaging in maintenance work.
Nice video of a maintenance worker climbing a 1500 ft TV tower. Obligatory selfie at the top! http://t.co/sZlVuppKyA pic.twitter.com/YqTkflBugZ
— Davíð Ingram (@dingram) January 4, 2015
— Davíð Ingram (@dingram) January 4, 2015
Another of the firm's videos depicts the fall of a 300 foot cable head end tower in Jackson, MN, while their Facebook page notes that a forthcoming work will detail the demolition of the KWTV Channel 9 TV tower in Oklahoma City. Erected in 1954, the historic tower was inaugurated by Johnny Carson, and is noted as the first structure to surpass the height of the Empire State Building.
How many daredevils does it take to change a lightbulb atop a TV tower at 1,500ft? Just one - http://t.co/qXlUBHBdrU pic.twitter.com/WxE7PMyR3O
— тσпч ɔ'εʟıα (@Tony_DElia) January 4, 2015
— тσпч ɔ'εʟıα (@Tony_DElia) January 4, 2015
1500' TV Tower http://t.co/5ahBtq66sS pic.twitter.com/70sHNkITd1
— jambo-ree (@jambo_ree_com) January 4, 2015
— jambo-ree (@jambo_ree_com) January 4, 2015
[Image: Prairie Aerial/ YouTube via the Daily Mail]
