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Being uncomfortable with heights, I've always been fascinated by men and women who have no fear of climbing towers. As you might expect, the occupation of "tower climber" comes with a high mortality rate, and I understand from talking with several tower climbers that the insurance they must carry on themselves is "sky-high." Your first mistake can easily be your last, and even the most experienced climbers can meet their fate in the course of an ordinary day. This particular tower climber has shared with me that gentle winds of 2-3 miles per hour on the ground can easily mean 15-20 mph winds or greater on very tall towers. In fact, when I heard this particular climber talking with his buddy on the ground via radio, I could hear the wind whipping into his walkie-talkie's microphone ferociously. On this particular day, the temperature was near 90 (F), and the climber was wearing a heavy insulated outfit. It would have been hot and heavy for anyone to wear, but add to that the sweating and fatigue from climbing a tall tower over several hours, and I don't see how anyone could bear to be in such a hot and weighty outfit that long. Unfortunately, its necessary because of the temperature of the metal, bees which build nests on towers during the Summer, for insulation purposes from electricity, etc. And you'd think that a tower climber would be bulging with muscle in the arms and legs. This particular climber has normal-looking legs and arms, but he paces himself, climbing only so far in an hour. Because water weighs so much, he typically constructs a rope mechanism on a pulley by which water can be lifted to him. In that way, he doesn't have to climb with the weight of the water pulling against him. In this series of shots, I didn't have a vantage point in which the sun wasn't shining at least partially toward me. I hope to get a better series of pictures from another location in the future.

I have huge admiration for these people who risk their lives daily. These are people that many tower owners seem to take for granted.