Climbing cranes as a climbing rookie

[Graithen]

Hey,

I was wondering about climbing cranes. I can see a couple from my house and was thinking I might go and scout them to see how easily accessible they are. But I was wondering, what are the best practices for crane climbing? Is it advisable as a newbie high place climber? How protected are they usually?

Hoping some of the climbing vets in here can give me some pointer!

 

[sirjonnyp]

1. Scout site
2. Work out if the crane has anti-climb measures in place
3. ????
4. Profit

 

[mookster]

I've only done one crane and I was a comparative rookie at the time, went in blind with someone who'd done them before.

A lot of cranes nowadays have various anti-climb or security measures in place compared to years ago thanks to the dingbats like James Kingston splashing stuff across the media, most have hoardings around the bases now and a lot are locked at the top, it would seem.

Best thing to do is just go have a look...

 

[bernold]

You can normally see anti climb measures from the floor. Look for fine mesh cages around the tower, normally 2/3 of the way up.

But just because they can lock it, doesn't mean they will.

They're pretty safe if you don't go hanging by one arm off the jib.

 

[Graithen]

They're pretty safe if you don't go hanging by one arm off the jib.

Yeah.... I'm not about that life. Have a slight fear of hitting hard surfaces at hefty speeds.

Also cheers for the advice guys!

 

[Alley]

You don't have to be a climber to go up a crane. They are workplaces and as such have to be safe for their operators.

Many cranes have a series of ladders with offset platforms in between. If you slip on one ladder, you won't plummet to the ground - just 7 feet or so.

Some have one continuous ladder, in which case a safety conscious person might consider using a cowstail type thing with which you clip on and off as you ascend.

As mookster said, they are definitely more secure nowadays than they were a few years back, partly due to us lot, and partly due to other people who climb them and the police getting involved in a 'rescue'. This might mean a locked hatch at the top of a ladder, often higher up (presumably to discourage climbing around it on the outside).

It is possible to climb the outside of course, but the bars are wide and not designed to be a climbing frame. Not something I would do personally, but I remember Solomon climbed around a hatch on an frost-covered crane one December, the madman