In This Profession, Everyone Moves Up, Some Fall Down
SAN ANTONIO -- Digging the metal pins on his shoes deep into a wooden pole, Pete Luna gave a big heave and hoisted himself a few feet higher. He was sweating but there was no time for a breather.
"Show me some more maneuvers," shouted Michelle Tibbitts, Mr. Luna's pole-climbing instructor, once her student had gotten a third of the way up the 30-foot pole. "Go up and around." With a groan, the phone technician obediently swung his 275-pound frame around the pole.
The telephone poles that are a fixture of America's landscape may look old-fashioned. But even in this digital age they remain vital conduits that prop up the gigantic web of phone lines connecting calls, e-mails and the Internet.
To keep it all going, phone companies rely on an army of thousands who clamber up poles, usually to connect a new service and sometimes to fix faults. With the right equipment, well-trained climbers can shoot up a typical 30-foot pole like Spider-Man, seemingly without effort and in a matter of seconds.
It is a hazardous job. Weak poles, the result of termites, humidity or past pole-climbing, can crack and fall over. Climbers face the risk of electrocution or an attack by resident bees or snakes. One potentially dangerous and embarrassing fate is for climbers to lose their grip and slither down at high speed, an event known as pole burning.
Each year, tens of thousands of climbers are required to learn or refresh their trade at pole-climbing schools across the country. Some fall under the charge of Ms. Tibbitts, a broad-shouldered Texan who runs a pole-climbing boot camp for the country's second-biggest phone operator, SBC Communications Inc., on the outskirts of San Antonio. A rarity in the male-dominated world of pole climbers, Ms. Tibbitts, 33 years old, has taught hundreds of men and women the correct way to mount a telephone pole.
Sometimes a pole climber makes it all the way to the top. Richard C. Notebaert climbed poles early in his career and is now chairman and chief executive officer of Qwest Communications International Inc., the nation's fourth-largest phone company.
SBC maintains nearly 6.9 million telephone poles, some of them with other carriers. Its pole-climbing school consists of two barracks and a field with 50 poles placed at six-foot intervals. Students spend half their time climbing and the other half studying technique, such as how to deal with snakes and insects.
Those who can't climb a pole after five days of training are sent home; three out of 10 students don't make it, according to Ms. Tibbitts. New hires and existing employees must repeat the course until they make the grade. If there is a reason for their inability to pass -- such as a medical problem -- they are assigned to a new job.
Phone companies alone make thousands of workers take pole-climbing courses each year. These days, some managers and desk-bound employees are required to learn pole climbing, so that they can help fix the network in a pinch. In May, when SBC workers went on a four-day strike, thousands of SBC executives went through pole-climbing school.
Demand for pole-climbing experts is expected to rise with the installation of new fiber lines. Much of the new fiber will be strung overhead because that's cheaper than burying it underground. Pole climbers are also useful during hurricanes and in disaster areas, when machine equipment can't easily reach high up in telephone poles.
One recent afternoon, Ms. Tibbitts offered her students some important lessons in the proper way to mount a pole. Before going up, she said, hammer on six spots at the base of a pole and listen for whether the wood is healthy. A deep thump is OK. A hollow or cracking sound is bad news. Climbers also drive a special pry into three places in the pole, just as a chef would test the consistency of a cake in the oven. If the pry comes out clean, the pole is fine.
Only at that point did Ms. Tibbitts allow her students to put on gaffes, metal pins that are strapped to the bottom of climbing boots. Gaffes must be kept sharp. A blunt one can cause a "splicer," when part of the pole splits off and a climber loses grip, followed by possible pole burning.
A vital piece of a climber's gear is a thick leather belt which wraps around the pole and provides support when the person leans back. Climbers are told to hit the pole with their gaffes at a 30-to-45-degree angle and move up one step at a time.
Hard hats and goggles are mandatory but that doesn't protect climbers against pole burning. In his first job, one SBC climber in Oklahoma City tired after 45 minutes, lost his grip and slithered to the ground. The fall ripped his shirt and covered his body in dozens of splinters and blood. He never climbed a pole again without a ladder. SBC made the climber available to tell his tale on the condition that he not be identified.
Ladders are not always practical because they have to be carried to the site and are less maneuverable. Instead, many phone technicians nowadays operate a small truck with an electronic arm that lifts them to the top of a pole. But phone companies say that the skill of pole climbing needs to be kept alive because many poles cannot be reached by truck or ladder.
Mr. Luna, who recently attended Ms. Tibbitts's course, drives one of the modern trucks. Though he hardly ever climbs poles anymore, he's required to go through mandatory retraining every three years. "You get heavier as you get older," said Mr. Luna. "Pole climbing becomes harder."
Roque Godines loves to climb, and it shows. At the SBC school, the muscular 54-year-old shimmied up a training pole in less than 10 seconds. "Not so fast!" cautioned Ms. Tibbitts from below, worried that he might hurt himself.
Even master pole climbers can make mistakes. Two years ago, Ms. Tibbitts got to the top of a pole and began a repair job. When she opened the phone box, a swarm of bees flew out. She stayed very still and reached for her standard-issue anti-bee spray. "I should have knocked on the box first," she said. "That's what the rules say."
蜘蛛侠不好当
皮特?卢纳(Pete Luna)把鞋上的金属钉深深嵌进木头电线杆里，然后用力一挺又往上走了几英尺。尽管汗流浃背，但他连喘口气也顾不上。
“再灵活点儿”，卢纳的爬竿教练蜜雪儿?蒂比茨(Michelle Tibbitts)冲他大声喊道。学生刚够著30英尺爬杆的三分之一处，她就嚷道：“向上走，转一圈”。卢纳不满地嘟囔，但还是乖乖地让275磅的身体绕爬杆转了一圈。
电线杆已然是美国的一种风景了。尽管看起来有些过时，但即便在数字时代的今天，它们仍是支撑著庞大电话线网络的关键渠道，连接著电话、e-mail和互联网。
为了让这个网络正常运转，电话公司要依赖几千名能攀爬电线杆的员工。他们经常要爬到电线杆上去连接新业务，或维修故障。在适当工具的协助下，一个训练有素的雇员能像蜘蛛侠一样一下爬上30英尺的电线杆，几秒钟的功夫而已，不费吹灰之力。
这是个危险的活儿。白蚁的侵蚀、潮湿或过去爬杆造成的损坏会使电话线杆变得脆弱，有断裂和倾倒的危险。爬杆人还有可能触电或遭到蜜蜂和蛇的袭击。另一种尴尬的潜在危险就是没抓稳而“嗖”地掉下来。
每年全国有几万名爬杆者都必须到训练学校学习或重温爬杆本领。其中有些学员就由蒂比茨女士负责。蒂比茨是德克萨斯人，肩膀很宽。她为位于圣安东尼奥郊区的全国第二大电话运营商西南贝尔(SBC Communications Inc)管理爬杆训练营。33岁的蒂比茨在这个男性垄断的职业中真算得上是凤毛麟角，她已经教会了几百个男女学员正确地爬杆方法。
有时，爬杆的员工以后也有可能升任公司的高管层。美国第四大电话公司Qwest Communications International Inc.的董事长兼首席执行长理查德?C?贝特(Richard C. Notebaert)在职业生涯初期也爬过电线杆。
西南贝尔要维护将近690万根电线杆，其中有些还归其他电话公司所有。它的爬杆训练营有两个学员宿舍，训练场上有50根杆，每隔6英尺一根。学员们一半时间练习爬杆，一半时间学习技巧，比如如何对付蛇或昆虫等。
那些经过5天训练还不会爬杆的学员就只好回家了。蒂比茨说，有三成的学员学不会爬杆。新录用的员工和在职员工都必须重复培训，直到达到要求为止。如果确实有原因不能通过--如身体原因--他们就会被派到别的地方工作。
每年，单是电话公司就有几千名员工需要参加爬杆课程。最近，一些管理人员和长期在办公室工作的员工也得接受爬杆培训，以便在发生紧急情况时帮忙维修网络。5月份时，西南贝尔工人罢工四天，那个月就有几千名西南贝尔的管理人员被送去接受爬杆训练。
随著新的光纤电缆的安装，对爬杆好手的需求将会上升。把光纤电缆附在电线杆上比把它们埋在地下要便宜。在有飓风光顾的地方，或其他发生受灾地区，在机器设备很难够得著的时候，爬杆可就有用武之地了。
一天下午，蒂比茨教给学生们一些很重要的爬杆技巧。她说，在往上爬之前，先用锤子在电线杆底部的六个地方敲打敲打，从发出的声音来判断杆子是否结实。声音沉闷则说明没问题，如果很空洞或有破裂声，则说明杆子不结实了。爬杆者还可以使用一种特别的工具来考察电线杆的情况，和厨师测试烤炉里的蛋糕烤的怎么样很类似。
蒂比茨让学生对电线杆的情况了解后才能戴上专门的攀爬用具准备爬杆。金属钉一定要锋利，才能卡得紧。如果爬杆时因为树木劈开手没能抓稳，而钝的金属钉卡不牢，这样人就很容易从上面掉下来。
爬杆最重要的工具是厚皮带，把它系在电线杆上，爬杆时身体向后倾可以借力。根据教练的指导，金属钉嵌入杆体的角度应该是30-45度之间，每次向上移一步。
硬壳帽子和护目镜也是必须的，不过这些东西的功能不是用来保护爬杆者不掉下来。在奥克拉荷马市，一名西南贝尔爬杆员工在第一次爬杆工作时就发生了意外：他在工作45分钟后非常疲惫，一不留神没抓稳就掉了下来。衬衣被划破了，还摔得遍体鳞伤。从此以后，没有梯子他绝不爬杆。西南贝尔允许爬杆员工说出自己的故事，但陈述者的身份不能披露。
梯子有时也不实用，因为人得把它扛到现场去，不太灵活。现在许多维护员可以驾驶小型卡车，车上的电臂能把他们举到杆顶。但电话公司认为员工不能丢掉爬杆技能，因为因为很多有电线杆的地方，是卡车和梯子去不了的。
最近来参加蒂比茨培训课程的卢纳，平时工作总驾驶一辆现代卡车。尽管几乎不用爬杆，但每三年公司还是要求他再次接受培训。“年纪越来越大，体重慢慢增加，”卢纳说，“爬杆越来越费劲了”。
罗克?戈丁斯(Roque Godines)酷爱爬杆，而且爬得相当不错。在西南贝尔训练学校，这位54岁仍十分健壮的家伙居然不到10秒钟就窜到了杆顶。“不要这么快！”蒂比茨在下面提醒他，她是担心他会受伤。
即使是爬杆高手也有犯错的时候。两年前，蒂比茨爬到一根电线杆顶部进行维修。当她打开电话盒时，一窝蜜蜂突然扑面而来。她一边保持不动，一边悄悄伸手去拿驱蜂喷剂。“我应该先敲敲再打开它的”，她说。“正确的做法应当是这样。”
