As I'm leaving NZ very soon I was offered the opportunity to climb up the SkyTower mast by one of the maintenance guys!! Crazy as I am I agreed but didn't really know what to expect! So last sunday we made it happen cause it was just a perfect day.
We started taking the lift to the highest observation deck and sneaked off through a secret door to a maintenance room in order to get geared up. So everyone got a full body harness and a cool helmet! After taking a few more stairs up higher we came to the actual starting point which was a plain leader in the inside of the Tower: As I looked up I knew this is gonna be real hard!! For my safety, Tony, our guide, attached a carabiner of my harness to a rope which followed the leader all the way up. In case I would slip or let go and fall the safety carabiner would catch me. It was absolutely tiring and I noticed how unfit I am... Every few meters was a small plattform where we could sit down and rest for a moment before carrying on. After climbing up the inside about 70m high we had to move on climbing on the outside of the Tower the last 38 metres!!! It was so scary looking down and my arms and legs started shacking. On the last few metres I had to concentrate myself so hard not to let go or faint and when I reached the top there was barely anything to hold on to. The very top plattform was honestly 30cm wide so I could just place my feet on there and had to lean out with my body!! So no rest at all!! Tony tightened up our harness so we could sit down in it and let our hands go!!! So terriyfing even though I'm used to heights but so much fun once you feel safe...
