A Day in the Life with Rope Access Technician Anthony Tripodo

I am a Rope Technician in the high-rise building maintenance industry. I do general building maintenance like caulking, window cleaning, vent cleaning, pressure washing and many other services.

What is your favourite part of the job? What do you love most about your career?

My favourite part of the job would have to be how different each building is and the rigging that comes with that.

The part I love most about the career path I chose is the ability to learn so much, while still improving my rope skills. When working on ropes, there are so many different skills and trades available to learn such as caulking, welding, or window cleaning. There is something for everyone.

What’s your IRATA/SPRAT level and how many hours do you have working as a Rope Tech?

I am currently a level 1 Irata Technician with 780 hours at the moment. I have accumulated those hours over a span of about 1.5 years. When I hit 1000 hours by the end of the busy summer, I will be going for my level 2 certification during the off-season in winter. 

What is the most interesting project you’ve worked on?

The most interesting project I have worked on would be the Delta Hotel in Toronto. It is the tallest building I’ve done standing at approximately 180 meters. The building had a low number of anchors for the location we had to perform inspection which made rigging very complex, but a fun challenge. 

What are your favourite rope access products? What do you carry in your kit?

Some of my favourite products I use would have to be:

The Sirius descender from Skylotech - It is an all-around great descender. I use it a lot when rigging 3:1 and 5:1 tension lines, as well as just basic descent.

The CRIC from Climbing Technology is just an all around amazing device. It has multiple functions such as a hand ascender, progressive capture pulley, standard pulley…etc.

Rock Exotica ORCA lock carabiners. I love how you have the option to keep the gate open on their tri-lock system with a little resting location and with one swift movement can lock the gate.

The Ignite Neon harness from Skylotech is all around an amazing harness. It is very comfortable and has lots of accessory loops, as well as well-designed buckles to latch the harness leg loops. 

Which ropes do you like to use?

Currently I use ropes from Petzl, Sterling as well as highline ropes - all 11mm dynamic lines. 

Since starting a career in rope access, it has become a passion of mine. I am so grateful to be in this position and to have tons of amazing technicians around that I can go to ask questions or advice on how to complete something efficiently. I am very excited to see what rope access has in store for me in my future.

CN TOWER


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