MT 43 News Articles View a Published Article

Montana Lineman’s Rodeo
Author: Matt Nelson

Montana Lineman’s Rodeo

Matt Nelson

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union 44 held its 33rd annual Montana Lineman’s Rodeo at the Broadwater County Fairgrounds on Friday, July 17th and Saturday, July 18th. This is the third time it has been held here.

On Friday evening, there was a Lantern Ceremony / memorial service honoring the 16 linemen who have perished over the past year. Eight pole climbers hung up memorial lanterns for these 16 men and women onto a wire about 25 feet in width and about 30 feet high.

Each lantern had the name of the lineman being honored. The last names of six out of the eight climbers were not given. At the location where these climbers took up the lanterns, there was a sign dedicated to Dave Dixon, who died last year as a result of a car accident near the fairgrounds as he was driving to the event.

On Saturday, several different events occurred. Numerous vendors were present, as were an estimated count of at least 500 or more spectators. Several states were represented by the linemen. There was a Speed Climb, the Hurt Man Rescue, and the Pole Top Rescue, in which the linemen climbed to the top of a pole to extract wounded climbers, which were actually mannequins.

Hadessah Helfrich, a lady from Colorado, participated in the Ladies Pole Climb. Each lady had to climb a pole and ring a bell when they got to the top. This is what Hadessah said about it: “I’m not sure how tall the pole was, but my dad said it was probably around 20 feet. If I had to describe my experience, I would say that it is harder than it looks. When I would see those guys climbing the poles, I thought it was an easy thing to do. When I started to climb, I was thinking that it is not a cakewalk. It was honestly just such a cool experience. My dad and his grandad were both journeyman linemen, so it was really cool to experience a bit of that. I am just so treated up, I got the opportunity, and I hope I can do it again sometime soon.”

Another event was a Pro & Novice Backhoe Rodeo for the contestants to dig holes for power lines.

Later in the afternoon, there was an IBEW Local 44 service pin presentation, followed by a banquet dinner & awards presentation.

Article Images

Click on Image Thumbnail(s) to view fullsize image
PhotoCredit: Matt Nelson
Image 1 Caption: Climbers perform mock rescue of manikins in the Pole Top Rescue event. Photo Credit: Matt Nelson *Pg2
Image 2 Caption: Hadessah Helfrich just rang the bell near the top of the pole during the Ladies Pole Climb. Photo Credit: Matt Nelson *Pg2